More Pictures

Instead of just having one car stuck in the mud we decided to have two

See the girl holding the umbrella...She never let go of that thing

Yes, I had a good time.

We arived to the boat and could not enter with the mud so decided that a midnight swim was in order.

Our friend Marco showing us how its done

Amrei showing her love for the boat

The Stahlratte itself

The beauty of the San Bla islands

The three on the left on our lovely little crew that kept us fed, happy and dancing through the night.

The Open Sea

The boat was spectacular. We were 19 in all with plenty of beds for everyone. The Stahleratte was 40 meters in length and full of wonder. We spent the first three days sailing through the San Blas islands and taking many swim breaks in the beautifully blue ocean. The boat became a mini paradise.

We had the options of swimming to the islands or taking a little motor boat. I opted for both depending on my energy. It is a different experience swimming in the ocean the water can be any where from completely calm like a lake to incredibly tumultuous with a fast current.

The crew worked very well together. We had plenty of feed and took turns organizing the meals. No one got sea sick which was spectacular though I am sure it had to do a lot with the size of the boat. One day when we were moving from one island to another we found ourselves int he comapany of a little group of dolphins they jumped back and forth around the boat and gave us quite a show.

As we made our way from the islands the next two days were spent surrounded by water as we headed toward Cartegena. I got my chance to stear as I kept the boat at 80 degrees NE. We had a mid morning swim break in the middle of the Carribeann and I had never seen such blue water. While I was in the water I spent time thinking how there was nothing for miles on any side of us and how beneath us was a world I could only imagine.

We arrived in Cartegena, Colombia early yesterday morning as we awaited the arrival of our stampled passports. This was the first time I did not need to be present to enter a country. Our team of 19 slowly dispersed into the city though we met back up last night for a last hurrah. The streets of Cartegena appear to be a lot more busy than other places we have been. The streets were full of noise, street vendors, children and laughter and it was sunday night. I cannot wait to see what the next week brings.

The Day before the Open Sea

We loaded up our stuff Monday morning and like noted previously said good-bye reluctantly to our new found friends. We met our captain and the majority of the other passengers and loaded up in Jeeps. The idea was that we had to drive to the opposite side of the county near miramar to arrive at the carribean side where the boat is. The trip was to be the cheapest and was supposed to take anywhere from three to five ours. We left at 9am and arrived at the boat at 9pm.

Hold up #1- The road was blocked by some locals claiming some problem with the water, so we waited at a local restuarant for an hours or so.

Hold up #2- We are making our way through the muddy roads a line of two trucks and a jeep. The rain begins and our driver crosses himself rather seriously. Unbeknownst to us what lies ahead, we venture on. As the rain continues the road gets muddier and the hills get steeper. My heart starts to jump and the jeep starts to slide every which way across the road up a rather steep hill. We get half way and start to go backwards. The driver stops and tries again. Once again we go backwards and sidways straight into the side of the hill.

The other two trucks had made it and the front one cotninued on. Mere, me, our friends Amrei and Pierre loaded out of the jeep and pondered our predicament. Soon the other truck starts to back down the hill thinking he is gonna pull the jeep out. Very unlikely. All it did was get two cars stuck in the mud half way of this hill.

After 2 or so hours of mud sliding, pushing and pulling we were able to get the jeep down the hill and with everyones help we attached it to a thick rope and were able to get it to the top.

Hold up #3- Before we were able to get the truck up the same path our captain shows up with the from diver. They had tipped over about 20min further up the road. After we get both cars to the top we make our way to the fallen soldier. Every hill is about the same and we deboard at the bottom to lessen the wait and watch as our brave drivers go slipping and sliding up the muddy slopes.

When we arrive to the flipped truck it does not look good. The front left tire is stuck in a hole and the poor truck looks like a sad beetle stuck on its side and unable to get under itself. We rig the other truck and jeep, one behine the other to pull the truck rightside up. It actually worked quicker then expected though the truck was not going to run. so we were down to two cars.

Hold up #4- At this point it was getting very dark and we began to realize the the raod we were on was the midnight trail for the drug smugglers. We knew we had to hurry so we crammed everyone in the two remaining cars and somehow made some headway. The previous day we learned that another crew had lost two cars to the road up ahead so we were met by some locals who had to take us by boat since the river had taking over the road. The boat was slower than the cars but actually was a pleasant ride and I got to see the aftermath of the fallen jeep from the day before. It looked quite peaceful resting along side of us in the river.

Finally we made it to the boat for a late evening swim to wash off the mud and greet the crew. It was a day well spent and I was tired.

A world of city adventures

A few little entertaining things about the city.

-Prices are obsolete. I helped a guy order a stoli (vodka) on the rocks and the bartender told me it would be $2.48 when I questioned the reasoning of $2.48 he said, ¨Fine $2.50 then.¨ We have been charged $2.00, $1.75, and $1.65 for the exact same distance in a taxi.

-There are no such thing as traffic laws only horns. The honk of a horn can say ¨Im passing you so dont veer into me,¨ ¨No one better be coming because I am running this stop sign,¨ ¨Hey George hows it going, check it out I got gringas in my car¨and a world of other odd interpretations.

An overview of our little street in Casco Viejo San Felipe.

We look out our Balocony of our little room and can see everything that is needed to be seen. Its just like that big city scene in the movies, we have all the essentials. The barber shop that is a local hang out for little kids to dance, old men to gossip and teens to meet and talk about the night. We have the local ¨street guy¨ Jimmy, who reports the happeneing to the locals, helps direct the few moments of traffic, runs errands that any local business needs and is there for general ambiance. The street is very narrow and very energetic. One noght I got to witness a little police teenage shoutoff. Actually they were more like 12 year old girls. It got pretty heated and we are not quite sure of the background information but it was an interesting scene.

We became very good friends with the son of the owner of our hotel and his Friend. Our experience in Panama City was as far from touristy as we could get. It was nice to feel like we were just hanging out with friends everyday.

Our most ridiculous adventure: Seven of us loaded up in Ian Carlos ´73Volkswagon van to head over to the beach where everyone hangs out during the independence. It took like 2 hours and the rain never gave up. We got to spend about 20min at the beach but the rain didnt stop and the tide was so high that there wasn´t much space for all the people. From there we basically were brought from place to place never really understanding where we were going or why we were there. OUr friends who were taking us for some reason seemed just as confused as un when they were the ones driving. We ended up at this little party in El Valle about another hour drive from the beach because ¨La Tortuga¨(the van) had quite the time getting over the hills and managing through the rain. Becuase of the weather Ian Carlos had fears of driving back in the rain.

He claimed to have a family friend close who had a hotel that they were cleaning up so there were plenty of beds. We arrived there tired, wet and a little bewildered. The place looked like either a horror movie scene or a cartel house though we never found where the coke was being stored. To top of the experience a friendly little cockraoch leaped from the wall to one of the mattressed and sped across as fast as its little legs carried him. I do not believe that anyone slept that night cause we were all up bright and early eager to make our way back to the city.

As I had mentioned before we did not do many touristy things. I fell in love with the city however. Casco Viejo has beautiful architecture and on eof our friends that we had met in Bocas who is fromt he city gave us a little tour of the history of the small area. He had so much information in his head that we never got board.

Our time in the city was primarily to wait for a boat to go to Colombia which came sooner than expected. We met a captain on saturday who was leaving on monday morning so we signed up. Our friends were sad to see us go as I was sad to be leaving Panama. I know that I will return there is much more of the country that I want to see. I dont know if it will be this trip or not all I know is I will return.

From Bocas to the City

We finally made it out. Though I was starting to doubt that it would actually happen. We left Bocas after 2 1/2 weeks and are now in Panama City looking for a boat to take us to Cartegena, Colombia.

Bocas was fabulous and as you can probably guess, a very hard place to leave. We left knowing we would return. Our new friends have made quite an impression and I think we got some lifers. The owners as I have previously mentioned are all from the bay area with souls of pure northwest energy. I spent my fair share with the locals as well. We made some artisan friends who we have now actually reconnected with in the city and are going to spend some time with here as well.

However I did not leave empty handed. Bocas left me with a little present to remember it by. I covered my body with Poison Oak that I am just n0ow healing from. I didnt know it had even existed there but you know that hike I talked baout in my last blog well it made quite a physical impression.

We said good bye to the barco inhundido, Zapatilla, Mondo Taitu, Batida lady, Chicken lady and all those inbetween and headed south on a midnight bus to Cañaza well actually a little campo town with about 400 residents called Alto de los Sanchez, near Cañaza. We met our friend stationed there for the peace core. We got off a little bus in the middle of what looked like no where and turned out to be a hidden adventure of friendly people and green mountains.

The hike in was about 30 minutes and we met Daniel our friend right near his house. The conditions he lives in are fascinating for someone who is used to an ample supply of resources. His toilet is a bucket and his shower is a hose. He gets the luxery of electricity but the majority of his neighbors end there day when the sun ends its day. He lives with bats, lizards, and a respectful little Toranchula.

We spent our time there going on hikes and seeing the world from above. We only stayed one night and from there made our way on to the opposite side of the developing scale to la Ciudad de Panamá. The city has offered us a whole other world of adventures while we wait for the next, well frankly I never really know any more what comes next.

Pictures Yay!!!

A nice green hike on Bastimentos Island to Playa Wizard with my friend Felipe. Right behind me was where I saw the cutest little armadillo.

IanCarlos y La Tortuga en la Ciudad de Panamá

my little friend Chi Chi. We collected

shells together at la playa rana roja.

A little fiesta in El Valle

We just cant stop having fun

The Beautiful Beach of Zapatilla









Our little adventure in Bocas. That my friends was just the beginning of the mud extravaganza. not to be confused with our mud adventure in the jeeps.