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Published: September 14th 2012
In prepartion
Total trust in tiny knotsPanama is great!
The country offers free medical to tourists for the first 30 days you are here. I do not yet know of any other country which offers that services. I bought travel insurance before I left unaware of this gratis service. My own travel insurance costs $80 and includes evacuation so can someone please tell me why it is cheaper to have international medical insurance than medical insurance in the USA?
Knowing I was covered should anything happen here, I thought I would put it to the test by trying rock climbing, I did not know it would be during the earthquake in Coast Rica though.
Mom and Dad I AM OKAY!
If you are going to try and climb the volcanic cliffs of Boquete I highly recommend going with Ceasar. Ceasar is the one who convinced me to go. He talked about the sport with such passion I had to see for myself what the experience was like. Ceasar is a fantastic individual who in his late teens won a country wide scholarship for swimming and spent a year at the University of San Diego. Afterwich he was introduced to
rock climbing and began learning the sport in Boquete. However the locals, having no exposure to such an extreme sport, did not know what to make of the guy climbing the rock face sans ropes.
An elderly woman passing by stopped and called the cops because she thought he was planning on committing suicide. After the police and firemen came and were eventually convinced this was a sport and not a life ending plan, rock climbing and Ceasar became well known in Boquete. Ceasar has since been in competitions worldwide, is sponsered, leads and teaches rope and free climbs, as well as slack lining. Watching him climb is a zen like experience, it is like watching a ballet as he floats up the rock face. When he climbs even the cloud forest goes silent.
I however am without zen or grace as I fight, cuss and laugh over each tiny protruding rock looking for a new place to hold or stand. And being directed to grab the non-color codeded rock on the right or the left (when you can´t distinguish which rock he is pointing at) makes it more of a blind mans obstacle
course than anything else. I finally got to the top and was so happy and proud of myself!!!
On the way down in my elated state, just inches from the ground, I forgot to put my legs out in front of me and gently smashed into the jagged rocks.
More bruises and one nasty cut, just another souvenir and memory from Panama.
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