My post is late this week because we had a power outage on Friday. The previous weekend I took a four day vacation to an archipelago in Panama called Bocas Del Toro.I left on Friday night after work and took the bus to San Jose. On the bus I met a Canadian-American citizen who worked in Costa Rica for a couple of weeks studying monkeys. He goes to St. Andrews University in Scotland and knows a number of UWO students who do exchanges there. He heard some good things about a couple of hostels in San Jose, so we went to one that was full, and then finally found space in another hostel. The hostel had a very relaxed atmosphere and most of the people were taking a plane out of San Jose the next day. I met one guy from San Francisco who had spent the last 4 months in a language school and surfing constantly. There was also a girl from Montreal who was just leaving after spending a month on the beaches of Costa Rica. Since they were both leaving, they were a little envious that I still have eight months left here. In the morning there was free breakfast, they had a big pot of pancake batter and a bunch of portable stoves so everyone could cook up a plate of pancakes.
I caught a bus directly to Panama at 9 am. The road first had to run across the middle of the Costa Rica mountians to the Caribbean side. In the 70's they decided on a route to build a major highway across the country. However the environmentalists protested because it was unspoiled wilderness. A compromise was reached that the road would be built, however the entire area would become a national park. This made for an excellent bus ride because there were countless lush, unspoiled mountain valleys filled with jungles and waterfalls.
Once the highway reached the Caribbean at the city of Puerto Limon it turned and ran along the Caribbean coast to Panama. The people on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica and Panama are very different from San Jose and the Pacific side. Most of them are Jamaican immigrants who came over in the 1800's to help build a railroad and stayed because of the banana boom. There are also a smaller number of Chinese immigrants and a large rural population of natives. Most of the people here can speak English and Spanish which I can mostly understand, but to each other mostly speak a Creole mix of the two, which I can't. The Panamanian border crossed was very relaxed and I had no trouble crossing. The border itself was actually an old railway bridge but it now used by vehicles. Only one vehicle at a time could cross, and people walking had to make sure they didn't fall between the planks. After getting off the bus at the next town I took a taxi to the dock where I caught a boat taxi to the main town in the archipelago. It was an interesting ride because the boat went at high speeds through a series of canals that had natives in dugout canoes waving as we rushed by. I knew the main town was rather touristy, so I planned to head to a nearby island, Bastimiento, that was more isolated. Arriving at the town there was an boat taxi waiting to take people to the island. I was initially the only person to jump in, but a couple who were unimpressed by their first impression of the town were convinced by my description of the island to come too. Our boat driver took us to Bastimiento and dropped us off at a hostel in the one small town. We all decided that the floating building was a good choice and got our rooms there. The guy was a French surfer/student who was spending 4 months in Panama and Costa Rica surfing and the girl was a health food store/yoga instructor from California.
We were the only people in the hostel so we went looking for a place to eat supper. The town is extremely laid back and doesn't have a single vehicle, not even a bicycle. The main street, as seen in the picture, is simply a sidewalk. The people were very friendly and some were more so. For example: Question"Where is the supermarket?" Answer"The supermarket of ganja?". It's not the first time I've been offered weed, but it was the most creative. We found a recommended restaurant that was excellent and cheap.
The next morning I followed the path across the island to the beach. I was expecting a well-used path, maybe even a sidewalk, but it ended up being a half hour walk along an extremely slippery path with ankle deep mud through the jungle. In other words, a lot of fun. Later in the day, when there were other people coming down to the beach, there were some with a big smile, and others who were covered in mud and looked like they wanted to kill somebody. The beach was very beautiful and was empty. I ate my breakfast and Alex, the French surfer showed up. He had managed to bring his surfboard over the trail and he was eager to try out the waves, but they weren't up to his standard. I was planning on walking down the beach, but there was a storm coming, so we went back to town, but the rain came quickly and my stuff got soaked. I spent the rest of the time drying it out. Strangely, it seemed to always rain at night and in the morning, but never in the afternoon, which is what I have grown used to.
After lunch, the rain cleared up we returned to the beach and I managed to explore more of the beach. Most of the island is uninhabited and half of it is protected as a park so there was lots of beaches and jungles to explore. I learned that when you are walking in the jungle, you should never stop and take a picture. Twice when I did that I failed to notice that I was standing on an ant nest and my feet got covered in itchy ant bites. I also came across a whole bunch of army ants that were marching at least 6 feet deep. There was also a little lake where a young native child was throwing pieces of bread into the water. I realized that he was feeding two smallish crocodiles who actually seemed to enjoy the food. He was very proud of his job and he excitedly explained all the different kinds of food the crocodiles would eat. They also would chase after the turtles in the water, but never caught any.
The next day it was raining in the morning so I hung out in the hammock. After the sun came out I explore more of the beaches, especially one rocky penninsula where the waves were crashing particularly hard. I got accidentally soaked a couple times and thats probably why two of the buttons on my camera no longer work. Any more buttons give out and I'll be only able to take one type of picture. However there were some neat tidal pools with different kinds of fish in them. When I returned to the main beach I found Alex there scouting out the waves. He said the waves were bigger today and he had arranged a boat ride to another island where the waves were supposed to be even better. I was ready to check out another island so we walked back to the town and caught a ride. However the boat just dropped Alex off far from shore, so I continued on to explore the main island and the town of Bocas del Toro. The town was extremely tourist-oriented and was completely different from the island I was staying. It was full of foreign tourists as well as foreigners who had moved here permanently. There even was an airport where you could fly to San Jose or Panama City. I returned to Bastimiento Island when it got dark. It happened to be Blue Monday on Bastimiento, and there was a large party in one of the bars in town that every body in town went to.
The next day I had to return to Bagaces. I left at 8:30 in the morning. I took a boat taxi to the main town. At 9:00 I took a boat taxi to the mainland. It was a different route than the one I took before and the calm waters and many islands reminded me of cottage country with palm trees instead of pine trees and dugouts instead of canoes. I needed to rush to catch the bus to San Jose at the next town so I crammed into a cab. We arrived after the bus had left, but I found another full cab that was going to the border. Luckily the bus was still at the border when I arrived, so I was able to get on. Unfortunately my luck ran out at that point. The bus had to stop soon in a nearby town because there was a problem with the tire. After a half hour of sitting in the hot bus, the tire was replaced with the spare and we left again. However we had to stop regularly to check the tire and before we got back to the San Jose the bus driver gave up and pull off the road. I had heard and seen many buses breaking down in Costa Rica, but this was the first for me. We waited around and eventually another bus with a few empty seats pulled over and we moved into the new bus. Finally arriving in San Jose, I caught the 6:00 pm bus to Bagaces. Now I had the pleasure of experiencing a San Jose traffic jam for the first time. The traffic was slowed to a crawl and it took an hour to get out of the city. When I finally reached Bagaces at 11:00 pm I was tired but I now am an experienced Costa Rican bus rider.
