Panama!

Everyone in Panama just refers to Panama City as, 'Panama' - and so, here I am, in Panama!

We left Santa Catalina and had another full day of bus travel to Panama City.  We only had to take 2 buses this time, but still had an 8 hour trip.

We are staying in an up-and-coming part of town called 'Casco' - it's a really cool old part of the city, that is under major renovation.  It's a hip place, lots of art, cool old buildings, streets and parks that are being revamped and reinvigorated, and overall, a very cool big-city feel (at times, it reminds me of parts of Houston).   The weather also reminds me of Houston.  It is HOT and humid here....and AC is sometimes hard to comeby.  I have been sweating almost non-stop since we arrived. Hace calor (in espanol).

Casco and the downtown area of Panama are remarkably different, but the two main parts of town are connected by a really nice park/pathway area.  It's a fantastic area along the water.  There are also several large pedestrian shopping/market areas, a large barrio, and a mix of people, lifestyles, and scenery in between.  It's a really neat city, and much larger than I thought it would be.

I am here with 2 other girls that I met I Boquete and taveld with to Santa Catalina.  Since we arrived, we have explored Casco, the park along the waterway, visited the canal (!!!!!!), hiked a national park just outside the city that overlooks the entire area, and ran some errands/replenished our toiletries (a very exciting activity, since there are stores here with more than 1 shampoo option, and sunscreen that doesn't cost $18 a bottle).

The canal was really neat to see.  I wasn't too I pressed with the museum, but there is an observation deck overlooking one set of locks, and watching that process that ships go through is pretty amazing- a much faster process than I thought too.  The most incredible part, is that the lock system there now, is the same system they built nearly 100 years ago...with much less technology than we have today.  Truly a man-made wonder!

One of our daily activites includes visiting the local fish market for ceviche.  A cup of ceviche with crackers goes for about $2 -corvina ceviche is only $1.25, and the shrimp ceviche goes up to (a whopping) $2.50.  The outdoor ceviche area is a mad house-  a packed row of vendors with ceviche stands, and then lots of people all jammed into the small seating area that backs right up to the vendors.  It's a little nutty, but really cool.

On Wednesday, one of my travelmates and I will embark on a 5-day sailing adventure to Columbia.  We are hopping on a 20-passenger sailboat to Cartegena, Columbia.  The first 3 days of the trip, we will sail around and anchor in the islands of San Blas, then the last 1.5 days we will be at sea, on our way to Columbia!  Eeek.  On the 27th, I will officially be in South America!  Holla!

Santa Catalina

After leaving Boquete, I went with a few friends to Santa Catalina for a couple of days; a short stop on our way to Panama City. From Boquete, we took 4 different buses (3 of which were jammed-packed crowded AND hot) for a total travel time of 8.5 hours! 

Santa Catalina is a small surf town. . . . very very small.  We stayed at some cabanas close to the beach, but then again, everything there is close to everything else, bc the town is so small. While we were there, we hit the beach, surfed, checked out a big surf competition happening in town, and went for a day trip to Coiba Island.  The surf competition was reef break surfing (?), which happens a bit farther out in the ocean, so my camera didn't really take any good picturs. ....basically, all I have are some pictures of the town (the 3 photos below are looking in all 3 directions of the main intersection in town), and some pics of our Coiba snorkel adventures!

Speakng of snorkle adventures: our group of 5 took a boat out to Coiba National Park (an island about a 1.5 hour boat ride from Santa Catalina), as well as a couple other small islands nearby.  We snorkeled twice with a guide, and also took a small hike on Coiba.  We swam with all kinds of interesting and colorful fish, sea turtles and (my worst nightmare) SHARKS. Thankfully, the sharks were far enough away, and smallish (maybe 5 feet long); plus, this type of shark typically hangs out on the ocean floor. . . .or at least they usually hang on the ocean floor until your guide bothers them a bit to get them moving.  At one point, I had a few short heart palpitations, but I made it out alive.

It was a short 4 night trip, but a nice stop on our way to Panama City.

I heart Boquete

I really like this place- the people, the weather, the culture, my hostel, the pace of life, etc.  I super dig the school here too.  With these two weeks, I will have made major progress on my conversational Spanish.  My Spanish is still pretty terrible though....don't get too excited about my 'attempt at being fully bilingual' skills...I am still light years away from that point.

In the last week, I tried rock climbing, took a coffee plantation tour and visited a nearby river (twice), for some swimming, playing and relaxing.

Rock climbing: a small group of us from school went together.  Our 'guide,' Cesar melendez, is one of the top 50 rock climbers in the world.  He practically ran up this rock wall we visited.  It was amazing to watch.  This sounds cheesy, but it was almost like watching a ballet.  It was beautiful. (Climbing photos of Cesar are in a couple places below).

Anywho for the first-timers (ie NOT top ranked climbers), rock climbing is hard.  Holy heck.  I got up the wall 2 and a half times taking different paths.  I was also super flipping sore the next day too.  It was tough, but fun, so I might be inclined to try indoor climbing as well, one of the days.

Coffee Tour: again, a couple of us from school went on the tour.  The plantation we visited is small, and it's very much a mom and pop shop.   All the beans are picked and sorted by hand, and most of their beans are processed on site in a small shack using homemade machines.  Seriously,when the owner bought the farm 25 years ago, he couldn't afford production equipment, so he took old car parts, washing machine parts, etc and made his own machines, that they still use today.  It is fascinating how Mr. Tito figured this all out.  We learned all kinds of interesting things about coffee and then got free samples.  I don't generally like coffee, but with a little coffee in my sugar, I was able to get on board with Mr. Tito's medium roast.  In anycase, it was a very informative tour.

* a very important tool used in the roasting process: a scroon. (a spoon welded to a screw driver).  For some reason I was fascinated by this.  Plus, it's the only one of its kind in the WHOLE world (more than likely), so I had to get a photo with it.  

Caldera:  Saturday, our little group went to a town 30 minutes away to visit some swimming holes and do some more rock climbing (well, some people did more climbing.....I just had a couple failed attempts).  Cesar joined as as well, just for fun, so he could do some climbing there too.  We did some jumping/diving into the river, swimming, climbing, hanging and even some fishing (sort of).  There was  a small waterfall at the river, where we could catch little fish in our hands (as the little fish tried to swim up the little waterfall, they would fly in the air a bit, and we could easily catch them with our hands...it was an odd but enjoyable activity). Super fun and relaxing day.

Caldera remix: Sunday, I went with some folks from the hostel to a different spot in Caldera, just to hang out and do a little swimming.  The water here is a remarkably comfortable temperature, considering it gets pretty cool here at night.  I think it has something to do with the volcano on the north side of town, but I am not quite sure......

Anywho, there are some really great people running, working, living, and visiting this hostel.  Sometimes people can make all the difference, and I think the folks here have really made Boquete a special place for me.  I have even gone out a couple times at night with everyone....and it certainly takes some special people to make that happen. Haha.

I don't know my exact route south from here, but I think I will be heading out of Boquete with some friends from the hostel and school early next week. More to come......

Boat, Bus, Bus

Getting from Bocas to Boquete via public transporation involves a boat ride, a bus ride, a transfer, and another bus ride - totaling roughly 6.5 hours.  The final bus ride was also on a jam-packed, old American school bus.... 3 adults to a seat!  Not quite an actual chicken bus, but not far from it either.

I was super nervous about the trek, but I lucked out!  I met a man from Boquete on the boat ride out of Bocas.  He was heading to Boquete as well, so I asked to tag along.  He took great care of me.  He was so nice, it almost creeped me out....ah the jaded complexities of a city-girl's mind.  He even walked me from the final bus stop all the way to my hostel.  I actually saw him and his family the next day too.  They gave me a nice tour of the town and took me to dinner.

I arrived late Saturday, so Sunday morning, I got up and hit the town.  I went for a nice walk around the city (it's small, but spread out), grabbed some groceries, visited the park where they hold the 'Festival of Flowers' (although the festival is in March, many of the flowers are still in bloom), and also grabbed a bite at a restaurant/bakery near my hostel. (p.s. I had a very sweet, guava empanada, that was life changing..... muy deliciouso!).

Re: my new school - It often rains here in the afternoons, so that's when they hold classes.  It allows students to do activities in the morning, when the weather is a bit better.  I am the only person in my class (ahhhh!  Spotlight on Leslie!), but I think this setup may actually be good for me.  I also met some other students that I really like as well, so hopefully we gel into a nice crew over the next 2 weeks.

Below are pictures of the hostel, the town, and the grounds at the 'Festival of Flowers.'

The hostel, my room, and the view from my room (I can hear the river from my bed.  It's awesome!)

The town

The grounds at the 'festival of Flowers.'

I am looking forward to some fun outdoor activities, new friendships,  cooler weather, and quiet nights.   So far though, I am digging Boquete!

Bocas del Toro

Here's a super quick recap of my time in Bocas: I went to school every morning, and  then visited different beaches in the afternoons (one by water taxi, one by bus, one by bike).  I also took a tour of the Smithsonian Research Institute on the main island, ate some cheap local food (rice and beans, rice and beans), hung out a bit with some peeps from school, and went on a cocoa plantation tour (the most interesting part of my Bocas experience).

Here are some pictures form the different beaches:

The beaches were fan-flipping-tactic, but I am ready for a change of scenery AND weather!  Now, off to the mountains.....Boquete, Panama!