Blogs from Chiriquí, Panama, Central America Caribbean - page 25

... and sun-tanned faces and the coming of Christmas with the promise of sand instead of snow. Since we last wrote in San Jaun del Sur, Nicaragua, we´ll start there. We ended up staying there a week and then we got word that my brother, Andre, was making plans for a quickie surf trip. Next thing we knew we hopped on a bus, crossed the border into Costa Rica and five hours later were sitting on a park bench in Liberia, Costa Rica. Our official meeting place was...central park 2pm. Low and behold, a watermelon and a beer later (this is the first country with beers over $1) Andre pulls around the corner in the rental car. The meeting was a success. All thanks to the magic of the world wide web. Soon, we were off ... read more

David is the town that I asked the Tica bus to drop me off in, close to the border which was great as it meant I didn't have to sit on the bus for hours more as it head to the capital. I'd seen the Purple House hostel on the internet and felt it was the place for me. Andrea the owner sounded helpful and friendly on the phone and that was good enough for me. Yes the whole house is purple and just about everything in it (those of you who remember my flat in the 'hues of blue phase' will have some idea of what this place looked like). Even Fluffy her dog was friendly and the place had a real welcoming feel to it. I chatted away to Tansy who is a regular ... read more

Intro to Boquete Under Construction. Our Experience So, we arrived at Boquete after dark and it started to drizzle. Lovely. Additionally, Boquete is in the mountains so it was a cool drizzle. Extra lovely. We tried one hotel - full. We tried a second hotel (in the opposite direction) - full. We stood under an awning trying to find another hotel, and a lady in a pickup randomly drove up and asked us if we needed a nice hotel to stay at with a private bathroom for $7.00 USD per person. Um... yes, absolutely. Funny how things work out. Joe was just blown away at bad luck gone good luck. Joe's Note: Not only did this place work out for us at just the right time, this place turned out to be truly amazing in general. ... read more

Arrive in Boquete in the Panama mountains on the day they are celebrating 150 years of Chiriqui province... the town plaza is milling with people of every size and shape on horseback.... cowboy hats on men, women and little boys are de rigeur and the horses are beautiful. I sit, chat to the band and absorb the atmosphere as they parade round and round, occasionally lining up saloon bar style outside one of the local comedor restaurants to be fed. Boquete is an odd mixture - the Blue Mountains of Australia crossed with cowboy America crossed with indigenous Panama... the Guaymi people are very much in evidence in their brightly coloured tent-like dresses, with patterning on sleeve and collar. However, there are also innumerable American retirees who lock themselves away in gated communities on the environs, ... read more

After a very confusing border crossing (we even had to help some Costa Rican nuns and a Dutch surfer, and we got help from an Iranian-American who lives in Costa Rica!) and a nine hour bus ride, we are now in Panama! We were on a through bus from San Jose CR to David, Panama, but still had to walk a quarter mile along the muddy, rutted Pan-American Highway between to Costa Rican border check point and the Panamanian check point. The Panamanians had a number of hoops for us to jump through: passports, entry card, proof of onward travel, luggage inspection, tourist card....these were all in different places and no one told you where to go next...in the middle of it, we were trying to get our bags inspected, but couldn't because we hadn't gotten ... read more