Blogs from Bocas Del Toro, Panama, Central America Caribbean - page 10

Although the actual distance from Boquete to Bocas isn’t that great, the trip to get there was a little long-winded as there aren’t any direct roads from one to the other. This meant going back on ourselves to David ($1), followed by another bus to Almirante ($4), a taxi from the bus station to the dock ($1) followed by a water taxi ($6) to Isla Colón – by far and away the most developed (read: ugly) island of the archipelago. We decided to spend the first night here (Hosteluego - $11 Dorm Bed) and whilst the experience wasn’t THAT bad we all agreed that none of us had travelled so far to stay in a place that really could’ve been anywhere in the World. Perhaps a few years ago the place still had a bit of ... read more

Saturday February 26 (Skip) Well this day started off very exciting! Upon leaving our bedroom I ran into a couple who were supposed to take a early bus from David to Panama City and guess what, no buses running because of large protests along the Pan-American highway and into Panama City. These protests are being run by indigenous people of Panama who reside in areas that Canadian mining interests want to mine. President Martinalli (not sure if I spelled his name correctly) was trying to push through legislation allowing this company to mine. Protests have been building for the last week and I guess things are getting pretty hot this weekend. http://www.panama-guide.com/article.php/20110226112014874 Soooo, Barb and I discussed our options and finally said, what the hell, we'll go for it and see if we are able ... read more

Zijn we weer..... Nature Air (vliegtuigmaatschappij in Costa Rica) had een aanbieding naar Bocas del Toro in Panama. Twee nachten in een hotel aldaar en de vluchten heen en terug vanaf San Jose. We wilden er al een poos naar toe maar er waren geen vluchten beschikbaar. Iedere drie maanden moeten we het land uit voor 72 uur dus we hebben er een nacht aangeplakt in Bocas del Toro. Met de bus gingen we naar San Jose, de z.g. Interbus. Ietsje meer comfortable dan de gewone bus en wat meer relaxed. Interbus brengt je nl van hotel naar hotel, geen gedoe met taxi's enzo echt ideaal om in Costa Rica rond te reizen. Hotel geboekt in San Jose want de vlucht ging de volgende dag om 13.00 en om 12.00 moesten we op de luchthaven Pavas ... read more

Techo is Spanish for roof. No idea how Techo got this apodo but he did. Techo is an 8 year old Ngabe boy who became my watcheyman (Guariguari for security guard) in Guacamayo. He noticed two mysterious lights in the forest one night and started telling us all it was a crazyman who kills cows at night, eats them, and lives by himself in the woods because he ate his family. What!! I was scaried it was dark as heck in Guacamayo and the latrine was far enough away from the house for me to be freaked out. So I told him he had to be my watcheyman. He went and did a good job of protecting me from the boogieman. Techo has an odd ailment, there is a bone sticking out right over his heart. ... read more

Sorry it has taken so long to write again! Since last time, we finally finished our open water dive course (this seemed to be an ongoing joke with the staff at UDC), found our sea legs, took the boat back to La Ceiba without puking, bussed it to San Pedro Sula, bid farewell to Delaney, got food poisoning AGAIN, and made our way through Nicaragua and Costa Rica to Panama. After a grueling 12 hour bus trip during the day we arrived at our first stop in Nicaragua, Leon. There isn’t all that much to the city, but there are plenty of things to do in the mucho bonito surrounding areas. On our second day, we went volcano boarding in the afternoon. Unfortunately on the way there, another bus coming from the opposite direction broke down ... read more