Mi unico amor (chapter 1 of my panama adventure)
i've finally found the love of my life. the news is going be hard to break to my imaginary boyfriend, but the whole long distance thing isnt going so hot anyhow. i mean, the constant calling. ceaseless declarations of love. the jealousy. its smothering. and i have learned that a long distance 'boyfriend' counts as no boyfriend in central america. its more the threat that he could get his ass kicked in the next 2 minutes by a present boyfriend that is the REAL deterrent to guys here. if boyfriend or even HUSBAND are not in the immediate vicinity, you are as good as single. and as long as THEIR girlfriend or WIFE are not in the immediate vicinity, many guys consider themselves as good as single. (ok bad generalization... not all guys, just the ones that choose to approach me). hmmmm.
but oh man, the Caribbean coast. that is my TRUE love. i've just gotten back from almost 2 whole weeks of nothing but traveling and beach bumming on the Caribbean coast of central america. and fallen in love with the warm fragrant nights. secluded beaches. warm ocean water... siiiiiigh...
the vacation started well, meeting up with a Rowan and Melissa (friends from the EEUU) in San Jose. then melissa and i booked it out of the city to spend some time on the atlantic side down south at beach town Puerto Viejo de Talamaca. Unfortunately rain spoiled our visions of lounging in the sun on the sand, but didnt keep us from enjoying ourselves. puerto viejo is a small town with lots of rastas and a laid back atmosphere. we hit up some reggae and costa rican beers that night. And once the rain eased it was a humid, warm night on the water. the bar was literally on the beach.
the next day we decided to try our luck further south. hoping for some sun, we headed off to the Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Panama. in order to get from puerto viejo to Bocas, you first need to take a bus to the run down boarder town Sixoala, driving past a bunch of banana plantations. Then you go through costa rica customs, cross a railroad tressel, then walk into panama immigrations. then take a bus or taxi to Almirante (30 min away) then water taxi from Almirante to the archipelago.
As we approached sixoala, the bus turned around and dropped us off a good km from the town. turns out that all the rain in the previous days had caused one of the rivers to flood the road. no cars could cross and big rigs were anyhow, but getting stuck in the middle. So we grabbed our bags and prepared to wade across the river. only on the far side there was a man who was up to his chest in water.... After wating for some ticos to cross, we found the part of the river that only came up to about mid thigh.
Upon reaching the boarder, we ran into a group of washed out 80's guys with long hair who were also going to bocas. and since buses werent running due to the floods and the boarder crossing took longer than expected and the boarder was about to close, our only option was to taxi to almirante with these 'hombres de las ochentas.' so after going through Panama immigration we all started to pile into a taxi. but immigration came and chased down melissa and i and got us right before we got in the cab. apparently the $10 she paid to enter (i thought she had paid for me) wasn't good enough. they had to get me to give them $5. which they THEN gave to melissa. whew. i had no idea at first why they were calling me and had visions of being held in jail and trying to convince panama officals that i am NOT an international drug lord. in spanish.
the taxi ride was interesting to say the least. there were 6 of us plus the driver in a TRUCK. and we all 'fit' in the cab of the truck. i was crammed between the large driver and dave with his long graying hair and open shirt. melissa was in the back with dave's three minions. and they all sang 80's songs and were genrally obnoxious for the entire 40 min cab ride (we had to wait at a draw bridge). panama taxi drivers are the worst drivers i have come across. i had to cling to the seat to not fly through the windshield or end up in dave's sweaty lap. and each time the diver shifted gears he would 'accidentally' shift into my leg (that was pinned agains him).
(to be continued...)
but oh man, the Caribbean coast. that is my TRUE love. i've just gotten back from almost 2 whole weeks of nothing but traveling and beach bumming on the Caribbean coast of central america. and fallen in love with the warm fragrant nights. secluded beaches. warm ocean water... siiiiiigh...
the vacation started well, meeting up with a Rowan and Melissa (friends from the EEUU) in San Jose. then melissa and i booked it out of the city to spend some time on the atlantic side down south at beach town Puerto Viejo de Talamaca. Unfortunately rain spoiled our visions of lounging in the sun on the sand, but didnt keep us from enjoying ourselves. puerto viejo is a small town with lots of rastas and a laid back atmosphere. we hit up some reggae and costa rican beers that night. And once the rain eased it was a humid, warm night on the water. the bar was literally on the beach.
the next day we decided to try our luck further south. hoping for some sun, we headed off to the Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Panama. in order to get from puerto viejo to Bocas, you first need to take a bus to the run down boarder town Sixoala, driving past a bunch of banana plantations. Then you go through costa rica customs, cross a railroad tressel, then walk into panama immigrations. then take a bus or taxi to Almirante (30 min away) then water taxi from Almirante to the archipelago.
As we approached sixoala, the bus turned around and dropped us off a good km from the town. turns out that all the rain in the previous days had caused one of the rivers to flood the road. no cars could cross and big rigs were anyhow, but getting stuck in the middle. So we grabbed our bags and prepared to wade across the river. only on the far side there was a man who was up to his chest in water.... After wating for some ticos to cross, we found the part of the river that only came up to about mid thigh.
Upon reaching the boarder, we ran into a group of washed out 80's guys with long hair who were also going to bocas. and since buses werent running due to the floods and the boarder crossing took longer than expected and the boarder was about to close, our only option was to taxi to almirante with these 'hombres de las ochentas.' so after going through Panama immigration we all started to pile into a taxi. but immigration came and chased down melissa and i and got us right before we got in the cab. apparently the $10 she paid to enter (i thought she had paid for me) wasn't good enough. they had to get me to give them $5. which they THEN gave to melissa. whew. i had no idea at first why they were calling me and had visions of being held in jail and trying to convince panama officals that i am NOT an international drug lord. in spanish.
the taxi ride was interesting to say the least. there were 6 of us plus the driver in a TRUCK. and we all 'fit' in the cab of the truck. i was crammed between the large driver and dave with his long graying hair and open shirt. melissa was in the back with dave's three minions. and they all sang 80's songs and were genrally obnoxious for the entire 40 min cab ride (we had to wait at a draw bridge). panama taxi drivers are the worst drivers i have come across. i had to cling to the seat to not fly through the windshield or end up in dave's sweaty lap. and each time the diver shifted gears he would 'accidentally' shift into my leg (that was pinned agains him).
(to be continued...)
posted by erin at 4:53 PM
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