Lobster empanadas for breakfast and then the weather gets worse and worse: it's not possible to go for a trip to Isla Perro where there is great snorkeling so I need to find an activity for the day... How about drawing ladies like the street artist in Panama? Love the idea! I spend the rest of the day drawing, chatting, watercoloring... Who care if it's raining if I'm in good company doing interesting things! At the end of the afternoon the weather also got better and I could teach a yoga class to few of my new friends, just in time before another thunderstorm. Lobster dinner and rum and coke, which brought our well assorted group of 10 Europeans thru the night playing drinking games and hot questions ones... What happens in the island stays in the island!!!
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The jeep that was supposed to arrive at 5.30am at Luna's Castle Hostel, and actually it did at 6.30am... Quick stop at grocery along the way and then about 2hrs of a curvy rollercoaster drive to Carti that killed the stomach of all passengers. From there where we took a lancha to go to Isla Iguana. $80 for transportation r/t and $25 per night in a dorm- cabana with 3 meals included. We are 6 in our cabana, probably 20 max on the island, fun mixed international group. The island is the typical white sand, palm trees and blue water paradise, it's pretty small, 193 palm trees, about 350 steps to walk around it - some of the guests don't know what else to do- in short: less than an acre; it's surrounded by other 364 sister islands, which you can see in the distance and at the horizon. Snorkeling is good but the current is strong. I saw a huge hairy crab. Meals are either chicken and rice or lobster and rice... yes, just as if they are comparable! Nice chats about travels around the world before going to bed.
Breakfast at Cafe Coca Cola, typical local hangout -despite the name- and walk to a commercial street to go to the bank and exchange travele'rs checks: I'll NEVER bring t.c. on a trip ever again! Only cash! Either banks don't
accept them or they ask for commissions, when at Chase in NY they told me there wasn't going to be any. Anyway... we book our San Blas trip, we'll leave tomorrow at 5.30am, for three nights. I spend the rest of the day wondering around Casco Viejo: I'm fascinated by this town, its contrasts and its flavor. There's great street art especially this guy called Rolo de Sedas, see photos, I love his pictures of women! So much that I attracted the Universe to bring me for dinner in a restaurant with all his paintings on the wall... Or maybe it was just a coincidence... ; ) Anyway when I come back I want to go and visit his studio. Breakfast at Caffe Per Due where I meet the owner Manuela, a friendly Italian woman from a town close to mine. Today we have to research and decide how to visit San Blas, the dreamy archipelago of the Kuna Yala people, native Indians that dress with colorful fabrics and stitched "molas", geometric ancient drawings. It's not easy to get there and around because it's all managed by the Kunas in their own way, so we decide that it's better to just book everything from here thru Hostel Luna's Castle, where they are very helpful and knowledgeable.
Lunch with Manuela at Cafe Per Due, interesting chat on how she started her business here. I'll have my Green Card sent to her. Just walking around Casco Viejo it's an experience full of surprises: a lot of contrasts between the old/falling apart and the colonial renovated, with the view of the modern city in the background. You can feel the energy of this place: a lot of artists are opening up stores and chic restaurants are next to big families of locals that have their front doors wide open to the living room/ bedroom and they are all sitting in the street. Yoga before dinner in the breezy ballroom of my guest house, with view on the variety of roofs of the town. At night there are a lot of street artists around, playing but also performing fire or acrobatic shows. We hit few spots: El Patio, an artsy bar/ theatrical company where there's a drum and didgeridoo concert, a rooftop fashion show inspired by glowing lights with Panama top society kids, and at the end a Salsa club with nice live band where I can finally move my hips! I woke up at sunrise, it's almost normal at this point, and I went for a nice walk in a waking David: a lot of students and early workers around. Parque Central is quiet and comfortable. Our bus to Panama City is at 8.30am at Padafront, 7hrs, $15.20. It's very comfy and with movies it passed quite quickly. Taxi to Casco Viejo, $3. This is the old, run down, and charming part of Panama that is now going thru a major process of renovation. We find room in a nice dorm at Magnolia Inn, which is brand new and clean and the owners are caring people from the US. $15 each with wifi, shared bath and hot showers! Sunset with ceviche on the waterfront with the locals: they sell them in small cups like ice-cream, $1.5 each! Delicious.
Later I meet my friend David- who lives here- for a glass of wine at Divino, first wine in over a month! He's an architect and tells me a lot about the renovation process going on, he has few projects here too. Then there's latin jazz at Platea Club, salsa dancing at Habana Panama club -$15 cover yes right!- but we end up at outdoor Relic Bar, in the courtyard under Luna's Hostel. There's a nice lounge atmosphere, a lot of travelers. As I said before, Costa Rica is a little too pricey and touristy for us so we decided to move to Panama today.
Minivan to the border $5, 40min, better than taking the local bus, 1.5 hrs, $3. The border is out of a movie scene: you cross it by foot over an old railroad bridge with view of the water between your feet and steps...fun! We decide to get to Panama City and San Blas asap so we are skipping Bocas del Toro this time. Bus to Changuinola, $1, 15min and minivan to David $9.7, 5hrs. Once there we find decent lodging at Residential Avenida, $15, room w bath and wifi, right in the center and close to the bus terminal. David is a busy town but not as congested as San Jose and walking around is quite enjoyable. We had a great comfortable meal for $11 total at Hotel Castilla, right in the west corner of parque central. Recommended! I don't think there are much better options around. After dinner walking thru a shopping mall was unexpectedly exciting after almost a month of wildderness! Manzanillo is a beautiful beach with a natural reserve behind, 40 min by car from Puerto Viejo. There's a local bus three times a day going there, one is at noon, well... kind of.. so we're on! Unfortunately 30 min after we got there it started to rain really bad, we just had the time to lay a little on the beach and see a sloth camouflaging on a tree. The next return bus is at 5pm, so...let's get the ride hunt started! After few try and some woman offering to take us for $6 each, we got a ride back with a couple from Boston, nice and comfy. We could have stayed there for lunch at Maxis, which is supposed to be very good, but we were not hungry.
Today I feel much better. With the bikes we go exploring the beaches next door, there are several yoga centers along the road but for some reason on Monday they're all closed, only Om is open but the yoga platform is right in front of the noisy street... Couldn't they find a better location?
All the beaches around here are beautiful, there are good waves and a lot of surfers. In Cocles there are a couple of natural pools with more quiet water for chilling out. Punta Uva is gorgeous but the water is too rough for the expected snorkeling. Instead I went hiking up to the top of the cliff, which was really powerful and I could see all the surfers in action. 30 min bike back, a little yoga on the beach and I'm exhausted. My stomach is funny again so I go to bed early like a grandma one more time. |
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