Last up... Panama

After an interesting border crossing, walking on janky plywood over a river, we had arrived in Panama, the final country on our tour. After catching a taxi then hopping in a boat we made it the archipelago of Bocas del Toro. While venturing out for food we ran into our dear friend Colleen's boyfriend where we made plans to meet up later at their hostel. After lunch and checking in with our loved ones, we set off in water taxi across the water to their hostel. After a few games of beer pong and some free ladies night drinks it was time to call it a night.

We had heard the weather in Bocas wasn't that great and they were right. We had 2 days of rain off and on so we spent a lot of time enjoying the cable tv in the room. We did get out and about and found some very cool and unique stores.

On our last full day we decided take our friends advice and go on the Catamaran snorkeling tour. It was so much fun to lounge on the boat taking in vitamin D is we sailed past all sorts of little islands till we reached our first stop, Dolphin Bay. We were able to watch dolphins gliding and diving all around us. Right before we left we were able to watch 2 dolphins play from a distance. Next up was our first snorkeling adventure, next to a mangrove.  We saw some of the most beautiful coral I have ever seen. Bright purples,reds, and yellows with vibrant colored starfish speckling the area. There were some bright colored fish and anenome. It was amazing! Then we were fed a hearty sandwich as we ventured towards our next snorkel spot. The fish there were incredible. There were rainbow fish, and fish with bright blue spots, and needle nose fish, and etc.... we did take pictures using an underwater camera that will hopefully someday somehow end up in the blog.  We sailed back to the island browned, tired, but thrilled with all the beautiful things we had seen. After a yummy dinner it was time to pack our backs for the next morning's early departure. After packing we planned to meet up with some lovely ladies we had met on our boating adventure, we went to a super cool bar only they were having a dj remix contest....we could only handle so much.

                                             That's a dolphin up there!
Sunday July 1: We had a great plan of going to a sleepy mountain town nestled at the base of a volcano until reality sunk and we realized how extensive the traveling really would be. We ended up staying the night in a small town in a shady area just a few hours from Panama City. We attempted to go out to eat but felt a bit uneasy with the nearby dining options. Luckily for us there was a large grocery store nearby where we splurged on granola, snacks, and peanut butter.

Monday July 2: We made it to Panama City and were blown away by the sky line there! What a super cool city. We wandered about, but didn't want to do too much exploring because Nicholle was coming the next days. We saw a few cool stores and grabbed a cappuchino (with hand whipped foam :) ) After resting a bit at our hostel it was time for some din din. We stopped at a nice looking restaraunt and once inside we felt like we were back in the states. After dinner, we checked out the view from the roof top bar which was phenomenal!



Tuesday July 3: After stopping for some coffee and crepes we decided it was time to make our way towards the airport to pickup Nicholle. We imagined we would have plenty of time to get there and even spent a little time walking through the mall before hopping a bus. Little did we know that the bus to the airport tooke 2 1/2 hours!! It was awful! I was getting car sick from all the stop and go, and there was a little too much liquid build up if you know what I mean. Then, the bus dropped us off about 1/4 mile from the actual airport, we were already running about an hour and a half late to get Nicholle and I felt terrible! We finally made it inside, met up with Nicholle, then hopped a taxi back to the city. We went back to the rooftop bar that night where we met a rather interesting "vampire" couple.

Wednesday July 4th: Ironically we spent Independence Day at the Panama Canal. We strolled through the museums and were able to watch a small boat pass through the canal. We were hoping to see a large boat  but it just didn't work out. We headed back to Casco Viejo ( the area where we were staying) and did a little bit of venturing. That night we decided to have typical Panamenian food at a restaraunt called El Diablicos. The food was quite tasty!

Thursday July 5th: After switching hostels to a much better hostel with fabulous staff, we hailed a taxi to the causeway. The causeway is a stretch of road with restaraunts and shops all along the way. After a bit of shopping we rented some bicycles and puttered our way down the causeway. Of course what day would be complete without a bit of ice cream!? I have turned into a bit of an ice cream monster! Even though we had an early morning heading out to the San Blaas Islands, we decided it was very necessary to see Panama City nightlife. We had our very own tour guide, Gustavo, one of the owners of our hostel. After dancing till the wee hours we made it back,only to wake up a few short hours later.

Friday July 6th: About 5:45 am we woke up in a panic...and possibly still a bit ennebriated. Kate's alarm had not gone off, and the we were supposed to be picked up at 5:30....oops! Good thing the driver was late too! 6:15 we set off for the San Blaas Islands, all of us sleeping most of the way.  Then it came time to catch a boat to the island. I may not have mentioned this earlier, but it was green season in Panama, meaning rainy season. We were getting drenched sitting in an un-covered boat. I truly must have looked miserable with wind and rain pelting my face. Soggy we arrived at the island and the 2 minutes to our tiny little hut on the other side of the island. The island was called Iguana Island, and was maybe 1/3 of a mile all the way around.  Our hut had no floor, just sand and there may have been a few cockroaches in the beds. We were all served the same meal, minus Nicholle and her food "allergy" to seafood. Lucky for her because our lunch was not all that appetizing, some sort of lobster slaw with some veggies. It was back to bed for us, since it was raining and there wasn't much to do. Dinner was another meal of lobster, but this time half a lobster and much fresher. We hoped the next day would bring some sunshine!

Saturday July 7th: Brought some sunshine, thank goodness! After a morning yoga session with our new friends, and a cross fit workout, it was time to get our tan on. I had to get my study on! After a good healthy dose of swimming and vitamin D, we had another lunch of yup you guessed it, Lobster!
Then came the exciting part, we were able to go snorkeling at a sunken ship. It was one of the coolest snorkeling experiences I have had, even though the tide caused a bit of a struggle. Then came dinner and what a surprise, we had chicken! We called it an early night in preparation for a morning of traveling.

Sunday July 8th: Nicholle's Birthday!  After breakfast, it was time to begin our adventure back to Panama City. Once we got back it was time for souvenir shopping. We walked around for hours picking  up souvenirs for loved ones. That night after dinner out. We had a birthday party for Nicholle up on the roof. It was a smattering of people from all different cultures and we surprised her with a cake and candles.

Monday July 9th: Kate left early in the morning, homebound for the good ol US of A. It was sad to see her go, but I know that our paths will cross again. That left Nicholle and I to tear up the town. Another day of walking around and venturing...also souvenir shopping. We got some goodies for friends and family!

Tuesday July 10th: Last day in Central America! Nicholle and I headed to a small little island. There was only one time you could arrive and one time you could leave. We got there at about 9 am and decided to do some exploring. We had heard you could hike to the Cross up on the hill and decided it was worth it to give it a shot. Well unfortunately, none of the trails were well marked and we knew we had gone the wrong way when we ended up at a landfill.. The smell was atrocious but a little farther up was a cool view of the sea. We headed back into town and decided to do some relaxing at the beach, again I was studying :(   We spent a few hours there then headed for lunch. By the time lunch was  over it was about time to head back to the ferry and make our way back to Panama City. For dinner we went out with our favorite hostel owner and enjoyed some out door eating. We topped of Tour de Central America with good food and good company.

 

 

Wednesday July 11th: After almost a year of living in Central America it was finally time to be back in the states. Of course a quick stop in Dallas to take a test, interview, and see my love were in order.  There were so many amazing moments and memories made while being in Central America. I am so much more grateful for everything that I have in my life. I miss my old kiddos like crazy but a new  year will bring new students and new challenges. I am still amazed at the way life turns out and will now and forever say that life is indeed crazy beautiful! :)

Costa Rica....Pura vida

Colleen, Jenna, Kate, and I parted ways with Nicaragua...and our awesome hostel Pacha Mama...(the hostel wasn't really great at all, unless you enjoy sharing a room with crude strangers) We left via taxi to the border then hopped on a bus to Canas. After purchasing some snacks on snacks we had to trek it over 100 m to the bus station. We could already tell that Costa Rica was going to be different. There were no longer shacks alongside the road and the buses now had sections for the disabled. Yes, pura vida was going to be quite different. After arriving in Tilaran we learned that there were no more buses heading to La Fortuna, our 2 options were to stay over night, or pay for a taxi. Realizing that our time is limited we decided on the taxi. We finally arrived into La Fortuna with it's huge Volcano Arenal. After grabbing some din din and chatting it up with Gringo Pete it was time to hit the hay.

Thursday June 21: Kate and I decided to have a chill day because she had an interview and I had some studying to do. After a quick workout and a trip to the grocery story, we took full advantage of Pete's free coffee as we attempted to work on our lives back in the US.  After enough coffee and work was completed we went to check out the souvenir shops to see if La Fortuna had something good to offer. After meandering around, we worked up quite a sweat which of course can only be cured by beer, Imperial is the national cerveza of Costa Rica. After 2 rounds we decided it was time to head back to meet up with Colleen and Jenna, unfortunately Pacha Mama (mother nature) had different plans in store. A full scale rain storm began and we had to take cover in a nearby restaraunt, another perfect moment to enjoy a cerveza...Finally the rain calmed down as our bellies became angered. We were starving, and how can  you not stop at a restaraunt titled Just Good Food. Their food was fairly tasty. After a quick stop for ice cream :) it was bed time. We had a tour scheduled to leave at 8 am in the morning.

                                                      Impromptu photo shoot

                                        Enjoying beers, Imperial is the way to go

Friday June 22: The all day adventure began with a hike up to Cerro Chato, which is a lagoon created by the eruption of Arenal. Would have been great for a swim but after hiking down into the lagoon, we knew what was in store on the way up. I think we all just wanted to get it done and over with. After a few hours of hiking we were picked up and taken to a great little swimming spot with a rope swing and cold water. I know I shouldn't be surprised about cold water, I did grow up in OR but over the last few weeks I have become so accustomed to warmer water, that it was quite a shock to my body. Then came a yummy typical lunch of rice, beans, a coleslaw type salad, and casado which is grilled meat. We had yet another hike to see the river bed of old lava flow. Though it was raining and a little chilly we kept ourselves entertained by swinging on vines and taking silly pictures. After the hike it was time to relax in the natural hot springs river and enjoy another national drink, cacique and coke (essentially rum and coke). What better luck for us girls than having another tour guide give us mud masks using mud from the volcano which is supposedly full of nutrients and good stuff for your skin. Then, it was dinner time and we had essentially a repeat of lunch...seeing as rice and beans and meat are the typical dishes. We got home completely exhausted

rope bridge

Volan Arenal

a bit of a roadblock, thanks to rainy season

                                                           Cerro Chato

                                                        Lava surfing

                                                              Tarzan better watch out!

Saturday June 23: Time to pack up and leave La Fortuna for Tortuguero, an island famous for turtles laying eggs. Well after 3 buses, a taxi, and a boat ride we made it! We were fortunate enough to meet a Spanish couple on our journey and drank some beers with them while we waited for our bus. It took me back to my time in Spain and Castillian Spanish..grathias! After we got settled in and booked our tours for the next day, we needed to eat some yummy food and Miss Mirian really had it in store for us. She cooked almost everything with coconut and it was de lish!

                                                            Boat ride to Tortuguero


Sunday June 24th: Woke up at 5 am to go on a canoeing trip down the canals. We were able to see 3 kinds of monkeys: spider monkeys, howler monkeys, and white faced monkeys. We saw many species of birds and though I am not the biggest bird fan by any means I still enjoyed seeing the different types of birds. We were also able to see a caiman which is like a little crocodile. After a nap. it was time to explore the shops and of course hit the beach. At night it was time to try our luck seeing turtles lay their eggs on the beach. Apparently, Kate and I are quite lucky and we were able to see 4 turtles and it was absolutely amazing. We saw 2 start to come to shore but when they feel threatened or in danger they turn around and  head back to sea where they will have to try again.One of those turtles was the Hawksvill turtle. Then we stumbled upon the tracks of a Green turtle laying her eggs. We were able to watch her cover up her eggs and drag herself back to the water, she was so big and beautiful. Then came the grand finale, there was another Green turtle making the nest to lay her eggs. We literally were able to watch as she deposited her eggs into the sand and covered up her eggs. We had run into a conservation group that works to protect the turtles by making sure the mama is ok, marking where her nest is, and tagging her so they can keep track of her. They measured the length of her shell from head to tail at 114 centimeters and I believe width wise she was 105 centimeters. Words truly can't express how amazing it is to watch nature happen. We were traipsing on the beach with nothing but the light from the stars and the occasional red light (they have to use red lights as to not bother the turtles as much) watching some of the most amazing creatures work to continue the cycle of life. I wish we could have taken pictures but it of course was not allowed because the flash would scare the turtles, but I will carry this memory with me forever

                                                           A tiger heron

Lil Lizard Guy                                                                                           Spider monkey

Caiman

White faced monkey

Howler monkey

Are we not turtle enough for  your turtle club???

June 24th: Time to leave Tortuguero and head down the coast towards Panama. After an intense morning workout, it was time to pack and hop a boat to Cahuita. After, a 4 hour boat ride and a taxi drive we arrived in a very small town with a National Park and beatiful beach. Unfortunately, Kate and I both suffer a bit of motion sickness (this is new for me but one bad experience will scare you enough to take dramamine every time) and in the battle against motion sickness we lost the war against dramamine. We went for lunch and then we zonked out for a rather intensive nap. We barely managed to drag ourselves to an interent cafe to catch up with the world and grab some ice cream before we were calling it quits for the night.

June 25th: After an interesting breakfast of Pinto Gallo (rice and beans) and chicken it was time to see what the Cahuita beach had in store for us. The beach was perfect and the water was refreshing...life is just so tough these days. We lounged for awhile then hit the trail in the natural park to see what wild life would visit us. Just a lot of ants and a few lizards. Another delicious dinner then time to pack because next up.... Panama!!!!

Of course not before a little snafu in our night. As we were typing out blogs and chatting with loved ones we had a rather unwanted visitor in our room. A large crab who really didn't want to leave. After battling with crab a while as he worked himself into a corner we left him to find his own way out....Hopefully he doesn't make a reappearance.

Tica to Nica

Alarm set for 3:15 am we got up and ready to catch the bus to Nicaragua. The bus that was supposedly only going to take 11-12 hours ended up taking 14.... Needless to say we ended up having to stay in Managua for a night. We had a taxi take us to a hostel near the bus station in what seemed to be an interesting part of town...not super dangerous but dangerous enough to make you feel a little on edge. After we got settled in to our dorm room we asked the receptionist if it was safe to walk to the mall to get food, she said yes, and then follows with, but you don't want to take a purse....ah yes very reassuring. We walked to the mall and low and behold there was a Quizno's in the mall. There is always a special place in my heart for Quizno's seeing as it was my very first job when I was 16, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to eat it in Central America. We followed up our toasted subs with some amazing gelatto, and I mean it truly was increible. We rushed back to our hostel and prepared ourselves for some more traveling in the manana

Thursday June 14th: We made it to Grenada and found it be a nice town very similar to Antigua Guatemala. We perused through the streets for a while and decided to enjoy a nice 2 for 1 happy hour on a shaded patio. We ran into one of the other Minerva teachers and her friend and meandered around a bit more.

Friday June 15th: Happy Birthday mi hermano! At this point we had gathered more Minerva alumni and now there was a group of 6 of us. Kate, Colleen, Jenna, Yenna, Dom, and I now made a herd of traveling gringas and a gringo. Us girls decided to check out the nearby town of Masaya because we had heard they have a great artisan market. Well we got to the "bus station" and it was bonkersville USA. There were people, buses, taxis, and total utter madness. Kind of what you think of when you think of 3rd World Central America. To only add to the madness Yenna had been pickpocketed by a man on the bus. We walked around for maybe 3 minutes before deciding to bail and catch a taxi to Laguna de Apoyo. A lagoon made from a crater from a volcano. It was beautiful and the water felt amazing.

Saturday June 16th: Kate, Colleen, Jenna, and I started off our morning right by going to a buffet at a chocolate museum. I think we suprised the waiter with our impressive ability to eat. He said and I quote "That's a lot of food!" and then when he passed by yet again, simply said "Wow!" in disbelief. We were laughing hysterically. We then ventured to Isla de Ometepe, an island formed by 2 volcanoes. It was now our turn to say "Wow!" at the amazing beauty of this island. We stayed in a cute little hostel right on the beach with an abundance of hammocks and views of the lake.

Sunday June 17^th: After lounging on the beach for a bit, we became quite ambitious and decided to try a bicycle adventure (Side note: Kate, Colleen, and I have a rather unfortunate history of adventures which have included 8 hour volcano hikes and ridiculous kayaking mishaps) One thing is for sure history does repeat itself. What should have been a fairly easy bike ride and perhaps a bit of hiking turned into mountain biking and strange discoveries. Somehow, I am truly not sure how, but we all missed the huge green and yellow sign that we should have taken to get to a look out of the volcano. We instead kept biking, even when the road turned into treacherous rocky territory, we continued on until we finally asked for directions. The directions we received were to go 1 km back the way we had come then take a right. After what felt to be 1 km, we saw a road with a white painted rock and a red mayan symbol. Kate announced that she felt this was definitely right, and we all began trekking up a hill. Completely drenched in sweat, we reached the top of the mountain and much to our surprise there were small open airy houses and people lounging about. We stumbled upon a meditation type house where people simply come to meditate, reflect, and take the occasional tantric workshop. The man who I assumed to be in charged offered and water and didn’t fail to note how sweaty we were. He told us we were like faucets, keep the compliments coming please. After rehydrating a bit we decided it was time to venture back down, we were paying for the bikes by the hour. We cruised along towards our hostel, this time in fact seeing the huge sign that should have lead us to our destination. Ah these 4 crazy gringas….

Monday June 18^th: After a yummy breakfast we packed up and headed for San Juan del Sur. After a 2 taxis and one ferry ride we made it to the super touristy spot of San Juan del Sur. It is so sstrange to hear so much English being spoken. After a tour of the town we decided it was time to tackle the hike to Jesus. It was a bit of steep hike but we made it to the top, sweaty as usual these days, but we were completely awe inspired by the view from the top. On one side of Jesus you can see the bay with all the boats just hanging out waiting to catch some fish. On the other side you can see miles of cliffs and beaches. Moments like this truly make me realize how lucky I am to be having such an amazing experience and to be able to share it with some truly wonderful people. A girl has to wonder how she can be so lucky in life.

Tough life drinking happy hour beer and watching beach soccer

Tuesday June 19^th: Our last day in San Juan del Sur and how else could we spend it but by enjoying the beach and sunbathing.  Did a little swimming in the ocean where I unfortunately lost my sunglasses to a rather powerful wave, but good thing there are vendors wandering the beaches selling beach necessities such as vases, plates, and sunglasses. After a bit of haggling and some stifled giggles (Haggler: “ 1 turdy”  me: “ 1 20” Haggler “1 turdy”   me “1 20”  the process went on for quite some time) I was able to make an essential purchase and get back to the important things such as taking in enough vitamin D to last 3 life times.  A little later we pulled ourselves together for some delicious Peruvian food with our Peruvian expert, Kate.

 It’s that time again to pack up and move on the next country. Watch out Costa Rica, here we come!