BOCAS DEL TORO, PANAMA
We arrived here yesterday, a small archipelago by the northern Caribbean coast of Panama. To cross our last border, we had to walk across the most unstable looking bridge I´ve ever been on, made of sheets of wood nailed together with gaping loose holes everywhere. Trucks insisted on crossing the extremely narrow bridge at the same time as us, and if you weren´t fast enough you could easily get pushed into the river like pebbles.
This island is a lot different than the other ones we´ve been on. The roads are wide and actually paved for one thing. There´s just one main road lined with local restaurants and eateries, tiendas, and of course the locals selling their artisans on the sidewalks. The island is also overpopulated with tourists.
Last night was ladies night at Aqua Lounge, a bar across the water that you had to pay $1 for a boat ride, but they had free drinks till 10 so Nina, Fiona (girl from London), and I headed over to socialize with some other travelers, and made plans for our next summer´s trip as well. The bar started filling up with more tourists around 11 or 12, and started turning into a reckless frat fest like thing, so Nina and I bounced in hope to find a more local scene back on the main island but to no avail ! We ended up walking around buzzed, and found ice cream and some kind of coconut sweet thing to munch on till 2 am before heading to bed.
We cancelled our plans to snorkel today because of the overcast weather. We´ll probably do some beach bumming. Bocas is nice but it´s oh so very touristy. Meeting other travelers is fun, but meeting the locals has been one of the biggest highlights for both of us. We use less and less Spanish as we moved down from Costa Rica. It´s nice that it´s civilized in the sense that you don´t have to worry about no toilet paper in the stalls, or about bugs in your bed, or the sanitary shadiness of your food, and you get significantly less cat calls and ¨chinitas bonitas¨ here. But still I miss the wildness of the people. I guess it´s a good transition into American life though.
PUERTO VIEJO, CR
Puero Viejo was a pit stop in Costa Rica before heading into Panama. It´s a small beachy-surfer town on the coast, also loved by tourists and travelers, with the sweet smell of marijuana walking around the streets with a jammin reggae vibe. We got here late afternoon after a long day of traveling by boat and bus from Tortuguero, so even though this town is known as the party town, we were wiped out from our long trip and ended up knocking out from 9pm-9am. We move so quickly from each town and city, and these days that we travel are the most tiring unfortunately. We woke up to really strong delicious coffee (whose caffeine I felt in me the whole day! guh !) and Nina´s fruit shake at a place called Bread & Chocolate.We love their supermarkets though.
TORTUGUERO, CR
Tortuguero is known for its National Park and its turtles, but the town itself is actually very shanty with not much going on, except maybe some narcotic trafficking. Our friends in San Jose warned us about this place, but we insisted, and checked into a hostel right by the sea, dark and strong. That night we got here, we went out on a ¨turtle tour¨ from 10pm and walked along the pitch black beach with our friendly and er, touchy guide, Rubin. After walking for a good hour and a half, we found her ! A leather back mama turtle, 1 meter and 30 inches i think they said. We kneeled in the dark on the sand a foot behind her with our red light, as she popped out her white baby eggs two or three at a time into the hole she dug. She then buried them with her big hands and back legs with love. You could feel the strength of her winged movements under your feet. So amazing as we stood on the sand around us littered with egg shells of other babies that didn´t make it.
Other than the turtle experience, Tortuguero is for overpriced tours. The morning after, we went on a slow 3 hour canoe ride around the canals and saw some baby alligators, turtles, birds, and iguanas with Rubin again. The better tour was on our boat ride from Tortuguero to Limon on our way to Puerto Viejo, where we saw a few big alligators, flamingos, and a few sloths ! Their jungle is crazy though. So dense and heavy and distinct and raw like vegetables.
SAN JOSE, CR
After saying goodbye to Nicaragua, we took a bus from the border to San Jose which is where I got my backpack stolen. It was stupid really. Some guy put my backpack above me to help me sit down, and I fell asleep, and when we got to San Jose, I woke up to no backpack. I cried on the taxi ride over to the Peace Embassy, and swallowed a whole bar of chocolate before going to bed. And then that was that. It´s all just stuff really, and kind of freeing not to have any of it. Except I´m still heartbroken over losing all my rolls of film. And I´m sorry I lost everyone´s gifts ! But no fear .... everyday has been amazing.
San Jose was really rainy. It rains religiously from the afternoon to late afternoon, sometimes into evening. We stayed with our friends who fed us like queens ! And the room they gave us felt like a hotel room compared to what we were used to. We got lots of love. The city itself is nothing too special though. We walked around, I bought an extra tshirt and some underwear, and wrote some postcards at a cafe called El Cafe del Correo to take haven from the rain.
We are almost done ! Tomorrow we are on to Panama City. It´s bittersweet to think about home. I´m so proud of us that we actually did it ! We are doing it !!
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