Panama City

After being told that we wouldn't be able to get a bus to Panama City til after new years, Erin and I were actually able to get on an overnight bus to the City the same day that we left Bocas del Toro...we arrived at about 4:30am in Panama City, found a 24 hour cafe where we hung out til a reasonable hour and checked into a hotel, and then later found a fantastic place on AirBnB, where we ended up extending our stay for an extra day, since the city was so fantastic.

Panama City is by far the most developed city in Central America, which I am sure is due to the Panama Canal, which brings millions of dollars to the city.

It also has really wild buildings, and an amazing skyline...

Panama City Skyline

The Yacht Club Apartments...the building is shaped like a yacht!

We spent New Years Eve in Panama, which turned out to be quite the experience....first, we decided to go out at about 10:00pm, so that we would be at the club at midnight to ring in the New Year...we took a cab to the club, and the club was closed.  As it turns out, in Panama City, the clubs don't open until midnight on New Years Eve...people spend time with their family and friends, then go out!

So, to kill time, we went here for a couple of drinks.  If I was rich, I would have loved to spend a night here, but the bar had an awesome atmosphere, and we felt super fancy!

we enjoyed beverages that were way too expensive...and it was perfect.

After this, we returned to the club, where we were still early, but experienced the huge display of fireworks in the city when the year turned...It sounded more like we were under attack...huge fireworks everywhere, and this continued for about an hour...

We finally went home around 3am, just as the club was really picking up...but it was late enough for us, especially after 3 hours of an open bar!!

This was a fantastic start to 2013!

SCORPION!!

So, while at the tent loge we had all of our belongings in a wooden locker, which had a small infestation of large cockroaches...I don't like bugs, but they have become a fact of life living in Central America, and I do my best to avoid them..but when they are crawling in your belongings, you have to try to do your best not to pack them in your bag, so everything gets shaken out REALLY good..

As Erin and I were packing our things, we decided it would be wise to shake out or backpacks so that we did not take the huge cockroaches with us...

I shook out at least 1 HUGE one from my bag...and 1 SCORPION! I had never seen one before, but I am super tough, so I smashed it promptly with my trusty chaco, and swept it out the door of the tent...

A few minutes later, I thought it was coming back up the stairs to haunt me...but, as it turns out, the ants were taking it to their home...

the ans carrying their prize home

Luckily I am super tough, and didn't even make one little scream while this scenario played out...

Bocas del Toro

After one night in David, Panama, and one dinner of delicious Chinese food, Erin and I caught an early morning bus to Almirante, Panama, which is on the Caribbean coast. Our destination was the Palmar Tent Lodge, which you might recall me mentioning in December, around Christmas.

After arriving in Almirante we hopped in a water taxi to Bocas del Toro.  The water taxi driver went very fast, and more than once I was convinced that the bottom of the boat might actually fall out...luckily they had flattened life jackets for (almost) all aboard...As we were about half way to Bocas del Toro it began to rain, A LOT! At about this time Erin leaned over to me and said something to the effect of "I don't know where we are going...I THINK we must be going to an Island...I hope we're the right place!"  She had planned this portion of this trip, and I was quickly loosing faith...but, we arrived at the correct island, where we were able to later catch another water taxi to the Tent Lodge, on another island.

The rain had REALLY picked up by the time we were on the boat to the Lodge, and there was nothing dry left on me or in any of my bags.  When the boat finally docked we had to hike for about 10 minutes to the lodge, but this was not an easy hike.  It was still pouring rain and the path was very uphill and very slippery...at one point Erin took a pretty epic spill, and, being the good friend that I am, all I could do was laugh, and some other guy had to gather her up, as she was wearing her huge travel backpack and was at the mercy of someone to get her up...

The rain was relentless, and I think there was only 1 and a half days that we were there that it didn't rain, and for that time the beach was magnificent.  We spent Christmas Eve drinking wine and sleeping on the beach..that part of the trip was really perfect...

where we slept most of the time..the dorm tent

one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen

 We met a couple of older guys who were sailors who were from Portland, and were running the Marina in Bocas del Toro.  At the time, they were house sitting a beautiful villa and invited us over for dinner one night, and it was amazing...it was probably one of the most amazing houses I have ever been in, with a spectacular ocean view.

the fancy villa

After not being able to dry out for about a week and a half, Erin and I decided that if we didn't leave it may be the end of our relationship...being wet an in the rain constantly was not good for either of us...so, we left the rain for Panama City...

To Panama!!

After dealing with visas, paying a "gift" and our bus breaking down, we figured our bad luck had to be coming to an end...

We spent only one night in Costa Rica, as it is completely out of our budget, and woke up early to catch a bus to David, Panama, where we would then travel to Bocas del Toro to spend two weeks on the beach at at the Palmer Tent Lodge.

We woke up early and walked to the bus terminal, and quickly bought tickets to David.  We went to our bus, confirmed with the driver that we were on the correct bus, got on the bus with time to spare, and were sitting on the bus, relishing in our good luck of not only getting the exact bus we wanted, but also getting an emergency exit seat, so we had let room to spare...then a woman and her child walked up to us, and informed us that those were her seats.  Erin, so confidently told her that no, they were ours...then the bus driver took a look at our ticket and informed us that we were on the wrong bus, and our bus had already left...is this really happening???

So..we de-boarded yet another bus, gathered or things, and waited.  Finally, after waiting what seemed like forever, the jefe took pity on the gringas and got us on a bus...except, there were no more buses going to David, only to the boarder, so we would be stuck navigating the Panama Boarder ourselves..

After a long and HOT bus ride, 6 hours later we arrived at the Panama boarder, which was complete chaos.  The bus driver dropped us off, gave us our bags, and we were on our own. There were cars, taxis and buses going every way, but we managed to make it the the customs line, only to be informed that we had passed the building to get our Costa Rica exit stamp..so, we hiked back, backpacks in tow, to where we came from...meanwhile, it was HOT and HUMID...a group of travelers summed it up quite well when they saw us...

Traveler 1: Look! Gringas!

Traveler 2: Yeah, sweaty Gringas!

Ugh.

We did however manage to make it across the boarder fairly painlessly, and Erin squealed when we saw a bus for David, just as we walked across the boarder...and it was the most delightful bus ride I have ever had..it was air conditioned, chilly in fact, and played Spanish music videos...I had fallen in love with Panama.

Boarder Crossing and fancy buses

Yes, I know I have been a horrible blogger, but now I will try to update, starting with crossing the boarder from Nicaragua into Costa Rica, which was in December, just before Christmas.

So, after spending 3 days in Managua, Nicaragua we ventured to the immigration office early in the morning, only to find the line to it about 50 people deep...we stood in line for about 5 minutes, then decided that rather than waste our time, and MAYBE get an extension, we would just go buy a bus ticket to San Jose, Costa Rica, and get out of there.  This happened fairly easily, except we had to buy a round trip ticket, because you cannot enter Costa Rica without proof of leaving if you are not a resident.  Since we did not know when we would be returning, we bought an open ticket, no big deal.

Our last night in Managua we stayed at "Hostel Casa Blaca"....with a name like that, you know it's gonna be nice..it cost us $12, and the bathroom ceiling was held up with a spare door frame..REAL fancy...but, it was clean, safe, and a half a block from the bus terminal...and it had the fastest internet I have had in Central America.

We boarded the bus bright and early for Costa Rica, and everything was going well, until the boarder crossing.  With the bus line we were using, you give your passports to a helper on the bus, and he does the entire process for you, which is much faster than everyone on the bus doing it individually. While waiting for the bus guy to get our passports stamped, he came over to where we were waiting and asked for me.  He told Erin and I that I needed to pay a fine for overstaying my visa, which I figured I would have to do, and the fine was only $15, and we gave it to the friendly passport helper our money.  He began walking away, then came back, and said that we should probably give the customs officer a "regalito"...a little gift, which he said people "normally" give a little food or money...so, we gave the customs guy a "little gift" of $15 so that I would be able to cross back into Nicaragua to return to Honduras.

After that is said and done, we make our way through Costa Rica to San Jose...but then suddenly the bus driver keeps stopping a lot, the air conditioner starts going on and off, and finally he pulls over, and this happened:

waiting, oh so patiently, but then our rescuer pulls up behind!

yes. the bus broke down..and we sat, and waited...for over 2 hours...but then a semi pulled up, and was quite helpful, because then this happened:

and they contemplated, and decided the best place for a small chain...

and the perfect place for the chain was found

and we were rescued!!..or so we thought

and we all boarded the HOT bus, and the friendly semi driver towed us...about 20 yards to a gas station, where we de-boarded the bus...and waited.

Finally, quite some time later, a second bus came to our rescue, and we finally made our way to San Jose.

Although I didn't get a picture of it, my favorite part of the broken down bus was the warning sign that he put behind the bus..in the states it would be an orange cone, or the orange triangles..in Costa Rica, it is a bottle crate with two large palm leaves stuck in it, crossed, set about 2 feet from the back of the bus..I think OSHA would approve...safety first!