The rest of Panama and... THE BORDER CROSSING

Ok there are many components to the last few weeks that will be hard to sum up and should probably be in multiple blogs but the way the traveling has been going I have found very few moments in front of the internet and so I figure I should catch you up now and do my best to stay on top of it in the future.

I spent a little more time in the city and Mary and Meredith and I did some exploring of Isla Grande for a few days on the Caribbean side of Panama. It was a very quiet island only to be experienced on foot. There is a little path around the island but due to the high tide we were unable to make it all the way. It was very nice to have another few days outside of the city in tranquility. We got back to the city and I gathered my stuff to head north. Mary was going to stay int he city a bit longer and meet up north with Meredith so I joined up with my friends Hopi and Katie to explor some of the center of Panama.

The three of us said good by to all of our friends and the city and headed north to Santa Fe a small mountain town where we heard we could escape from the heat for a bit. We took a tiny bus to this little town and instantly felt the cool air. We walked up the road to where we were told we would find the hostel that I had made reservations at. It was a beautiful looking log cabin with an encredible large garden with the sound of birds everywhere. I was very excited to get a nights sleep without city noises of cars and horns and very loud construction. What I forgot that the country has its own noises. We had a very peaceful evening and went to bed early. At about 4:30 am the roosters began and they seemed to be everywhere. Then the dogs began to wake up and for the next three hours it was the animals the that took control of my ear occupation (does that even make sense). Anyways the sleep was not as great as I had been escited for but we got up ready to have a day of nature and hiking.

We chose our path that ended in a waterfall with swimming holes called Cascada del Salto. A woman helping out at the hostel offered to drive us to the trail head which actually was more like a wide dirt road. We were told pretty specific directions and that we would come to a families home that could give us a snack and take to the waterfall by their home so felt confident as we headed out. We walked up and up and up along the dirt road and as we got higher and higher the green around us looked more and more breath taking as we looked down into the valley from which we had come.

After about two hours and passing the turn off we turned around and found the house we had been looking for. The kids ran to greet us and one girl showed us to the waterfall and talked to us about her life there. The area of Santa Fe seems very well off in the sense that most of the comunity is self sustained with fertile land and plenty of food and family to share the time with. The fed us a little and we had a great refreshing swim in the water before heading back just in time for it to get too dark for us to see. We had another relaxing evening and an early moring of animal noises before we prepared ourselves to move on north.

We made it to Bocas del Toro, the islands of the northern Caribbean side, after stopping one night in the cloud forest en route in the middle of nowhere on wednesday Jan 28th. I had spent a little over three weeks on the islands before and was excited to see how it had changed and if any of my friends were still living there. We pulled up to the island and i instlantly saw many of the changes. On the main road there were about ten new hotels to clearly portray the jump in tourism over the last two years. Though much of the vibe of the island seemed quite the same. People greating you on the street making sure you didnt need a boat to another island or a place to stay. We made our way to the hostal where we met up with Meredith, Mary and another friend Shasta.

The next week on the island was spent on many different beaches though due to the recent rainy season that was extrememly larger than usual many of the beaches that I had known had shrunk immensly in size. One of the things I loved about the islands from before is how quickly you can find yourself feeling like one of the community. Walking down the street many people stop to talk to you and you can quickly find yourself saying many hellos to familiar faces and you make your way to the store. I made some new friends but had the best time catching up with old friends that I had stayed in touch with. My favorite was Fernando who Meredith and I had spent much time with before who always had a big grin on his face and shared how excitment to celebrate la vida (life). I had not talked with in in a bit but on one of my last days he saw me on the street and we had a fabulous reunion of celebration and hugs. We caught each other up on our lives and rejoiced in the excitement of seeing each other again after such a long time.

Mary also learned quickly the comfort of acceptance on the island and as we discussed our plans to leave the date kept getting pushed back farthur and farthur. Another exciting thing that happened during our time on the island that I did not get to enjoy last time was the torrents of rain. Granted I had seen plently of rain but not for 72 hours straight where you wait until the rain lightens to run the distance to where you want to go before the showers hit hard again. Meredith and Shasta had left at this point but for our last 4 days we saw a glimpse of what can happen on the island when the weather starts making statements. The two atm machines ran out of money and were not filled for a day. The interenet was in and out but mainly out. The boats were not running and the roads on the mainland we soon were informed had closed. I started to realize that we may get stuck there if we do not make an attempt soon. So Mary and I made plans.

When we were informed that the road had opened we said good bye to all of our new and wonderful friends and left around 6am friday morning the 6th with two Brasilians in tow. The morning shined on us with the first break in the clouds in four days and we got a little sun as we got the boat to the main land. We speedily made it to the border to find it had been completely washed out and we would not be able to cross. A tiny tourismo bus looking to make the days pay offered to drive us and other travelers to the other border cross four hours away. We figured it was the best option so as the rain began again we climbed aboard assured that the road we were taking was open and we would arrive on the other side by 1pm.

We made it about an hour down the road crammed in together with no problems until we were stopped abruptly. I looked out the window and saw what looked like a protest blocking the road. Mary and the brasilians and I were in complete disbelief. We began to do some investigationg and found out that the little town of Chiriqui Grande's dam and broken the night before and destroyed some houses. They were demanding aid from the government to make sure that everything got fixed. So they decided to block the road. The only road from Changinola to David and up to the other border crossing. So we started to brainstorm.

We finally figured out that they were only going to be blocking the road for the next hour and then would disperse so we waited it out. They did some cheering and chanting then there seemed to be some group discussions and within a litle over an hour they seemed to get sme satisfied answer they cheered and milled out of the way and we were moving once again. We finally pulled up to the border at around 3:30pm and made it through all the customs stuff only to arrive on the other side in Costa Rica to discover that we had missed the last bus to San Jose.

So Mary, the two brasilians and I spent the night in Paso Canoas. It was a relaxing evening with a swimming pool, airconditioning and TV with cable all of which I had not experienced for quite some time. SO we indulged and got up early the next morning to get to San Jose, Costa Rica.