Panama - Bocas Del Torro

After a horrible, packed and stuffy journey through the landslide prone mountains we finally reached the Caribbean coast and the promised land of Bocas Del Torro.  Due to the fact that this area is a surfing region, made up of a cluster of islands with white beaches and crystal clear water and palm trees (think back to the aforementioned cliche) make it a popular tourist attraction for 'youths'.  We weren't quite ready to dive head first into the world of old day drinking by the pool, burgers and fry ups that is the main island of Bocas Del Torro.  So we headed for the more chilled out and authentic island of Bastimentos.  

We reached our gigantic hostel by boat.  We think it is fair to say that the majority boat drivers in Bocas seem to have a major inferiority complex, as all the engines attached to the back of their boats are powerful enough to lift a helicopter, but the boats that they are attached to a small and rickety (its like attaching a rocket to a paper airplane).

We arrived to the sound of raggae and the call of the hostel host Dixon.  A typical carribean bloke; laid back, funny, cocky and doesn't move a lot.  If you read the lonely planet for Panama and look up Hostel Bastimentos it will say " Dixon, the host couldn't be nicer", which is true, but we didn't let him know that, we just asked how much he paid them to write it.  In the high season apparantley the place is booming, but we arrived in the low season. We were in fact the only ones there, in which case Dixon had all the time to spend playing us at cards... we say play, but for him it must have been like bouncing a ball against a brick wall, because there wasn't a lot of competition from our end.  He beat us at every game we played, much to his enjoyment.

We spent a few days exploring the stunning and deserted beaches, canoeing and snorkling. Our snorkling guide was a German bloke who had been living on the island for a few years (it's very disconcerting to hear through a thick German accent the words 'yah mon'!).  As we were preparing to enter the water to snorkel near an area of mangroves, the German chap briefed us on some of the dangers we might face, one of which was the box jellyfish, supposidly one of the most dangerous jelly fish around.  He said that once he got stung by one of them and was in so much shock and pain that two guys had to pull him out of the water.  This obviously put us on the edge a little and rightly so  because either of us would be swimming and the other would give a tap on the shoulder to point out a jelly fish right by their feet.  For most activities in the water Ben would wear a t-shirt to stop him from getting sunburnt. Unfortunatley, his trusty t-shirt failed to protect his skin miserably, as one of the jelly fish got caught in it and he got stung.  Ben took it more like a man than the German chap though, the swelling had gone right down by the next day.

After a few days of chilling out on the island of Bastimentos we decided to move onto the town and island of Bocas Del Torro.  Although more developed, the island had some beautiful spots that are away from all the hustle and bustle; like star fish beach.  This place is basically a beach with lots of star fish (not just a clever name)!  The amazing thing about this place is the biodivirsity; on the way to the beach we saw; a monkey, a crocidile, a huge flock of vultures, friendly fish that tickle your feet, flying fish and of course, the inevitable star fish.  

Someone's sitting there mate

After a long day at the beach it was time to head over to the infamous bar on another island called Aqua Lounge.  We read about this place about a one and half years ago in the Guardian, it is basically a club set on the water with swimming pools cut into the decking over the sea, with swings and trampolines that youths (and Ben) jump off into the water for giggles.  Its safe to say that safety regulations would'nt allow this place to exist in the UK, with beers served all day at 1$ and free drinks for ladies (it was ladies night after all), this place as you can imagine was carnage.  We met three lovely Australians there who were actually staying there as it was also a hostel, these girls would drink most guys under the table.  We went back there to hang out over the next few days, which made us quite thankfull that we were staying on another island, as nobody ever seemed to leave this place. If they planned to do something in the day the plans would easily be thwarted to distractions; such as all day drinking games, beer pong and of course, swings and tramploines.  We had a great time in Bocas, we met some really sound people, however, Costa Rica was calling us, so on we went across the border. 

Panama - Boquete

The Local Buses (old school buses from USA)

We both really enjoyed winding down in Santa Catalina, although looking forward to our trip to the mountain region of Boquete. After another 4 bus journeys we arrived in Boquete in the afternoon, it was noticably cooler and wetter at 1800m, I guess this is to be expected. We were coaxed into staying in a cheap and cheerful hostel, well actually it was more like this guys house; you walked into his living room to him either watching football or his kids playing nintendo. This wouldn't have been so bad if the bloke didn't drag you into a 20min conversation every time you went to the loo.  Saying that he was very friendly and drew us a detailed map which we used to get up to the water fall in the mountains.

A samosa flavored pasty

It was a fair old trek to get there; up slippery mountain paths and through thick jungle and past scary dogs (Ben even offered one a banana to keep the peace, which unsurprisingly, the K9 declined) . Being at such a high altitude made the hike all the more difficult, but it was part of the experince that made the waterfall all the more beautiful. On walk we stopped for lunch overlooking mountain valleys whilst Ben got stuck into a Central American pasty (empanada), which is not a touch on the real thing...

On our way down the weather started to do it's thing and has one of it's flash down pours... when we say flash, we actually mean relentless! It started raining at 13:00 and didn't stop for the rest of our stay. This was a shame as it meant that we couldn't walk around the coffee plantations like we planned, Boquete is world renowned for its coffee; it's geisha coffee retails for mere $170 per pound. It was a relief to see the back of Boquete, not that we wouldn't recommend going there, we were just unlucky with the weather and our choice of hostel (we find the simple things can make or break a place).

Panama - Santa Catalina

We decided that for our next stop we should head to the coast for some proper R & R, so off we went to Santa Catalina, on the Pacific coast.  A hectic 10 hour journey, via 3 buses and 1 taxi saw us arrive at our destination in the evening.  We were welcomed by palm trees and coconut groves and the sound of waves lapping the shore (you know the cliche, free your minds and have a dip, the water is warm), just what the doctor ordered!

We spent a few days in Santa Catalina soaking up the sun (maybe a little too much, even with factor 50 Ben looked as though he had been cooked on a BBQ) and catching some amazing waves.  We both noticed how much easier it is to surf without a wet-suite, which essentially feels like trying to catch a wave while wearing a big rubber band.  Surfing 'sans wet-suite' gives you a lot more freedom of movement (although ladies, a word of advice from Cara, tie those bikinis on tight, as they tend to be rather difficult to keep a hold of). 

In Britain we often complain about the rain but after a few days in Panama I now believe that you haven't seen rain until you've been to this neck of the woods: this rain came like Armagedon. It pours for 30mins; creates raging tourants of water down the street, off roof tops and even through our hotel corridor. Then the sun comes out, the birds start singing and within 15mins you're non the wiser.

Panama

Panama City
Another good flight saw us fly in over the rainforest between Panama and Columbia; the Darien (for the worried parents, please be assured that we will not be venturing into this area of Panama).


The airport was a wash with screaming babies (although very cute ones) and queues!  Once we finally got through customs we headed towards the nearest taxi rank.  Walking through the exit was like opening an oven door ´muy muy caliente´.

Our hotel was situated in the old town of ´Casco Viejo´(a world heritage site no less) a very quaint little place with lots of stuning colonial buildings, some of which are pristine, others are close to ´going the way of all things´.  After heading to our rooms to sort ourselves out, we then headed out for our first (and well deserved) Panamanian Cerveza, very tasty!  Prices here seem to be similar prices to USA for food, with beer as low as $1.50 in a bar or 40c in a shop.  Beer is actually cheaper than soft drinks here!

Our plan on the second day was to sort our lives out, get some cash and head to Panama Canal. However this proved to be easier said than done as our bank cards would not work ANYWHERE! So we headed into the vortex that is the main city  towards the HSBC, still no luck. After a hefty and lengthy international call to Barclays bank we managed to get them unblocked, apparently the meeting in the bank in England to inform them of our travel plans wasn´t sufficient enough (tone; sarcastic).

Finally we managed to get some dinero from an ATM, by which time it was too late to head to the Panama Canal… So off we went for another cerveza. First observations of Panama is that the people are extremely laid back, so far we have had no hassle from anyone, they are also very patient with our limited Spanish. Another observation (from Cara) is that Ben is finding it somewhat more difficult to acclimatise to the heat than me (perhaps the Asian influence is falling in Cara´s favour in this situation). Having a shower is almost a token gesture for Ben, as 10 minutes after drying himself off, he looks like he just stepped out of the shower again. Our walks around Casco Viejo have been punctuated by many a 10 minute break beneath a tree for Ben to pull himself together.  

Cara has also noticed that the Panamanians seem to launch straight into Spanish when addressing me , when I reply “no intiendo” (i don´t understand) they just repeat themselves, but louder, until the point where they are almost shouting, to which I reply; “I´ll be heading off now, cherrio”. We got chatting to some people in our hostel, some Panamanian, south African and Colombian people and they gave the inside story; apparently if it wasn´t for Cara´s thick British accent, people would think she was Panamanian, hence the locals confusion.When we first arrived at our hotel there seemed to be a lot of rather dodgy looking people hanging around the communal area; a Colombian guy looked like he had either stepped straight out of the rain forest (with all his piercings, tattoos and dreadlocks) or he was about ready to mug you. Turns out he was a really nice bloke from columbia, here with his girlfriend and both of whom made jewellery. Being that it was our 5th anniversary that day Ben and I thought it would be fitting to get a bracelet made by this guy. He put 5 stones in each one, which originated from Brasil, Chile, Uruguay, Argentina and Peru; places that he had collected them from.A lesson that we have both learnt is that one should never judge someone by their appearance, as this guy turned out to be ‘sound as a pound’.

New York "Hey I'm walking Here"

An early start saw us up at 5am to get to the airport, where we indulged in free food and drink at the VIP lounge (courtsy of Ben´s bank). After a fairly uneventful flight we landed in New York 13:00 local time, to...wait for it...RAIN! How very upsetting, we could even see reports of the heat wave going on in the UK, a bit of a kick in the teeth needless to say.

After heading to our tiny hotel room we decided to dive head first into the world of tourism with a trip to times Square. with he early start, long flight and time difference; Cara was feeling a bit bewildered, almost like an outer body experience. Our first observations of the Yanks is that they can be rather large and rather loud...but rather friendly all the same.

As planned, we met up with Tim and Anna for food and drinks. Cara was first to move onto the short drinks and after a short time was looking rather more rosy cheeked than the rest, having discovered that a normal drink doesn´t involve a standard form of measurement, we are fairly certain we were drinking trebbles. After a 24hr day we both had to throw in the towel and so left Tim and Anna representing the Brits at which ever club we were in.

Our tour around the city was your garden variety tourist experience with visits to big guns such as; Central Park, The Natural History Museum, Times Square, Top of the Rockafella Tower, over the Brooklyn Bridge, Ground Zero, Statten Island Ferry, Statue of Liberty and pizza in Little Italy.

We both collectively agree that the highlight was central Park, where we rented bikes (under recommendation from Tim and Anna) and cycled around the whole thing, what a great place!

New York was a great start to the trip, already looking forward to going back, although next time with a larger budget. That way we can experience some of the more subtle activities, such as; fine dinning, a spot of shopping, shows and more booze... to bite a different part of the apple so to speak. Next time eh?!

Searching for Mogwai in China Town

London Counts

A big thank you to those that came to our leaving party and for your video messages Ben was blubbering for hours...

After leaving Cornwall with a stop off at Reading we got the train to London. Stayed at Andy´s where we sorted out the last few bits and bobs, meet up with the crew for dinner near London Bridge; at the Hilton non the less (a John Moore special).

On our last day in the UK we had a great day of tourism with Andy, riding Borris bikes around Hyde Park and meeting up with Alex in Soho for drinks, where we saw Stephen fry! Out doing his shopping. We continued with the drinking theme meeting up at Pete´s new pub in Brixton, all of which was under the umbrella of beaming sunshine, what a treat.