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Published: March 19th 2009
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Left early from Boquete, only took about an hour this time to get to David where I had a terrible time getting a ride to the Lost and Found place, my Spanish is not very good and the bus conductor is speaking so rapidly i cant keep up, a nice Belgian dude helped me out he was already sat at the collectivo going for Changuinola, between the two of us we managed to understand the guy but not without difficulty, most of the time me and the Belgian look at each other trying to see if one of us understood the bus conductor, in the end we realized he was saying he would take me on but have to pay the full fare of $5, so i said no problem just let me on! And true to what the directions say after we passed a toll booth we saw a yellow sign saying welcome or you have found paradise, and there yellow stone markers near the 42km sign. I got off and said goodbye to my fellow backpackers, everyone heading to Bocas del Toro. the hike up was quite steep, 15 minutes later carrying my 15kg backpack, huffing and panting I
made it to the hostel on top of the hill. Trying to catch my breath, Michelle one of the volunteers welcomed me and showed me the dorm room, then I made lunch, good thing here is they have a kitchen where you can cook your meals.
Later in the afternoon, the sun shining and occasional mists passing the green lush mountains of this area, we were chatting in the common room when we heard a loud noise and the roof started shaking, we thought a wild animal was running atop the roof but we realized the ground was also shaking, an earthquake!! then 10 minutes later an aftershock. Quite scary especially we are on a hill how do we get out of there if it gets worse?? Helped Michelle in the veggie garden she was trying to start up, Amit an Israeli dude, really cool by the way not like the ones in Boquete, we both helped her dig in the garden, then taking a rest we sat down on the ground, then the shaking started again, we heard the clanging of metals from the hostel building above us, then it was over. After all that excitement a few
more people came, complaining that the bus drivers refuse to let them on as well and have to take a taxi to get there. That night I met Andrew the owner, very nice Canadian dude and of course I grilled him on how he started up his hostel and all, lots of helpful info. Cooked dinner and shared it with the Norwegian girls, Lene and An-Margrit, very nice girls, friendly and down to earth. Forgot to say that just before sunset Amit dragged me to hike up one of the trails to get to the viewpoint on top of the hill, I thought I was gonna die, the trail was steep and we made it in 25 minutes for a normally 45 minute hike, running, trying to get there before the sun goes down, the trail was slippery, muddy in some parts, it has been raining here for the last few weeks,only yesterday did it get better. We saw the sunset and we hurried down as it was getting darker and big flies were biting our backs and feasting on us.
Andrew made a bonfire and we all sat there amid the sprinkling of mists turning to all out
rain, it was fun though we played a drinking game to have an excuse to down Kate's Flor de Caña rum. Slept better tonight, last night it was cold, so i took some extra blanket from beds where people had already left. Some noises last night, Michelle got a bit too drunk yelling and shouting something, as I was so tired it did not bother me too much. We got ready for the day excursion to Boca Brava. Andrew, Kate, Michelle, Lene , An Margrit and me went, Andrew drove us with his pick up truck as the terrain just past Horhoncito is terrible. We took the lancha to the island, we stopped by the only hostel in the island owned by a quirky German, we followed a trail until we got to the beach, it was not so nice, the water along the shore is muddy, but we swam anyway. Lots of crabs in the sand digging and walking. After a few hours we went to the hostel and had a good fish lunch on our way back to the boat which we have to pay $2 each way we stumbled into Lene and An Margrit´s Swedish friends, they
said Bocas del Toro is rainy so I may change my plans and just go to San Blas. We stopped at a junction near David for an hour to wait for Andrew´s wife and we entertained ourselves by playing with the kiddie ride, the Chinese cashier in the store got upset and told us off. Oh yeah Andrew and i found clamato juice here wow, what are the chances...We stopped in a canyon to swim and clean ourselves of salt but it was stagnant and does not look appealing so we headed back to Lost and Found, it was getting dark and but the trail is easy enough we were able to navigate with ease. Don and Josefina the Dutch couple who are volunteering here looks exhausted when we came back, they cleared all the weeds around the coffee plants growing in the property.Cooked again for the last time, had a few beers and watched the wildlife come at the feeding station. Kinkajou, Olango etc.
Sad goodbyes the next day, am off to Panama City. It took me a good 20 minutes of waiting on the road just below the hostel before a collectivo stopped and so am on
my way to David to change buses. When i got there there was a long queue for tickets to Panama City, as it is the weekend i called some hostels to book but all i called is full, so i am a bit worried i have no place to stay in Panama City. Sat next to me was a guy with a phone so i asked him if he could help me call accomodations in the city he obliged and i probably called all that was on the LP cant find any thing, we stumbled into a hostel that was a former US army barracks i think, got a booking yay. To thank Ligdo, the dude who has the cell phone i treated him for lunch when we stopped at a town called Santiago, the AC on the bus broke so they fixed it here as well. Arriving near the city we saw the locks of the Panama canal, looks cool at night, got to do a day trip here.
At the terminal Heilke a tall Dutch dude asked if i want to come with him to Casco Viejo at the Pension Colon, i called themn and asked if they
can accomodate 2 people, yes they said and cheaper so I went with him, the taxi driver charged us $4 total but i heard it was only $2 supposedly, oh well. the hostel has a good facade but it was old inside and looks like it is falling apart but we got a good acoomodation with private bath and a fan so we took it.
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stephanie gonzalez
non-member comment
de que otra manera me puedo comunicar con uds???
soy estudiante de turismo y mi grupo y yo estamos interesados en asistir a este lugar pero no se de que otra manera me puedo comunicar con uds