Blogs from Boquete, Chiriquí, Panama, Central America Caribbean - page 7

Boquete - Settling In After getting some much needed rest, we woke up Monday morning and had orientation with our program director (Kaytee). At the moment it is just Tim and I, no other volunteers will be arriving to two weeks, so orientation was pretty laid back. We did a little bit of get-to-know you type stuff, went over house rules, and learned about the placement options we had. By the end of orientation we settled on the following weekly schedule - teach at a public school up in the mountains every morning (Escuala Volcancito) then head to an after school type program in the afternoons called Casa Esperanza where we will do art projects Mon/Weds, teach English Tues/Thurs, and play outside with the kids on Fridays. After going over all the logistics we went out ... read more

The Move / De verhuizing It has been a wonderful two years in Playa Samara - Costa Rica but it was time for us to go on a new adventure. After talking and talking about it, we decided to sell the furniture and "things" we gathered in those two years in Costa Rica and brought from Holland and the USA. lt felt really good to get rid of all the possesions, starting a new life. Our landlord was so kind to let us use an empty store downstairs for a few hours, where we could sell our things. That worked well. After the first hour sitting there with nobody entering the store, people came in and ran around like hurricanes. We sold almost all the furniture and lots and lots of other items. There were only ... read more

Panama ! We zijn nog een keer naar Panama geweest, wat een reis ! Het was een heel avontuur. Eerst namen we de Interbus, kleine busjes voor 12 personen of minder, naar San Jose Costa Rica. Omdat we aan het strand wonen en het bijna altijd zonnig en warm is vergeten we nog wel eens dat er ook nog ander weer bestaat op de aardbol. We zaten in de Interbus, bergopwaarts, en ineens kwam de regen met bakken uit de lucht. Donder en bliksem en onwijs veel water, daar waren we NIET op voorbereid. Er was geen zicht meer en we hoopten dat de buschauffeur wist waar de weg was. Uiteindelijk kwamen we in ons hotel - Balmoral aan waar het warm en droog was. Nadat we in onze kamer waren geinstalleerd gingen we naar beneden ... read more

Shortly after returning from San Blas I spent one final weekend in Panama City and on Monday February 14th headed to the west of the country to a town called Boquete. I took the express bus ($15/6 Hours) from Panama to David and then another Otto style school bus ($1.50/1 Hour) from there to Boquete. The town sits in a valley under the shadow of Volcano Baru (3475m) – Panama’s highest point from which you can see both the Caribbean and Pacific side of the country. I was almost tempted to climb it but then I came to my senses and decided to spend my days visiting hot springs ‘n’ stuff instead. One curious thing about Boquete is that it was recently voted one of the top five places in the whole wide world to retire ... read more

03.04. - 06.04.2010 Boquete, Vulkan Baru, Panama Vom Office von Bolita nahmen wir den Collectivo nach Puerto Jimenez und dann charterten wir eine Fähre mit ein paar anderen zusammen nach Golfito. In Golfito nahmen wir mit den gleichen 3 zusammen ein Taxi für an die Grenze von Panama. Dort mussten wir in einem Internet Cafe die Reservation für die Stahlratte ausdrucken gehen, was natürlich in deutsch war und ich es dem Typ übersetzen musste, was er ziemlich nervig fand, mir war da kein Aufwand zu schade, damit wir kein Ausreiseticket für Panama kaufen mussten. Eingereist in Panama nahmen wir wieder einen Collectivo nach David und von David den Chicken Bus nach Boquete. In Boquete kriegten wir im Hostal Mama llena mit etwas Glück die letzten 2 Betten in einem kleinen Doppelzimmer. Wir reisten nach Boquete, weil ... read more