Snap shot impressions: Beach life in Central America

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One big black mama, a skinny rasta dad and 2 cuties with even cuter afros. This was the family I lived with in Panama on a Caribbean island called Bocas del Toro. It could have been a scene from the Nutty Professor.

I studied Spanish for a month. Fantastic fun. Also loved the rasta- Hispanic accent they have going on there… very different. Turquoise waters and powder white sand made it a bit of a tourist magnet. Luckily living local, I didn’t have to involve myself with all that bumbag nonsense that migrates there.

I became best friends with the infamous ‘Panama Jack’ spiced rum. And with three beautiful Dutch supermodels at the school. As a result of hanging with them all day, everyday, I didn’t pay for a single drink in a month. We were cruised around the Panamanian islands on 50ft yachts and catamarans by rich drooling Columbian men... good stuff.

Further north I met up with a friend from Ecuador in Costa Rica. She’s a yoga instructor on this far out surfer beach on the pacific peninsula. I did a yoga retreat for a week with her and the hippy stroke surfer possy there. Veeeeerrrry chilled out. And I 'chaterangered' and 'omed' my way through the five hours of intense yoga per day.

This was a retreat designed for people who were most certainly NOT beginners- unlike me. Yeah, hard hard work. But all I can say is: Twenty two years of chewing my feet and watching TV with my legs wrapped round my ears paid off… in yoga terms. And there was I thinking I was just weird.

I traveled more of Costa Rica solo again. Before long I got sick of the endless rows of fridge magnets and 'I heart Costa Rica' T shirts geared for the hoards of tourists and their appetite for all things naff. I decided to hot foot it further north and cross the border into Nicaragua…

All I can say is I probably wouldn't have made it there, had my Spanish not encouraged a local 4ft 'Nica' lady to help me away from the thieves cutting the back of my pack open. She helped me negotiate the surprisingly tough border crossing and took me to her home to meet the family.

I did didley squat for a few days on Isla del Ometepe. A volcanic island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. A jewel. Rode horses in the sea, read Harry Potter and got free food in return for translating documents... nice one.

Lived with another local family in Granada, this time an elderly overweight couple who love to force feed. Restaurant keepers with deep voices and even deeper cleavages. After six a day, I will never be able to eat another avocado again. I am again part of another family. Their company is wonderful. Their food is awful. Yes, don’t come here with high hopes with the local cuisine...



By Sarah Blackett ©

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Photos

Isla del Ometepe
Enjoying the breathtaking views of the surrounding lake Nicaragua

Isla Colon, Panama
B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L!

Somewhere in Costa Rica
Another smiley face

Snorkelling in the Caribbean
My lovely Dutch girlfriends on a day off from school, Panama

Isla del Ometepe
A sunset shot of one of the island's two beautiful volcanoes

Granada, Nicaragua
Living with Chagua, my 'Mama Nicaguensa' outside of the restaurant named after her

Bocas del Toro, Panama
... Heaven

Comments

[Marijn]

Panama Jack!
Hey chica! como estas? Where are you now? Are you ever going back to england? I am still boring in Amsterdam and studying, I miss Panama Jack, those where fun nights! I still get stalked by Alex.. I am happy he is on the other ide of the world. Hope to see you some day Bye Bye besos One of the dutch supermodels ;)