PanaMania

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I think the last thing I wrote was a whirlwind update of a week's worth of adventures in Costa Rica.... Now we're in the homestretch - Panama - the last country and final few days of the trip. I can´t believe how quickly it's gone! I'm sad that's it coming to an end, but also feel so lucky, and excited about so many things back home. It´s funny how traveling does that, makes you appreciate the mundane or little things and of course, the people close to you back home. Anyways... back to Panama!

After missing a 6:40 am bus and waiting in the rain for two hours for the next one, we finally made our way across the Costa Rican and Panamanian borders. This was definitely the easiest border crossing yet, but also one of the most dramatic in terms of scenery. We had to walk on foot over a river, across this crazy wooden bridge with boards missing. When we reached the southern side, we were greeted with a green "Panama" sign, in case you were confused I guess? This is the first sign of this type I´d seen, and I was glad that Ryan felt it deserved a photo. Already I could see a difference between the people of Costa Rica and Panama. The Panamanians remind me more of many in Guatemala. You can see Indian and various indigenous group influences in some of their faces, skin color, dress and demeanor. It was feeling more like the Central America I had gotten used to.

Along the way we met two great Canadians, Neil and Anna, and Jackie, the crazy cool Australian, and we continued together by boat to Bocas del Toro. Bocas del Toro is a group of islands in the Caribbean on the Northeast coast of Panama. It has that Caribbean vibe, like Puerto Viejo in Costa Rica, but less rasta. The boat ride in was beautiful. We cut between rivers, the ocean, and tiny islands with shacks on stilts. We finally arrived and the heat and humidity soaked us in sweat. We stayed in our first hotel with AC and TV, and were way too excited (a sign that we´re ready for the comforts of home). We learned later that night that huge cockroaches were also enjoying our AC so we decided to switch to the far cleaner and cuter Casa Amarilla the next day. We spent a day exploring the town and kayaking, and met up with Neil, Anna and Jackie for beers at the local "in" hostel later that night.

We spent the next day snorkeling on a trip to four different sights. The first was Dolphin Bay, where sightings are regular and boats circle loops to get the dolphins to jump and play in the wake. I don´t know what it is about dolphins, but no matter how many times I see them, or how fleeting or far away the sightings... they are still so damn cute! After we got bored, or the dolphins did, we moved on to Cayo Coral, where our boat docked at a restaurant and we snorkeled around the beautiful reef. Ryan spotted a crazy spider-like crab with the longest legs, and we saw tons of colorful fish and coral. We boarded the boat again and moved on to Red Frog Beach on Isla Bastamientos. This is one of the most beautiful beachese I have ever seen. It has pristine white sand, clear turquoise waters, a few huge rocks for added effect and it backs up to jungle and rainforest. We swam and soaked up the sun, before heading to our last snorkel spot, Hospital Point. Also on Isla Bastamientos, this is apparently the sight of an old hospital built to house malaria and dengue fever patients in the early 1900´s. Whatever it was, it is now a nice snorkeling sight where we saw lobsters and a SHARK!! Yep, I decided to snorkel away from Ryan and the others and was swimming through deeper water when I saw the beast just below me. Sure it was lying peacefully on the reef floor, but still... it looked to be about 5 feet long, it was less than 10 feet below me, and it was a shark! Six dives in the Bay Islands and I never witnessed anything like this! And I´m not sure I wanted to.... When I realized what I was seeing, I swam away as quickly and quietly as I could. I breathlessly explained my find to Ryan, but we never saw the shark again and I was glad to get back on the boat. Although we came back two hours earlier than promised (for some unknown reason) we were glad to be back on land.
We ran into Neil and Ana again at a waterfront restaurant, spent one last night at Dennis´Casa, and left the next day for Boquete.

Boquete is a tiny town (pop: 3,000) in the highlands of Panama. It´s a region known for coffee, vegetables and flowers, thanks to the cool tempertures and volcanic soil. Surrounded by moutains shrouded in clouds, with river rapids flowing through, Boquete is picture-perfect and truly idyllic. It reminds me more of Europe than of anything I´ve seen in Central America. We settled into an adorable pension, walked up to a scenic lookout point and enjoyed some of the region´s famous coffee. Today we visited Cafe Ruiz, where we took a short tour that taught us about coffee growing and production. Next we visited the lovely, but oh-so-strange "Mi Jardin es Su Jardin." From what we can gather, the gardens are the private property of some very rich Panamanian who has decided to open his backyard to the public for free visitations. The gardens are immaculately landscaped with a stream flowing through, and pools filled with coy fish with bridges crossing over. Then there are the strange anatomically-correct wooden cut-outs of women, pink flamingos and the cows reminiscent of Chicago's Cows on Parade. Then there´s the weird little chapel in the middle of it all, the monkeys made out of sticks wrapped in Christmas lights hanging from the trees, the mysterious and unexplainable dead birds lying around... it was bizarre! Ryan said it felt a little like Michael Jackson´s Never-Never Land might feel, and I had to agree. We went back to our hotel to rest and wait out the mid-day heat, and then went up to a waterfall that turned out to be not so spectacular.... We loved the hike down though, until it started pouring rain. We waited under a random roof until a friendly taxi passed and that brings me to this very moment....

Tomorrow, we´re off to Panama City to see the Canal and whatever else we can squeeze into the two days we have left. I can´t believe this amazing trip is almost at its end!! It´s been a blast and I´ve loved every minute of it, but I´m also looking forward to going home, and hopefully seeing everyone soon! Until then, I hope everyone´s doing well. Happy travels and lots of love.... Brooke

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