Tuesday JULY 1, 2008
More from Jenifer:
We left Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica this morning and headed for Bocas del Toro, Panama. Yesterday morning it rained but otherwise we've been blessed with sunshine and 1000% humidity. Never sweat so much in my life, and it hasn't even been that high of a temperature.
Riding on a grimy public bus with the wind flying in my hair and people crowding the aisles I felt truly happy and in my element. When a lady with a box of baby chickens (which, by the way, say "pio, pio" here, not "cheep, cheep") sat down beside me I thought "Yes! I can call it a real ''chicken bus.'" But standing in immigration lines at the border with a heavy backpack on, walking over a rickety bridge to cross the river into Panama, and then buying a tourist visa (which interestingly only Americans and Canadians had to purchase, not Europeans--yes we're the ones with all the big bucks?!?), and then being told we're going to have to stand in line and wait for another hour because their immigration window was closed for lunch (it was 11:45 when we got there) made me realize I could be a grumpy tourist! Strangely it opened ten minutes later, and after haggling for a taxi (instead of catching another bus, and then a collectiva) we were on our way to Finca 60 where you catch the water taxi over to the islands. 45 minutes or so at high speeds in a motor boat and we were docking at Isla Colon in the town of Boca. Another brief taxi ride to the hotel I'd made reservations at and we were there. What a dive I'd gotten for $75 a night! This one will need a few pictures for justification. Four beds crammed into a small room, no dresser, chair or anything. No windows. The shower stall is IN the bedroom. The sink burps out yellow water. The toilet seat has a crack in it. Someone had started to paint beige semigloss over white flat but never finished. There was one redeeming factor: it had AC! I can't believe this place was recommended by a travel guidebook. We're switching to an exceedingly nicer looking place practically across the street for the next two nights for the same price. I guess when it comes to tourism, the market can sustain just about anything when there are idiots (us) to pay for it. Just like someone tried to get us to go on a boat tour of attractions for $450 a day, when most are offering it for $20-25 a person a day! Go figure.
We walked the small town pretty thoroughly today and found a terrific place for dinner--a little waterside joint run by two American ex-surfer gals. Live music and great food for reasonable prices. My feet are killing me from wearing sandals instead of tennis shoes. I've scratched most of my bug bites raw and Bob and David are still complaining of sunburned shoulders when they carry their backpacks. La Vida is Buena!
More from Jenifer:
We left Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica this morning and headed for Bocas del Toro, Panama. Yesterday morning it rained but otherwise we've been blessed with sunshine and 1000% humidity. Never sweat so much in my life, and it hasn't even been that high of a temperature.
Riding on a grimy public bus with the wind flying in my hair and people crowding the aisles I felt truly happy and in my element. When a lady with a box of baby chickens (which, by the way, say "pio, pio" here, not "cheep, cheep") sat down beside me I thought "Yes! I can call it a real ''chicken bus.'" But standing in immigration lines at the border with a heavy backpack on, walking over a rickety bridge to cross the river into Panama, and then buying a tourist visa (which interestingly only Americans and Canadians had to purchase, not Europeans--yes we're the ones with all the big bucks?!?), and then being told we're going to have to stand in line and wait for another hour because their immigration window was closed for lunch (it was 11:45 when we got there) made me realize I could be a grumpy tourist! Strangely it opened ten minutes later, and after haggling for a taxi (instead of catching another bus, and then a collectiva) we were on our way to Finca 60 where you catch the water taxi over to the islands. 45 minutes or so at high speeds in a motor boat and we were docking at Isla Colon in the town of Boca. Another brief taxi ride to the hotel I'd made reservations at and we were there. What a dive I'd gotten for $75 a night! This one will need a few pictures for justification. Four beds crammed into a small room, no dresser, chair or anything. No windows. The shower stall is IN the bedroom. The sink burps out yellow water. The toilet seat has a crack in it. Someone had started to paint beige semigloss over white flat but never finished. There was one redeeming factor: it had AC! I can't believe this place was recommended by a travel guidebook. We're switching to an exceedingly nicer looking place practically across the street for the next two nights for the same price. I guess when it comes to tourism, the market can sustain just about anything when there are idiots (us) to pay for it. Just like someone tried to get us to go on a boat tour of attractions for $450 a day, when most are offering it for $20-25 a person a day! Go figure.
We walked the small town pretty thoroughly today and found a terrific place for dinner--a little waterside joint run by two American ex-surfer gals. Live music and great food for reasonable prices. My feet are killing me from wearing sandals instead of tennis shoes. I've scratched most of my bug bites raw and Bob and David are still complaining of sunburned shoulders when they carry their backpacks. La Vida is Buena!
3 comments:
Wow ! What an experience Its great to hear about you trip
Love Mom & Dad
Wow, your trip sure sounds interesting and challenging! Third world vacationing, well, any vacationing can have lots of surprises. Of course, one hopes the fun and wonderful surprises outweigh the negative. You will have some great tales to tell! Jenifer, I left you a short email at your regular address with with some hopefully helpful info about your health concerns. I'll keep checking in on your updates - it is so wonderful to know some of the details and not having to wait till you get home. You are on my mind ALOT. I just got to Christine's day before yesterday and had to wait a day for my suitcase!
Love you,
Marla
Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful adventure with us. I look forward to your entries. Are those star fish? Beautiful..
Susan and kids are here now and we're having a great time.
I'm thinking about you and praying for you. May God bless you with precious memories and keep you safe. Love you, Aunt Ruth and Uncle Neil
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