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Ok so a four week block coming in this blog baring in mind that its now a good few weeks since so memory is hazy!
So I was in Puerto Viejo in Costa Rica and I decided to go into Panama 4th nov and head straight to Bocas. I took the local bus to Sixaola the border and there got stamped and walked across approx 800km bridge over a muddy river on old train sleepers into panama where a little hole in a window was immigration. Luckily there were other tourists there too doing the same or I couldve walked straight by it. Since then I have met people whove done just that! At the border waiting for panama to let me in, I met a few other travellers heading to bocas islands and soon there was a group of about 12 of us.
The day we actually arrived into Panama was actually their independance day from Colombia so there were processions and dancing lining all the streets in every town we drove through and as our boat pulled up into Bocas main island Isla Colon the procession was in full swing down the main road. I had gotten soaked through on the boat as I was last on and took the worst spot in the back and all the spray culminated onto me. I had salt in my eyes and in every crease and piece of skin showing. wasnt too pleasant.
I had been chatting to a couple from oz on the boat. well she was kiwi but he was aussie and we ended up chatting about our travels and how much we loved certain places over a few beers and pork chops, finding out our trips had pretty much been the same just a few weeks apart and we knew the same people too at times. was quite funny gossiping about people we knew in Ometepe - the insane expats!
I caught up with a lot of sleep whilst in the sauna of a room in Bocas and didnt spend much money at all, great! lived on pizza slices and hot dogs for dirt cheap.
one day we rented a boat with dave and suze mates who theyd met along the road in various places and the driver took us to Bastimentos island where we went to Red Frog beach. we saw the famous red frogs, theyre so tiny like the size of a large safety pin only. and very striking. however I didnt take a photo because the children had bought them round in a leaf for a tip, well thinking its not sustainable and will kill the red frogs, we all refused to tip and one person decided to lecture the child! we also saw sloths in the wild whilst walking up to the beach. the beach was nice, not quite the picture I had in my head of it cus I thought it was a little dirty, and I also got eaten by sand flies in the whole hour I was there. the boat was waiting so off we went to a coral reef to snorkel. it was chilly out so I decided I wasnt going in and the water didnt look appealing or clear, good decision I think cus the others didnt see much and found it underwhelming and then freezing afterwards. Finally on our trip we were taken to Dolphin bay. We floated along slowly for about 15mins without seeing a dolphin and said ahh its ok we shall leave but the driver was determined for us to see them as theyre there all the time. within a few more minutes loads of dolphins appeared and were swimming between the waves of the boat and around us. I had forgotten to put the memory card in my camera but I took photos on someone elses and I'm waiting for them to be emailed.
In the evenings there was a million parties everynight but only a couple nights I went out and not to the pricey bars really. I saw fire hula hooping which was cool to watch. I just felt Bocas was completely over rated.
I had managed in my chill time in bocas to book my boat to Colombia for the 29th and I had 3 weeks to kill. So what to do. I decided one day to leave the next morning and head back to Nicaragua to spend a few weeks with Robinson and chill there in a beautiful place I loved.
So next morning I left in the hope of reaching Liberia in the north of Costa Rica by night but failed miserably. I left at 5am nica time and took the boat over to Almirate in Panama where I got hassled and led to believe there would be more people arriving soon going direct to the border like me. I waited 30minutes being harassed and questioned the whole time if I had a boyfriend and the usual s*** like that by 3 caribbean guys. finally I got fed up and flagged down a taxi for $1 to take me to the bus station. I had to change and take 2 buses to the border but I got there early and had to wait for the bus to go to san jose in costa rica. instead I took one going along the caribbean to Limon and then changed grabbing some snacks in the town there. Finally I arrived before my time limit curfew in which I allow myself to travel within ie 4pm is the latest I will get on a long bus or I will arrive too late for hostels and potentially more dangerous. so I stood up to get off my bus at 3:30pm and as I was queueing to get off I felt someone behind keep bumping into me repeatedly. so I turned to check what was going on and caught a guy about 55 years old going through the front pocket of my day rucksack. I slapped his hand away and zipped it back up and said angrily what the hell do u think youre doing in english. my spanish fails me when I really bloody need it. I was a little shocked but more angry but soon got over it in order to reach the next bus terminal for 4pm bus to Liberia. I got there in record time and the guy said we arent running buses for 7 days in the afternoon past 2pm. so that was it, I was stuck in san jose for a night which wasnt too bad just meant getting up stupidly early the next day again. I flagged another taxi down and had to direct him to my hostel and I had a hot shower and food then an early night. I didnt sleep well cus I couldnt relax as my trip was half done, so I checked bus times in the night and decided the 4:30am bus was best option. however having not slept at 3:30 I fell asleep and woke at 4. jumped out of bed, packed and checked out in record time and flagged a taxi who drove slow to crank up the meter price and then arrived 2minutes in a dodgy area just after the bus had left. always the way even though I was there 15minutes before the expected departure time. so annoying. so I got a ticket for the next luckily at 4:50am but not direct so kept stopping to let people off in random places. we made it to the border in 5.5 hours with a stopover for half hour in a service station. not bad. by 11:15 I had crossed the border alone and was sat on the bus waiting to go to San Jorge and then to the Ometepe Ferry. I took the 12:30 ferry and arrived an hour later. showered checked in and chilled out then robinson called expecting me to be at the border. I was like I'm here!!! surprising how much u can put urself through to get to a place you love!
I literally did barely anything whilst in Ometepe. A couple nights I went out drinking and I rented a motorbike another day and rode the length of the paved road. I felt uncomfortable to start with then I fell into the rhythm and loved it again. I read a great book called Girl with the dragon tattoo in 3 days and got completely engrossed into it. Life in Moyogalpa was good. I was relaxed. I was invited out with the expats one night to welcome some returning ones back and we all had a few too many bevvies. it was interesting to say the least however.
One night there was a party in Altagracia. its an annual worship the bull weird kinda thing they have out here, never really asked what it was about or if I did I cant recall but basically an excuse for a party. so me n robinson rode there, its like 20km away and I got to ride his gorgeous bike for a bit too. we partied a bit, got a free beer and by the end I had let myself go as there were very very few white people there, all a very local affair and prime target for theives. it was good fun after a few beers though!i enjoyed watching robinson let himself go. the ride back was funny. robinson found a village and held the horn on the motorbike down the whole way through!!! was so loud, but I guess they were probably at the party or annoyed. gotta be childish sometimes eh!
A few days later it was time to head back down to Panama exactly the same route I had taken 2 weeks previous and I wasnt looking forward to doing it alone again. but as soon as I said my goodbyes and got on the ferry I found other people heading to the border and we teamed up to share a taxi there for dirt cheap. then one polish guy was going to san jose too so we booked on same bus and chilled out at the border while we waited for an hour having lunch.
Spent one night again in San Jose and headed early again to the border to Panama. the border guards accepted my second fake plane ticket a the same border and they even recognised me whilst searching my bags! they were happy and sent me on my way. weird thing was, I met a guy,Adam, whod been part of the road trip group in costa rica at the border. he came up to me as I crossed alone and was like what the hell are you doin here. so we all shared a minibus and went to bocas. I went there in order to meet Kerry and her 2 visiting friends from England and I even got there before her even though they were not that far away from Bocas in Panama somewhere. they were shocked when they walked in and I'm in a hammock chilling out!
We spent the afternoon catching up together and I was getting to know her mates Carmen and Liz. We all got on well and began the drinking early afternoon. It was a good afternoon and we had a good dinner. then wandered to a few different bars and sights. Carmen went to sleep early so we met adam and his girl and the 5 of us went over to another island containing the most popular bar called Aqualounge. it is all a floating deck with holes cut out for swimming and then they have swings into the sea. all very cool. we arrived during ladies hours so we got free drinks, excellent! The night was amazing. I was in and out of the water and having a good time.
It was when we came back at 4am that things went pearshaped. We took the last boat back to our island and were invited to some guys place for an afterparty. I wasnt planning on going however by the time we got off the boat on the other side 2 guys had began a dispute and unfortunately I had gotten in the way cus I didnt realise this was happening and I was shoved into the sea. I was completely submerged and then came up shocked and angry. I had to swim closer to the boat for some local guys to drag me out one on each hand as it was so far down from the dock I couldnt reach anything. I didnt realise to begin with that I had cut my feet and legs on coral on the bottom and was bleeding. I went around shouting asking who'd pushed me in and was pointed towards a guy. I went over shouting at him a few times, then it started to get a bit hairy and luckily kerry and liz were shouting to come find the stuff id lost. luckily it was only my flip flops. the guy disappeared and the police left. I went off trying to find him and failed. luckily the police turned up and I told them what happened and they took us back to our hostel. it caused so much of a stir I met a guy a few days later in panama city who asked about my cuts and then said ah ur one of the ones involved. it was the talk of the island for a day after and the guy who pushed me in got beaten up when id walked away to go to kerry and been taken to hospital with a broken nose! haha karma got him!
So the next day sore and feeling awful, I decided that was it, I'm going to Panama City on the bus that night. So I booked and began my journey.
I arrived groggy and exhausted in Panama City at 5am and the hostel were so kind to let me stay the night for free in a bed cus it was already 5am. I slept til midday then showered and left to go shopping in a huge mall. I got some new flipflops and essentials and headed back.
Next day was much the same, I went shopping on the main street in the city where I was staying as it was budget shopping and great!
Third day I went to the ruins in the city with some people I met in the hostel and then to the old part of Panama City. It had a weird unsafe vibe so didn't think much of Casco Viejo. It rained the whole day but when I got back to the hostel, I met the first of my boat crew to Colombia Vicki. So we had a few beers and chilled out.
Next morning, I woke up to more crewmates having arrived. Only 1 person missing. I tagged along with 3 aussies to the panama canal. we got a great spot in the restaurant and watched a cargo ship go through the canal. strangely I found it exciting stuff even though it was a slow process. then we saw a cruise liner and a huge cargo ship both maximum sixe for the locks and they were guided through too at roughly the same time! it was interesting. cant go to panama and not see the thing that made it famous. I ran around that day getting all the last minute things for the boat and then packed.
The sailing to come in another blog... :)
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