San Jose

One last day of vacation today. We took the train out to la sabana park on the west end of downtown. Not a great decision. Super slow moving, and a bit confusing to ride. Kate had asked a couple people at the stop, and they told us which train to get on, but I started freaking out when the train started moving the opposite direction that it should be. A guy next to us spoke English and said it was switching directions. A guess it went in an arc. A large, slow, inefficient arc. I can't believe that citizens don't scream for something faster. It took 45 minutes to get there and it can't have been more than 3 miles. The park isn't huge by any means but we made maybe a 15 min loop around it and it worked out alright. A good experience at least.

Our hotel, aranjuez has an amazing breakfast that we had post run. Complementary, they have like 7 kinds of breads, omlettes to order, pancakes to order, wonderful Costa Rican coffee, passion fruit juice, star fruits, and more stuff I'm probably forgetting. It's been an awesome stay here. All at 37$ a night.

Slow trains aside, San Jose is great. It feels a lot like San Juan or even a European city. Spain perhaps. The neighborhoods near us have nice fixed up colonial looking houses with many shady streets and nice plazas near downtown. They have a couple extended walking only streets. Avenida central stretches quite a ways and is filled with shoppers. The central market was cool to check out as well. Crammed with tiny vendors selling everything from fine coffee, to fresh seafood, or pots to cook it in.

We took in a coffee at the teatro nacional cafe. It's a beautiful old building in the heart of downtown. Very ornate with lots of murals on the ceilings and fancy pillars and such. The coffee was great too. Weaving our way through the various parks and squares, we took in an afternoon beer at ell Geff, a locally owned brewery (no expats this time) with solid brews. They had no idea what a flight was and weren't familiar with the concept so we made our own with half pints. Good to try as many as possible. Dinner was spent at a reasonable, if forgettable place in our neighborhood with Costa Rican fare. The plan was to go to a jazz show after dinner that was nearby, but the music didn't start until 930 which more likely means 945 and we just weren't feeling being out late. I certainly wouldn't dwell in San Jose on a trip, but it's worth a stop en route to whatever adventure you are headed to in Costa Rica. A cool city with unexpected charm.

The road to San Jose

Well, one of the drawbacks to staying on a remote island off the coast is getting back to the coast. We were up at 6 to catch a shuttle to the main island at 645. The guy was late, not surprisingly I suppose, so by 7, we were again zipping back on a small boat though the mangroves. Plenty of rain this morning, fitting, I suppose for an island where I think it rained 50% of the time we were here. Fromm. The main. Island, we caught the slightly larger taxi to the mainland. I'm quite surprised that they don't have a real ferry for this leg. Bocas island must be 10000 people if I had to guess, with lots of tourist traffic in and out. We were stuck on many a 25 ft boat powered by a 250 horse outdoor motor. Once on the mainland (Almirante), we then had to take a short bus ride to chinguinola, the larger regional hub that supposedly had a bust for San Jose. It's Chiquita's panama banana hub, and the rows of banana trees sure backed up that idea as we came in and out of town.

This is where our drawbacks for the day started. The sign was still up for San Jose, but the bus no longer ran. As of four months ago meaning there was no way my guide book would have known that. Hungry, we got a couple batidos and a panini (can't remember the term in Spanish) before grabbing a cab to the border and the next town that would have buses to San Jose.

Border towns/crossings are always an interesting experience. It went rather quick both sides today, and other than a crappy 4$ fee to leave panama (fairly sure it was a local tax) it went rather smoothly. The border here is a river, so across the bridge we walked, back onto Costa Rican soil. The Costa Rican town is small, we found the bus station without much problem, and saw a bus leaving for San Jose right as we rounded the corner. We flagged him down, but evidently, longer distance buses can't pick up passengers.

Drawback number two for the day. The next bus didn't leave for 5 hrs to San Jose. The prospect of waiting around in this tiny town seemed dim, so we hooked a ticket instead to limon, a larger hub on the coast with more possibilities to the capital. I read up a little on the city during the ride over, didn't seem like the rough guide thought too highly of it. A shipping city, grungy, and a high crime rate. We didn't linger.

Buses to San Jose were indeed frequent here, although the larger road they normally travel was out, leaving us again with a sinuous path to our destination. It was 645 when we finally pulled in to the station.

It bit of a tiring day of travel, but the hotel Kate found wow great. It's in an older, quiet neighborhood, and actually made up of a bunch of old houses strung together with courtyards in between. The concierge gave us an awesome recommendation for Costa Rican typica, so with 12$ Total, we had the set meal of the day (consado), then walked to a great pasty place for dessert. Hoping to check out the market, and stroll some of the plazas tomorrow. One last day before home.

Bocas day 2

The original plan today was to walk to a beach for snorkeling, although when we asked at breakfast about the possibility for a longer snorkel trip by boat, they said there wouldn't be one tomorrow, but there was a longer cruise running today that they would making som snorkeling stops on. $65 for the day.

In a spur of the moment decision, we went for it. Didn't even have time to think about packing the camera. The boat was actually a catamaran/(sailboat?). It was owned by this guy that was evidently a third generation sailor and had spent most of his life savings on it only 6 months ago. He was dating the yoga instructor and the two of them were starting to charter tours and even some overnights on their boat (where they also lived).

This ended up being a fantastic decision. We were with 9 others from our lodge and just hung out cruising the islands. Jamie, the girlfriend made lunch, snacks, and drinks throughout the day. We stopped at a couple spots to snorkel too. The first one as a bit of a swim to get to the reef and not super amazing, though any snorkeling is really awesome when you think about it. The second stop though was really cool. Tons of fish, really cool coral all over the place. The sun barely poked out, lots of rain throughout the day, but this was probably the best way to spend it. In the water snorkeling, it's not really a big deal if it's raining or not.

The crew we were with was awesome too. Very interesting to talk to. Mainly couples in their 20s and 30s, but also a mom and her son.

Palmer tent lodge has been an awesome place to stay. They are completely off the grid meaning the only electricity they get is from solar panels and they have some batteries that can power limited amounts of appliances at night. All the water they use comes from rain water (which isn't hard to get here) but needless to say, showers and sinks are fairly limited.

The beach out front is great. Huge breaking waves, but a little farther out making for a decent area to swim. Body surfing is a little so so as the breaking waves are huge and thereafter they are smaller with less energy.

Palmer is owned by a couple guys that can't be much older than me. Both U.S. Natives, I believe, but one was born in Venezuela or so I've heard and speaks great Spanish. One more relaxing in the sun on the beach today, then we'll be reaching the beginning of the end. I think I'm ready to head home though. It's been a good trip.

Sunday update: we spent our last day on the beach just that: on the beach. Another morning run on the limited roads of the island, breakfast, then some good old beach lounging. The sun poked out around 11 and it ended up being a beautiful day. Lots of swimming and body surfing, or just chilling underneath the umbrella watching the Caribbean waves roll in. We found a couple days ago a happy hour spot with $3.50 cocktails and are patrons of that again. Wifi and a fine view down hurt either. 

Bocas

Another travel day today. One more of wonderful Panaminian coffee and we were on another mini bus bound for bocas. There isn't really a direct route there, so it's probably not that far as the crow flies, but with mountains and general lack of roads, it was a 3.5 hour ride. Not that I am complaining about the no roads thing. Much of the space between the towns is a national park, shared with Costa Rica, the thing is massive. Nice to know there are still areas where animals can roam without human impact of any kind.

It was a beautiful ride curving through the mountains. Many small, subsistence cattle farmers. We crossed a few dammed rivers. A little sad to see, but then again, not contributing to climate change. It rained for a good portion in the middle, a little hair-raising on the windy roads, but I guess what's left other than trust and prayer.

The ferry ride to the main island of bocas was nuts. On a boat with maybe 15 people, just rolling over super choppy waves. Stupidly, I had forgotten my small boat lessons from north center and we experienced the worst of it in the front of the boat. Needless to say I was happy to get to the dock...to get in one more boat and go to this land that we are staying at. The island chain is pretty compact. Many aren't even the distance across pioneer lake and the length might no be more than going down north center.

Once at our dock on island bastamientos (?) we had a 5 min walk to get to the other side of the island. It looks like a corona commercial. The restaurant is more or less on the beach and our tent is feet from that. We spent the afternoon swimming (finally!) and then a happy hour with $3.50 piña coladas. It's going to be a good next couple of days. Hoping for some snorkeling tomorrow.

last day in boquete

Another hiking day today. Took a very leisurely start to the day of sorts with an 8 am run, my latest yet of the trip. Quads are just killing me right now. Too much slamming down the hills. Add in a little stomach problems and it was a pretty miserable 5 miles. Got a huge breakfast sandwich at a bakery (very much dominated by expats). Chorizo, eggs, and fresh mozzarella.

We hooked a ride back up bajo Mano, the road to many of trail heads, but this time bound for the sendero quetzal, a well known 6 km hike to the next town over. Also many varying notes of the extent of needing a guide here, but we figured we'd give it a shot. I might have said this yesterday, but it's funny, for as much of a tourist town as boquete is, I don't feel they sell their hiking trails nearly enough. They have a fantastic network, almost entirely on pieces of public land and from what I could see, fairly well kept and signed. It's amazing to me they don't have the organization to have a exclusive trails map that they do at a place like Rocky Mountain national park. Similar to yesterday, there is no way you'd need a guide on this trail. It's extremely well marked and there was never a point we were unsure of the trail. Possibly, people are pushing for guides due to the economic impact, but I feel like it's driven more by people that don't hike and don't realize that many people traveling that would like to hike would have no problem navigating/"enduring" these trails.

This one was also fairly well traveled. We saw a tour group, along with a few other groups in our 5 mile hike. The trail followed this cool river, lots of glimpses at Rapids through the cloud forest. Alas, no quetzal again. Another reason to return to. Central America some day I guess. The last half mile to the lookout (we didn't hike the entire length of th trail) was pretty strenuous. Steep stairs that just didn't seem to end. The lookout was stunning, but a fine place to eat lunch and soak up another day in the cloud forest. The max elevation here is actually quite high, somewhere around 7200 feet, and I'd imagine our turn around point was close to that. Tons of species of birds at the lunch stop. I didn't bring my guide book iPad for fear of rain, but I looked up a few when I got back and didn't I.d. Many of them at all. I've 44 recorded in my guide book, but I'd say I'm conservatively missing at least 50% of all the birds I've seen since we've been here.

Dinner was one of the best yet. A mom and pop type place down the street, we had try to get here the last two nights, but the close at 630 and last night they were in-explicitly closed. They only had 5 items on the menu. The meal of the day (a stew) and 4 different options for grilled food, pork, chicken, beef, or fish. I got pork with a side of beets and plantains (can't get enough of them). Very good and total tab with drinks: 13 dollars. By far the cheapest dinner we've had yet.

I've had a great time in boquete. Glad we spent two days here, but I'm ready for lounging around on the beach and snorkeling. On to bocas.

Another 6 am wakeup for a morning run up the same valley as yesterday. Strenuous, but I'll still gladly take over the sweltering heat. We were in a little bit of a time crunch as we wanted to make the 8 am tour at one of the local coffee plantations. This is the place to grow coffee in panama. They don't export a large quantity I'm told, but the stuff that is is very high in quality. The tour was brief 50 minutes or so and just the basics, but I probably wouldn't have focused much longer anyway and didn't know much to start to it was mostly new. Cafe Ruiz was the name of the plantation. I think they have been roasting coffee in the family for nearly 100 years. Pretty impressive and the coffee was great too. We considered packing some out, but hauling around the extra bulk and weight the next week didn't sound super appealing and I'm not sure if I can tell the difference between superbly good coffee and really good coffee anyway.  Perhaps we wait until San Jose.

Post tour, we had another breakfast of batidos and pastries as well as some lychees we found a guy selling out of his truck. I had been looking for them for a while but they have a different name in Spanish (that still escapes me).

We collected ourselves and headed for the local taxi/mini bus hub that will take you to farther flung parts of the town. We had read up on some hikes, there are many here, and settled on the pipeline trail up to a waterfall somewhere up the bajo Mano road. We had read differing accounts of how well the trails are marked here but the

driver knew the place so we piled in along with a couple other guys that evidently lived up there. Lots of farms as we climbed the sinuous and steep road. Mainly coffee, but corn and other crops too. It was a bit of a drive and I was sitting there wondering how this guy even covered gas at 2$ a trip, when we pulled over and picked up something like 13 primary school students out of school for the day and were on their our way again. As rural as the road increasingly got, I supposed there are still people of there that need rides.

The trail head was marked, as we had seen online and we hopped out, paid the 3$ entrance, and set off for the waterfall. There are supposedly good chances of seeing quetzals here, but no such luck today. We had played the call a lot and were both fairly sure we heard it, but with literally hundreds of trees and many over 100 feet tall, it's like looking for a needle In a haystack. 

The waterfall was beautiful. A 300 foot drop, not large in volume, but tucked away in a cool canyon. The trail was generally well mark and a steady, but not overwhelming group of people were out on the trail.

We were a little unsure of how long it would be before a bus or taxi made their way up the crazy hill, but sure enough, in 5 minutes or so, we were piled into another van and on our way down the steep country hill bound for home.

Afternoon was whittled away in the brew pub. Yes, the craft beer scene is taking off even here. To be fair, it was run by expats and the cliental was also expats. It was worth a stop if only to say we did it. Solid beer too.

Dinner was a Mexican place in town. Decent food, although they were evidently short on lettuce, Guac, and would break two 20s for a 23$ tab. Everyone only does small bills here, you wonder how the process ever gets started if 20s are what pop out of the atm. Something to ponder I suppose.

Boquete

Another travel day today. Up at 5 to get to the 6 am ferry back to golfito. It's funny how even after taking the route once, it's all so much easier. The minibus system en route to David didn't seem nearly as hectic this time. I love the 2 man system they have. One guy driving, one guy working the side door searching for passengers flagging the bus down from the side of the road and collecting money as people exited the bus. For all the money we have, it's a little crappy to think that panama has a better system for rural public transit that works in a cheap, fairly efficient manor. You can more or less get to any reasonable sized town by simply getting to the main road and flagging one of the 30 passenger buses down. There are designated stops as well, and points that the guy seemed to linger a little as though it were a good chance to get more passengers at that point. Again, once we know what we were doing, it is an efficient means to travel and only 2$ for a fairly long ride.

The bus terminal in David is bustling. Lots of destinations to the region as well as long distance places as well. We found the boquete bus no problem (a school bus!) and we quickly on the last leg of the journey.

Boquete is a mountain town. Maybe elevation 3600 but towering mountains on most sides. It has a cool central square that our hotel is on (see crummy iPad picture) and is pretty condensed. Lots of expats running around here. Disappointing to chat with one of our hostel hosts and learn that some are very interesting in integrating, but many don't even bother learning Spanish or interacting at all. The hostel is great. An older building, well kept up and in a great location.

It is much cooler here as well. The first day of the trip that either one of us want to wear long sleeves. We napped a bit, and I had a good run (albeit up hill into the wind) and we had a really good dinner of various Panaminian fare at the place right next door to our hostel. Looking are doing a coffee tour and a hike to a waterfall with possibility of spotting a quetzal tomorrow. I was playing the call in the room tonight so we know what to listen for.

Today was a bum around town kind of day. I was up at 630 for a little run, the best of the trip, down a small gravel road out of town. Kate "slept in" until I got back, maybe 7:45 and after a quick shower, we headed down town for some coffee.

Breakfast was eaten by the pool- bananas and mangos with yogurt and Costa Rican granola that was actually fabulous. We took our sweet time, then borrowed a couple bikes bound for the beach a few miles away. Iguana beach (note the picture) wasn't much for swimming- there's a huge undertow, but it delivered what it said it would and offered some good views as well.

We scooted off with the approaching rain and a happy hour / cribbage in the room waiting. Dinner was low key at an Italian palace in town. Actually really good food- they are from Italy, but have lived here for  years. Probably an interesting story there. A good day of rest. Off to panama for some more adventures tomorrow.

Delivering on its name

Me struggling with the one speed down the dirt road.
 Photo credit: the only other person on this trip

Corcovado

Woke up around 4:45 Saturday morning to meet me our guide at the panaderia. "Oscar" was there, a soft spoken Costa Rican not much taller than Kate. We got a pastry (still not their forte) and a coffee and were on the road to carate by 530. Things happen early here.

It's a gravel road to the jump off point for the park. The public bust can take over two hours, but we had coordinated a private transfer, much fast, but still a bumpy hour and half. Carate isn't much. A small store on a dead end road with perhaps 50 people in town- all related to hospitality business. We saddled up our packs and were on our way.

The path actually wasn't too bad. Fairly flat, through the jungle. The beach parts of the hike were probably the hardest. Looses sand is incredibly hard to walk on. The views were outstanding. Steep hills of jungle on one side, endless ocean on the other. It made you feel like you were on a survivor episode.

Oscar was a phenomenal guide. Over 14 years of experience had him checking under leaves for bats, hearing bird calls and searching for any number of species, and smelling an anteater nearby. The fauna did not disappoint. Monkeys, and lots of them, them weren't even a surprise after a while,  I had to keep reminding myself to soak it up. Not many chances to experience that in you life. Kate and I agreed that after all the wildlife we saw the best was a moment when a curious spider monkey was hanging directly above us, by one arm, then a tail, maybe 25 feet up. A thought he might fall and try to steal our stuff, but he was simply looking. All in all, we saw all 4 species of monkey: howler, spider, white faced, and squirrel and I tried not to take a single experience for granted.

Monkeys were only a small part. Coati (related to raccoons) were easy to find and not very afraid of humans. We might have gotten 10 feet from one. We also saw both species of peccary (Costa Ricas answer to Pumba from the lion king); on which made our guide excited and nervous as I guess they are hard to spot but also might charge humans if provoked and another that is much more docile. I guess the more aggressive ones can even kill Pumas if they get caught in the wrong place!

We were super lucky to spot tapers three different times as well. They are nocturnal, but Oscar knew many hangout spots where they'd bed down during the day.

Many birds, but hard to remember all of them. The guan and curassow were sweet, and a guide at the lodge spotted a crested owl.

Wildlife aside, the walk was a long one by the end. 12.5 miles or so was a little long than I expected, super impressed that Kate made it without a problem. Not maybe people are willing do do that kind of trek.

The sirena ranger station was a little underwhelming which didn't quite make a great end to a long hike, but we made due. It's back in the sticks, only obtained by hiking, boat, or plane. I expected rustic, but there were holes in many screens, and in general didn't seem super well kept up. On top of that, there was a miscommunication between the guide and the guy we organized with, leaving us initially without cooking fuel, sheets, or mosquito nets. Oscar came through though and it ended up all right. We didn't bring anything for leisure so posted dinner was kicking back on the adirondack chairs and take in the night noises in the jungle.

Another early wakeup this morning. We were on the trail by 515. There is one spot on the beach that much be crossed closer to low tide or it is in passable. The cliff at that point is at the shore as well, leaving that as the only option. We needed to cross by around 9 or early this morning, hence leaving with the rising sun.

We beat it, and took our sweet time back to carate. The ride arrived at 115 and by 3 we were saying our goodbyes and bound for the grocery store to pick up some beer and wine to relax and celebrate.

A heck of a trip.

Just the view from our hotel room. No big deal.

Today was another travel day. Up around 5, bound for the airport. The flight to David was rather uneventful. Actually a pretty big flight considering David is 100000ish people. 3 rows on either side. The David airport reminded me a lot of luang probang in Laos. We were just about to touch down and your looking down thinking where the hell are we going to land, there's nothing but trees here.

A kind of crummy ride into town with another cabbie insistent on ripping us off. Then to say that random bus stop he said would be faster than going to the bus station. The problem being you had no idea where any of the mini buses were headed (we eventually learned that they had the final stop plastered on the front windshield, although as ours wasn't the last stop, it wasn't much help). Kate went to work again, talked to a lady, who told us it would come. Which was great, until Kate decided to use the bathroom in the McDonald's and I was alone with th bags when the bus came. The lady was boarding on a different bus, but I asked the guy and he confirmed, paso Coneas, the border town. I was prepared to miss it, when Kate came running on, we hopped in, and were on our way.

Dumped off at the "frontera" a vocab word I actually know, and started the adventure of the border crossing. Exiting panama was easy, as was entering Costa Rica 100 meters down the dusty street. Not much in lieu of security, we probably could have just kept walking. The bus stop was also an easy find and we were lucky to have a quick turn around to a departing bus. Another 2ish dollars later (some 4000 calones!) and the Costa Rican country side was whizzing by us on our way to the coast.

An elderly later overheard my practicing the word for small pier and asked if we were headed to puerto Jimenez, indeed we were. She ended up being super friendly and showed us where to get off in golfito for the (poorly marked) ferry.

Our hotel here is amazing. On the bay, nice rooms, very accomadating staff. The town has a great atmosphere too. Quiet, with a sprinkle of tourists. We had a good, large, late lunch of Costa Rican typicas, shopped at the grocery store for tomorrow, and met our guide. He had in mind exactly what I envisioned when I read about the tours online, so hopefully it was works out. Off to Corcovado!

Day 2 in the city

Got up for another muggy run along the cinta costera again. It's a nice path, right on the water with great views of the skyline. Further from downtown, they made a causeway that loops maybe a half mile out into the water around the old town. 

Breakfast was coffee, a smoothie, and some kind of pastry. Generally good, though bread really isn't Latin Americas wheelhouse. We took a cab out to the city park today a little out of downtown. Really nice, lots of forest. It was a bit sweaty, but we managed a 2.5 mile hike with lots of bird sightings (few identified), leaf cutting ants, turtles, and lizards. No sloths or monkeys though.

We had planned to cab directly to the Panama City ruins (circa 1520) but the cabbie was giving a shit price so we just went back to the hostel. Cabs in general are a headache here. No meter, just agreed upon prices, supposedly standardized by "zones", but you don't really know what zones are where and they are constantly trying to screw you.

Post lunch, we chanced the bus. You need a metro card ,which we didn't have, but heard you can simply ask a person to swipe for you and pay them instead. We (Kate) had a little trouble asking at the stop, as the bus came soon after we got there. I'm always worthless in these situations, so I wasn't any help. The bus driver just had us get on without paying. Very generous, although I think the fare is only a quarter. Very crowded, albeit free bus, but in 15 min or so plus more of Kate saving the day by asking how we'd know when the stop was, we arrived, saving 7$ perhaps. 

The ruins were about what you'd expect. That said, they are a world heritage sight and it was cool to place yourself on the edge of this mudflat ,looking out at the Pacific Ocean and imaging what life was life for the first European settlement this side of either continent. They had renovated the bell tower of the old cathedral too- great view for the city and surrounding area.

Dinner was a modern restaurant in casco Viejo- the old colonial city. A lot like the French quarter, though still very much in the works of renovation. A fine time in Panama City, but I think we're both ready to move on to bigger things.

Got in around 930 last night after an uneventful set of plane rides. Very nice to not have a time change. We haven't really felt to much jet lag. The airport is maybe 30 min from the city. We cabbed it in, in the dark. I was even starting to get paranoid like where is this guy taking us. All of a sudden, you are crossing a marshy area and tons of lit up high-rises dot the sky line. Almost futuristic looking.

I was still pretty hungry after a hodgepodge of sandwiches throughout the day, so we talked to the hostel host and found a street stall close by. Absolutely amazing arepas. Andy would have been proud.

Got up early this morning in attempt to get the run out of the way. The cinta costera, a large promenade on the water is less than a mile away so that will be the route the next few days. Actually not horrible on the water. Definitely better than Thailand. Still muggy though. That didn't seem to borrow the dude I saw out jogging in a sweatshirt and tights. I guess I also ended up racing a guy. I was on my way back and he was stopped but started running next to me and matched pace. I just kept running my slogging pace thinking he'd slow down, but I got the vibe he was testing the waters a little so I picked it up just a bit. He actually went with for a while. Funny how you can be dieing in the heat and a little thing like that can put you floating again, if only for a little while.

Breakfast was a fruit smoothie from a stand. Absolutely amazing. I feel like I'm never let down by these when I'm traveling. We strolled casca Viejo in the morning, culminating with ceviche for lunch at the fish market. From there, we caught a cab to the locks. Expensive and a bit underwhelming, but something I suppose we should visit while here.

Dinner was at la caribe. A hair pricy for panama, but solid food. We took in a basketball  game at a park nearby after dinner then capped off the night with chirrros. A fine first day of vacation.