Slight detour

Venezuela was definitely not on my travel plans, so it's a bit of a surprise to find myself in the university city of Merida. It certainly comes as a pleasant change after by brief but too long stay in Maracaibo. Seldom have I taken such an instant dislike to a city (and i guess, by association, a country) as I did when reaching there from Colombia. I dunno if it was the endless litter trail on the way there, the rip off antics of the taxi drivers, or the rudeness of the food servers at the bus station, who looked like they would much rather sever your throat than serve you the sandwich you wanted, but I was very pleased to get out of there ASAP. Merida, thankfully, is a lot different. Nice people, cool weather, good nightlife and the longest and highest cable car in the world.


Before crossing over the border, I spent a few days more on the Colombian coast. First up was Tayrona, a pretty national park where you can sleep in hammocks ( again :( ) and enjoy the beaches in relative solitude. Apart from the mossies. It was a bit overpriced and the over-zealous inspection by the corrupt Army dude on the entrance took the shine off a bit, but it was still well worth seing.


I also went to the fishing village of Taganga, know for its good and (relatively) cheap diving. The diving wasn't half bad - loads of sea horses, lobsters and morays. But the highlight was the gigantic schools of sardines being hearded into bunches by attacking tuna. Amazing.
I almost loved Taganga, but its been ¨discovered¨ by a spring break and pseudo hippie combination that tries your patience after a while. Shame really, cause it has a lovely village feel in parts, and the locals are typically welcoming. A fact thats highlighted after spending a few hours in Maracaibo. Did I mention I didn't like it there?

Lost City

I hadn't really planed on any trekking on this trip, what with my dislocated knee and lack of hiking boots, but when I arrived in Santa Marta I decided to sign up for the 6 day round trip to the Ciudad Perdida. The trek isn't especially difficult, but the rain on the first day made parts really slippy, and I was glad of my investment in a pair of wellies.


We passed through various types of forest, inhabited by indifferent indigenous peoples and very friendly soldiers. Evenings were mostly spent sculpting wax models from burning candles (there wanst much in the way of entertainment provided!). I have to admit that the idea of sleeping in a hammock is much nicer than the reality. It is fun, bu the the relative lack of sleep and the resulting back pain makes it something to try sparingly.


Although the ruins themselves aren't overly dramatic, the sheer scale of the place, coupled with the jungle setting, makes for a very memorable trip. Walking up the 2000 odd steps into the lost city was especially moving, particularly for my calves. The guides were really good, and provided us with great food and typical Colombian hospitality. Although I hate backtracking, the return trip was actually pretty nice, as we had great weather, which made the views beautiful and the swimming holes particularly inviting.


Santa Marta itself was nothing special, though now a bad place. It certainly didnt give the impression that its the oldest settlement in Colombia. Cartagena (pictured) is a few years newer, but a world apart when it comes to the the preservation and renovation of its colonial part. Next up is some beach time and maybe a little diving.

Shakira Shakira

Well, after 7 weeks I finally managed to leave Panama. An overnight bus from David and a short prop plane flight later I´m in Cartagena, Colombia. I'm pretty excited to be on the move again.


Cartagena is a beautiful city. It's possibly the best preserved Spanish city in Latin America, with lovely old buildings both restored and slightly crumbling, complete with abundant colourful plants and equally colourful locals. The streets were pretty quiet when I arrived as it was a holiday, but today there packed with people, as they were last night. Dining out al fresco in the lovely Spanish square of Santa Domingo with great food and a background of local performers was a great experience.


Before leaving Panama, I made a couple of visits. I felt bad having been in the center of Panama´s coffee production and never having seen a plantation, so Neimis took me along to one of the local fincas to see the scenery and sample the produce, which is very good. Its nice to get into the hills around boquete, it still feels like it must have before it became a Mecca for gringo retirees.


We also visited Boca brava, as yet a relatively un-touristed spot on the pacific coast. There´s only one hotel on the island, and you wake up to the sound of waves and wild howler monkeys in the forest. On the way back we called into some friends of Paradise Garden to check out their place, the views are almost reminiscent of Africa, especially as sun sets and the howlers start.

Still in Panama

I'm still in Panama. So I've pretty much deviated off any plan I had with respect to where I'm going and how long I´ll spend everywhere. Currently I'm looking at going to Colombia in a few days and spending a few weeks there before heading home via the states. The rest of Central America can wait for another time.

I´m back in Boquete, having returned from San Blas via the lovely little town of Santa Fe. There's not much to it, but its got a great location in the mountains, which lots of friendly locals on horseback and little or no tourists.
The plan was to head via Costa Rica to Nicaragua, but I got wrapped up in the daily events of Boquete and Paradise Garden, so that never quite materialised. And anyway, I hate rushing around too much. It all blurs into one after a while.


Since returning, Macie has been moved close to the wild howler monkeys, and has already met some of them, and will be fully released soon. We also got rid of Heney, the biting Capuchin, who seems to have attached himself to the wild howlers rather than his own species. He was always a bit odd. We've got a new Caracara with a broken leg, and briefly had a wounded Anteater which we took to the vet, but who died later, probably from smoke inhalation rather than his machete wound. And it looks like were going to have an injured female ocelot joining in a few days. And the puppies now have electric dog collars, after their repeated escapes. It´s all go.


For a bit of R&R, I headed with Greg (and his recently broken arm) to Bocas del Toro, the main party islands in Panama. It seems like everyone I ever met in Panama was there, and it's definitely a great place for a pissup. Though there are just too many gringos there for my liking. Despite the hordes it can still be a really nice place to visit. But a couple of nights there were enough for my liver. Off soon for a delicious red snapper dinner courtesy of Michael and Donna, who we know from Paradise Garden. Its going to be hard to leave all behind here, but Shakira´s birthplace beckons...

Metropolis, Canal and attempted robbery

My first day in Panama city had it all, a skyline to match many great cities, a canal which is one of the worlds recent architectural marvels and an encounter with a local who fancied a new camera for himself.
The city itself is unlike any other Central American capital, with high rises towering over the beaches making it reminiscent of Miami, but with more English spoken (according to the book) . It's also got some really brightly painted public buses (mostly old US school buses) that whiz around at pretty breakneck speed.


Apart from the growing number of glitzy modern buildings (there are more cranes around than anywhere else I've been) there is also Casco Viejo, the older part of the city, left in a state of disrepair, but now the focus of a big urban renewal program. It's a nice place to wander around, with pretty colonial buildings and some good restaurants and bars. But not too far away the city deteriorates, as we found out while trying to shoot some of the more colourful buses in a less salubrious spot. A local kid tried to help himself to one of the guys cameras, but couldn't quite manage to get it out of his pocket.
Maybe best stick to the tourist spots.


The canal itself was actually pretty interesting. We timed it so as to see a couple of fairly big ships pass through (otherwise I guess it would have been a little dull). There was a lot of info and displays on the canal, both historical and on the current expansion plans, and you even got to pretend to navigate a ship through. I hadn't realised that 20000 French had died in an earlier attempt to build the canal, before the US showed them how. The ship shown paid $120,000 to go through, so it just shows the effect the canal has on the economy, and how big a deal the handover back from the US at the end of 1999 was.


But all this western culture was taking its toll, so I headed via an extremely bumpy and fun 4WD track and a short boat trip to the islands of San Blas. These are administered autonomously by the Kuna, and they certainly have got some beautiful islands to call home. The first couple of nights I spent with the locals, which was a real highlight, playing football and learning Spanish with the kids. Although they live in pretty confined areas, the camaraderie between the families is evident and everyone seems really happy.

And it's a lot less touristy than one might imagine. Most of the 400 plus islands are uninhabited, and it's on these we spent most of our days, swimming snorkelling and eating on paradise beaches. I think if this were any other country, San Blas would be famous the world over, but Panama doesn't really do tourism. Which is all the better, IMHO.

leaving boquete

Well, after over three weeks it was finally time to move on from Boquete. Even though I´m probably going to stop there on my way back for a bit, it was pretty hard leaving, as I´d made a lot of friends there, both animal and human. Working in Paradise Garden was a fantastic experience and something I wont forget. Tom, my indian looking english sounding norwegian mate headed towards Cuba, so we left P.G. in the hands of Neimis, my Dora the explorer lookalike guide to all things boquete. Hopefully Macie and friends wont miss us too much.


Apart from working in P.G. I also took a few much needed spanish lessons, though I´m still strugling to understand the locals. ¨Dora¨also very kindly took me along the Quetzal trail, where we spotted 5 of the elusive beasts, along with loads of other birds including hawks and woodpeckers, sloths, lizzards and a very recent Jaguar footprint.
We also went horseback riding, which included the chance to get up on some less convential modes of transport, and camped at the local hotsprings which is a great way to consume copious amounts of cerveza balboa.



As well as all the tea we could drink, we were also treated to some of Boquete´s finest dining by owners Paul and Jenny, and Paul took us on an excurison to Lost and Found, an eco resort where you stay in the cloud forest and get to see Kinkajous, Olingos, Cacomistles and all kinds of other animals you never heard of before, as well as some pretty nice sunsets.



Before leaving, we took part in a days documentary about P.G., which was good fun even if at times some of the stars were a bit of a handful. The Geoffroy's Tamarins, in particular, were very hard to direct. How do I get that monkey off my back?
So now its on to Panama city, where I think theres some sort of canal that people have heard of...

Volunteering

I arrived in the small western Panamaian town of Boquete a few weeks ago and Ive been pretty much "stuck" here since then. I had met Tom from Norway in San Jose on my first day there, and he had told me about some volunteering he was doing in Panama. It sounded good, and, unlike in Costa Rica where volunteers pay to work, this was free, so I ended up in Paradise Garden and have been there most days since.


Its a really nice place, and as well as loads of monkeys and birds, it has the odd more exotic animal like Lotti here, a Margay, similar to an Ocelot (or a small Jaguar I guess), who is a great attraction. Like a lot of the animals, she had been rescued from owners who tired of their "pets", in her case she arrived with atrophied muscles and a kinked tail from living in such a confined space...shes in pretty good health now though, as any of the many small birds that make the mistake of entering her enclosure know.



Most days I spend showing people around as a sort of tour guide, which is more fun than i thought it would be, even if sometimes Bengy here likes to play a little too much with his hands... always seems to do it in front of the prettier girls, for some reason...
Tom and I also walk the dogs, feed the animals, build cages and enclosures and make the tea, so it can be pretty busy, but never too stressful to be honest.



My favourite animal though has to be Macie, a 10 month old nappy wearing howler monkey, who sits on my shoulder while i work, or sleeps under my T shirt. Shes currently being prepped for rehab back to the wild (she was an orphan) and will be sadly missed, though it is the goal of Paradise Garden to release as many of the animals as possible. Apart from working, Im doing a bit of spanish and have had to do a couple of the tours in spanish, which is pretty difficult given my level, but educational.
Better go change that nappy...

Towards Panama

Although Dominical is reputated to have monster waves, it actually had the best conditions we had seen yet - not as angry and dangerous as before, and on my last day it was really really good. It´s also a nice town to relax in while not riding waves. But enough surfing for a while, and onto Bahia drake, the main wilderness area on the Pacific coast. The trip here was great, ending with a boat taking us from Sierpe through pretty mangrove forests and pods of dolphins after passing through some pretty scary waves.



Bahia Drake itself is really pretty, and the place im staying in, el Mirador, is really nice, located high above with a great view, with nothing but the sound of crashing waves and candlelight to lull you to sleep. Apart from Saturday night that is, with the local disco beats vibrarting to ruin the ambience.
I did a couple of dives as its touted as the best diving in costa rica, and though I did see loads of white tipped reef sharks, as well as several large schools of pelagic fish, poor enough visibility coupled with pretty ordinary coral meant an ok rather than great dive experience. And it aint cheap around here... I passed on a day hike costing 95 dollars...they do take the piss sometimes in Costa Rica.



Still theres a fair bit to see for free here, with loads of pretty birds like hummingbirds, macquaws, parrots, warblers, frigate birds tanagiers and loads more, as well as lots of iguanas and other lizzards, and the plant life is really beautuful and vibrant. But Panama calls, and a boat - bus - border crossing - minibus - chicken bus ride later, via a brief stop in David, Im in Boquete, where Im going to stay put for a bit...

South Pacific

Leaving Montezuma with heavy hearts, we boarded the boat back to Jaco and onto Mauel Antonio, a national park and beach towards the southern pacific coast. We shared the bus with numerous pick pockets, as well as a couple of girls from Calafornia and Holland. After a few bumpy hours standing, and a short taxi ride, we arrived to another stunning beach location. Next morning we were up early to beat the heat and hoards to the park. Although the animals wernt as plentiful as advertised, we did managed to see loads of monkeys, sloths, birds and lizards.


The town itself seems to have gone downhill, with all the bars closing up early, so we visited el avion, a plane themed resturant with really great food, the tuna steak was as good a meal as any ive ever had. Ever.


Next day we did a bit of canopying through the trees, which is always a laugh so long as the cables hold, and played a strange drinking card name with a bunch of americans from the canopy tour. Next day was some more quality beach time. Well, all these sunsets might never happen if there not observed, right? Were now in Dominical, another beach town with a slightly ugly beach but a nice enough vibe. You cant have everything.

Surfing

Pelicans swooping over cresting waves, spray in your face, eyes squinting to see another perfect sunset. Now this is more like it.
Over breakfast in San Jose I met Ian, an Ozzie surfer who was heading to Jaco, so decided to make that my first destination. The waves there were pretty good, though the town dissapointed a bit - where were all the hookers and cocaine it's famous for?
Finding none, we headed off to Montezuma by boat, a beautiful little town with nice beaches and restaurants, but little surf. On the crossing we saw loads of playful dolphins, some turtles and a whale in the distance. Costa Rica has a lot of wildlife.


We shared a taxi with a couple of Canadians girls who were heading to MalPais, a major surfing destination. To be honest, the conditions weren't the best - the swell was a bit big for the beach to hold so lots of serious tsunami like walls of white, but every now and then we managed to get a decent wave. And the sunsets weren't half bad.


After a few days we decided that the conditions dictated a bit of a respite and headed back to Montezuma for a bit of waterfall watching, which, given the precarious path up to the top, was probably more dodgy than the surfing. Still the dip at the end was beautifully refresing. Not having really gone out late in the surfer spots due to the sausage fest nature of such places, we hit the bars in Montezuma and ended up at some fire party on the beach which was all very pleasant. I really will miss this place.