Detalles de Panama - Part Uno

The journey to Panama was a long and tough one. We left Tortuguero muy early. We had about an hour boat ride back to the mainland. Then we had to get on our chartered bus again. We tried to watch a movie but it wouldn't work. And then the air conditioning wouldn't work. Now, Tonya, you may be asking, you have survived in Costa Rica without air so far. Why not now? Funny you should ask! Imagine being on a closed in bus with unopenable windows with over 40 cranky hot people, trying to breathe in cool air. It just doesn't work. Thus bus switch number one of the day. We rode for a while, and for a reason that I still do not know, we switched buses again (number 2). We stopped in Cahuita to have lunch - yummy casados and pineapple juice - and got back on the bus. We continued riding for a whie until we got to the CR/Panama border. At this point we were running nearly 2 hours behind. We had to get a CR stamp before crossing the bridge, and of course the line was long. So we cross the bridge, which is pictured in my previous post, and I really felt like a fugitive crossing the border, scared for my life. Luckily I made it across, and then we had to wait in ANOTHER line to get the Panama stamp and such. We waited patiently in line and finally made it through. Then we had to lug over to the bus, get packed up and packed in, and we settled in for another one hour bus ride. When we arrived to the dock, we loaded our luggage and our tired little selves onto the boat and rode for another 45 minutes or so. The night was beautiful though. It was clear, and I seriously have NEVER seen so many stars in my life. It was absolutely breathtaking. It seemed like the longer I looked up at the sky, the more stars that appeared! I will never forget that boat ride as long as I live. We arrived at the island and had to get to the hotel and checked in. After checking in we had a delicious supper - Panama casados, but still delicious. Most everyone in the group went out after that, but KL, MIF and I stayed in to relax and rest! And we were glad that we did.

Thursday - breakfast at 7. KL, MIF and I were the first ones there. We ate breakfast - I had toast and fruit and juice and coffee, and then KL and I went out in search of more coffee. We found some for 55 cents! By the way...Panama's currency is the American dollar. We came back and had to board a boat at 8:45 am with NO IDEA of where we were going. We first pulled up on some random beautiful island to hop out of the boat and order lunch. I ordered 'deditos de pollo,' or chicken fingers. After we all ordered we re-boarded the boat and then proceeded on to a secluded isle. We pulled up to this gorgeous island that looked like it belonged in Pirates of the Caribbean, and they basically told us to jump out of the boat and swim! And that we did! AND they had snorkel gear so we were able to do that a little bit. It was awesome! After that, we went to Playa de las Estrellas del Mar, I think was the name - in English - Starfish BEACH!!!! It was BEAUTIFUL! The water was perfectly clear and there were countless sizes, shapes and colors of starfish! It was so neat! After that, we returned to the island to eat lunch. It was DELICIOUS, the best food I had in Panama, hands down. The rice was the special rice made with coconut milk that was SO GOOD. I WILL be making rice with coconut milk when I return to the US. Anyway, after I absolutely stuffed myself FULL of food, we all relaxed a bit until it was time to continue island hopping. This time, we went to Red Frog Beach. We rode the boat to a dock and parked it, got off, and then walked to a little hut to wait. Soon two trucks appeared to carry us through the jungle so that we could reach our destination. After a short drive, we arrived, and walked through some trees to get to the BEACH. It was pretty secluded, though a lot of people were there. Our huge group of gringos parked it on the beach, played in the water, and relaxed! It was nice and pretty there. A random group of guys asked if some of us wanted to play volleyball. They were obviously intoxicated, and after short conversation we learned that they were in the Coast Guard and were in Panama for the week. Tough life, huh? Anyway, they went on their merry little way to go play volleyball and we just hung out at the beach for a while longer. We spent a couple of hours there, then boarded the boat to head back to our hotel and our island. When we got back, KL and I immediately went in search of coffee - again, and got our 55 cent coffee again, just as good as the first time! We then went back and got ready. For supper they took us to a nice restaurant. We sat under nice white tents and had PIZZA! It was delicious! There was a big dance floor in the center (this whole restaurant was out in the open, in the sand :-)), and so some of us danced salsa and meringue since that's all they were playing (and because I love to salsa!!!). We stayed there for a while and then went back to the hotel to figure out our evening plans. A bunch of people in the group all went out together that night and hung out for a while. We got to dance a lot, which I appreciated, of course. One place we went to, called Barco Hundido, or sunken ship, was especially neat. They had sand and all kinds of things set up to make you think you were shipwrecked on an island. The dance area was out in the open too with lots of room, and out past that was the dock that you could sit on and let your feet dangle in the crystal clear water beneath you. AND there was a shipwreck underwater too, and starfish, that you could look at - It was SO COOL!

Now, on to Friday!