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Published: February 22nd 2008
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So it continues ..... (I'm posting this after the fact, but the date reflects when I was actually there)
On Wednesday morning, Grace, Cody and I left the Purple Hell for a small island on the Pacific called Boca Brava. From David it should have been a one hour bus ride to a town called Horconcitos. We sat on the bus waiting for it to leave the station for almost an hour and a half. The bus stations are trip. There are lots of people walking around with little bags of fruit or peppers or something they are trying to sell. Right outside of the Hornconcitos bus was a giant pen with baby chickens being sold for 40 cents each. After lots of people watching and lots of sweating it was finally time to leave, but .... the bus wouldn't start. So this bus was at least 30+ years old and instead of getting out and popping the hood, the bus driver opened a trap door next to the seat. While still seated he banged on the engine with a five foot metal pole until the engine started. Strangely to similar to past experiences with your LandCrusher, Ed - except
that the beauty of the trap door makes it a one man job.
After a slow and scenic drive along the foothills of Chiriqui, we arrived in Horconcitos and took a truck taxi about 35 minutes on a dirt road to the pueblito of Boca Chica. They are in the process of cutting and paving this whole road right now because they are hoping to develop it. Boca Chica is a tiny Panamanian fishing village. There are a few kids waiting with their 16ft wood outboards, brightly painted and peeling. The water taxi is only takes about 5 minutes out to Boca Brava.
For some reason we had all expect something really rustic. Instead the place we planned on staying was perched up on the outcropping point of the island. There was 3 or 4 flights worth of white tiled stairs. At the top was the restaurant, bar, and Julio. Julio is the manager of the hotel and he quickly gave us a little tour and showed us the room that was available. It was great. Right on the edge of the steep hill leading down to the water. It had two double beds and four windows. Spliting
the room three ways was $6 a night. The restaurant had two open air levels that are extended over the rocks and a ladder you climb to a lookout on top. They had a full bar and a huge menu serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. All of the seafood is brought right to the docks every afternoon. There is usually about 6 different kinds of fish cooked about 6 different ways and your options of about 6 different sides. The catch of the day puts you back $4.50.
The following day, we arranged for one of the kids from Boca Chica to take us out to a beautiful island called Isla Bolanos. It is a protected marine preserve. There are about one hundred small islands in this cluster on the pacific. Isla Bolanos is beautiful because unlike most beaches on the pacific side, it has white and turquoise water. There is lots of coral and tropical fish - great for snorkeling. Jose, our captain, cracked us open some coconuts on the beach before taking us on a little tour of the surrounding islands. On the way back to Boca Brava we stopped to watch a whale that was breaching.
There were dolphins swimming and playing around it. Life's tough. That night I had an incredible fish dinner and locally made rum. Then the latin dancing begins ... and continues.
That night we met a guy from Lousiana that had been sailing solo from somewhere in Costa Rica. He had a 25ish foot boat and had been teaching himself the art of sailing along the way. He says you can learn it all from the books. He offered to take us out the following day. So back out to the islands for some fishing and crusing around. This time the dolphins were playing with us. Three big dolphins swam around the boat for about 20 minutes. It was an incredible day. I have met some really great people on this trip. Day to day I never know what to expect - but somehow it usually works out better than I could have planned.
I have a lot more stories to post from the last couple of weeks, but it is diifficult to find the time and internet access. I only have about ten days left. I'll what I can do to post as few more blogs. When I
return home I will add some pictures.
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