30. Time in Bocas Del Toro

The next day I wander down to the bar for the breakfast that is included and it seems to be just coffee and a muffin.  The coffee would be fine but didn’t really want to eat the muffin, Im more a poached eggs or fruit salad kind of girl.   I ran into Bill and he had made contact with his friend so was going to stay with her and get his business done.  He was leaving on the Tuesday and I didnt see him again.

I decided to go and have breakfast elsewhere and didn’t have to go far.  I found myself sitting outside looking over the water and having a wonderful fruit salad.  The colours were so vibrant that I took this photo of it.  I then went on reccy around the town to see what I could find.  It turned out to be quite successful.  I found the Indian restaurant that Chris had recommended to me (called Om), supermarket to buy water (as you cant drink from the tap), a yoga studio, a place to get my legs waxed,...all the important things!!  I also discovered a gourmet deli which stocked all sorts of relatively exotic things.

I was feeling a little out of sorts here as I didnt really need to come here for my visa requirements, having just been to Ecuador.   I was enjoying Manuel Antonio so much but here I am and I should make the most of it.  But I never really connected with the place.  I was content to stay at the hotel out in the open air and watch the boats go by or work on my blog (not that you would think I did that as I am so far behind).  I did this for the first 3 days, just relaxing and going to yoga at Bocas Yoga Studio with Laura Kay who is a great instructor.  While sitting out the back of the hotel I met Greg, and his friend Dave later on, who were both in Bocas on separate yachts, sailing around by themselves.  Both had been here for a couple of months I think which seemed to be the trend.  The one appealing thing about Bocas was that there were many more yachts here.  Greg invited me to dinner at the yacht club which I had heard was a great place to go for a meal, particularly on Friday night where there is dancing also.   He picked me up in the dinghy Tuesday night and off we went.  He seemed such a nice guy when we were just sitting and chatting but dinner was quite boring Im sorry to say.  It made me wonder if some people that sail around by themselves just lose so much touch with the way the rest of the world operates that they have nothing to talk about.  Or perhaps it was just his personality.  Anyway I think the feeling was mutual as we decided to call it a night quite early and he dropped me back to the hotel.  Maybe I just like a bit of subtlety.  Asking me if Id like to go and see his boat before we had even finished dinner made me wary!   The next day I got a funny note from Greg’s friend Dave saying “now you are finished with Greg, come with me to the yacht club on Friday night”.  This didn’t eventuate and Im really only writing about this as its unusual for me to be getting so much attention so thought it should be noted as something I experienced on my adventure.

The first few days passed quite quickly.  It was warm but overcast a couple of days with rain as well.  I managed to read an entire book; do multiple yoga sessions;  get my legs waxed, which took quite some time as I hadn’t had them done since I left Australia some 3 months earlier...(eek!!);  went to Om for dinner and also went there for breakfast.  I don’t think I have ever been to an Indian restaurant for breakfast before.  My concerns about the mosquitoes were quite founded as I got to a stage where I couldn’t work out if I was being bitten more or whether it was just the existing bites that were really itchy.  So I decided to count them to try to keep track.  I had 16 on one leg and 25 on the other...!  Am I paranoid then, no I don’t think so, mosquitoes just like to bite me...uugghhh.  It can actually feel quite miserable to be covered in itchy bites!  The lady who waxed my legs before I had so many bites, recommended lime juice and salt to treat them so I started trying this which seemed to work but also went to the farmacia to get some heavy duty cream.  I also relented and bought some heavy duty insect repellent.

After these first few days relaxing I decided I should probably go and see some of the local sights.  So on Thursday I booked in for the turtle nesting night tour that night, went looking for a snorkelling trip and one over to Red Frog Beach on Bastimentos Island.  Call me crazy, but I particularly wanted to do the sailing snorkelling trip which was on a catarmaran rather than be crammed into a long motor boat with 11 other people.  Most of these tours go to a selection of islands so it is a good way to see the area.  The trip wasn’t going on Thursday as they only go with a minimum of 6 people so I booked in for Friday.  It seems that it had been quiet in Bocas recently from a tourist perspective.

As I had left it too late to join a group tour to Red Frog Beach on Thursday, and I was running out of time to do things, I ended up taking a boat over on my own that afternoon.  This cost $10 US each way which isn’t that much but relatively it was very expensive.  To put it in perspective, the beers were $1 and wine $3 per glass, yoga classes were $5 and pippas (coconut water) were $1.  Bastimentos was a very pretty island and you get to see quite a bit of it, as the trail to the beach is about a 15 minute walk from the pier.  And of course there is an entry fee to the island.  The beach had nice white sand and was edged with rainforest, quite pretty.  The water was crystal clear and blue with some serious wave action going on.

That night, as I am waiting for the turtle tour guide to pick me up at the hotel around 9.00pm I get a phone call from the tour operator (I use that term loosely!).  He says it will cost more to do the tour and that he will have a taxi pick me up and take me to the site where the turtles nest.  The hotel staff didn’t seem to know much about the tour when I asked before I booked.  The sign for the tour was just a plain A4 sheet with little detail and a mobile phone number on it.   Hmmm, this all starts to sound a bit dodgy to me and it appears I am the only one going.   As he also tried to put the price up when he rang, weighing up all these factors, I decided to pull out of the trip.  Am I destined never to see turtles nesting? 

29. Arrival in Bocas Del Toro, Panama

So Sunday 27 March comes sooner than expected.  The time is passing quickly now and when I get back from Panama, there will be less than 3 weeks before I start heading home.

Holly drives me to the airport in Quepos for my quick flight to San Jose.  This time, for the first time, I am flying Nature Air as they are the carrier to Panama.  They also fly out of the second international airport in San Jose called Tobias Bolanos.   The other is Juan Santamaria.  This trip is the one I booked to fulfil my visa requirements for Costa Rica.  Travellers from Australia and many other places get 90 days on entry to the country but you are (apparently) required to have a ticket out of the country booked.  As my return flight was outside this period I had to book a flight to somewhere, so on 3 Jan ...yes the night before I left....I did a quick search on the web and picked Bocas del Toro in Panama.  Bocas del Toro means mouth/gulf of the bull.

I actually no longer required this trip as I had been to Ecuador but it was a non-refundable ticket.  My friend Chris from Jaco had been there a few weeks ago and quite liked it so I thought I might as well go.  I booked a hotel that was recommended by Chris called Hotel Olas where he had stayed.  In Bocas del Toro you pay for everything in cash and there are only a couple of places that take credit cards.  Also at the place I was staying you paid for your room each night even if you were booked in for a week like I was.  

The flight over was another trip in a little plane which I love.  The planes seat about 12 but there was only 6 of us on the flight.  The row of single seats were folded up and used to store one of the guys surfboards which made it feel like a real holiday flight.  There was another young couple on the plane and she was really nervous about the flight and was asking me if I had done it before.  I tried to convey lots of confidence in her but not sure she was convinced.  She seemed to endure it okay though and took lots of photos before after and during, perhaps to keep herself preoccupied.  

On the flight I met a guy called Bill, who lives in Jaco (about an hour north of Manuel Antonio) and is a stockbrocker from Denver.  He has lived there for 7 years.  He was singing the praises of Bocas to us on the flight.  He loves it there and was going down to buy a business.   I was a little disturbed though when he told me the only thing wrong with the place is how many mosquitoes there are.  EEK!  As I seem to be a target normally, the thought of being in a place where it is actually a problem  sounds like it might be a major issue for me!  

As we got closer the view of the coastline and the turquoise coloured water dispelled any thoughts of mosquitoes!  The airport here was hysterical, quite a short runway that had the local sportsground located at the end of it.  There was a baseball match being played when we landed with quite a few people filling the stands.  The landing went without a hitch for both the group on the plane and the baseballers.....!  Bags are searched before we are allowed to collect them.  They were also searched in our presence before they put them on the plane at the other end.  Not sure how we would have the chance to do anything illegal with them in that time, but hey....I guess it keeps people in a job.  Customs is one man sitting in an office and we wait outside his door in line to be called in and approved to enter the country.

We all head our separate ways and there does not seem to be a taxi in sight.  Luckily I travel light.  I run into Bill again on my way to my hotel and he offers to show me the way.  Not really knowing where I was going, I decide it is a good offer.   As we walk along Im not completely convinced he knows where we are going but I follow along anyway.  Finally we arrive at Hotel Olas and I check in.  He decides to book a room there as he hasn’t been able to contact his friend that 

lives there.  We meet back in the bar, which was built out over the water at the back of the hotel.   I offer to buy him a beer for his trouble.  One beer led to another and so the afternoon went.  The perfect thing to do in a hot climate, right!  I was a little concerned that he could drink two beers to my one but I guessed he had been doing it longer...!  As Im not that good drinking without eating I decide I need to eat.  So we head for the “best pizza place in town” but it wasn’t open as it was only 5.30pm (more about that place later).   We ended up at Hotel El Limbo and had a beautiful dinner ...and of course more beers for Bill, although I had moved on to white wine.  We met some people who were spending some time off their yacht which they had been sailing around for several years, about 12 from memory.  They were now looking to get off the boat and set up house...she wanted to have a garden.  They were quite the characters and it was good to chat to them.  After dinner we headed back to the hotel and said goodnight.  Bill announced that it had been a good first date...news to me..that it was a date that is, it had been a nice evening. 

28. Return from the Galapagos

I have written a post for each day of my trip to the Galapagos as it was so amazing I felt it warranted the detail, but Im sure that I wasnt able to convey just how amazing!  I felt really priveleged to be able to go to the Galapagos and grateful for the extra time.  It really is a very special place.  If you ever get the opportunity, definitely go!  

It was a long day travelling to return from the Galapagos on Saturday 19 March, starting with breakfast with Andrew at 7am, a taxi pickup at 8am to get to Baltra for a 11.30am flight. Continuing on my saga from not being picked up yesterday, despite the fact that both Andrew and I were both going to Baltra and catching flights only half an hour apart, the tour company organised separate taxis for us to the airport.  Despite thinking we would be okay going together, we thought it simplest to just adhere to the company's arrangements. I went earlier and was relieved when I saw Andrew arrive about an hour later.

Quito

 Somehow we ended up on the same flight.  Andrew was staying in Quito the night and I was heading straight through.  I had a flight at 6.50pm to San Jose, through Bogota (Colombia).  As I got to the airport early I could not check in until 4pm.  I sat with my luggage in a cafe and watched the guys that worked the ‘wrap your luggage in plastic’ stand.  They were doing quite a good trade and I was feeling like I wanted to chain myself to the machine to stop them doing it.  I couldn’t believe how much plastic they used to do this.  I am also dubious about how effective it is in any case.  But I am someone who doesn’t lock their suitcase most of the time, so perhaps not the best judge.  The other reason I was reluctant to make a stand against this practice is that I doubt my travel agent would speak to me anymore, given the amount of changes he had to make already for this trip.  I can just imagine his response when I emailed him and said, er Alban, can you change my flight as Ive been arrested for being a public nuisance...:)!

The rest of the trip home seemed to go quite well.  The staff at Bogota Airport seemed very organised and the transfer went smoothly.  I had been wondering why I bothered getting my yellow fever injection that was insisted on but now it was starting to be questioned...once in Quito, and now again in Bogota.  I arrived in San Jose about 11.30pm.  Unfortunately my bag had decided to overnight in Bogota, so I was advised when I arrived in San Jose.  The airline actually called my name and asked me to report to baggage office!  I knew that it wasnt going to be good news!

 

So it had been a long day, my period had come back, my bag hadn’t arrived...needless to say I felt like a drink.  When I arrived at the Hampton Inn at the airport where I stayed regularly if I had a late arrival, the shape of my day must have been obvious.  I arrived late, I bought a box of tampons from the hotel shop.  When I asked if there was a mini bar in the room (as I couldn’t remember) and was told no, the disappointment must have showed.   Can I get a drink delivered to my room I asked...ah no but you could go to the casino and have a drink...no I reply, too tired for that.  Suddenly the lady checking me in says...was it your birthday recently?  I said yes and she said, I would like to give you a bottle of white wine from the hotel for your birthday.  So happily I went to my room with bottle, glass and opener in hand! 

Arriving at Quepos

After a good nights sleep, aided by some of the wine I got up and had breakfast and got ready to catch my flight to Quepos.  I arrived back about 11.30am and Holly was there to pick me up.  We headed to a local favourite in Manuel Antonio, Cafe Milagro, to catch up as I had been away for almost 3 weeks including Drake Bay and the Galapagos.  We stayed for a few drinks and something to eat.  It was just one of those afternoons where you could settle in and get really messy.  We managed to control ourselves and took ourselves home to continue catching up and celebrating my birthday some more.

The week that followed was spent catching up on doing yoga, PT, going to the beach (yes the usual) and getting ready to go to Bocas del Toro in Panama next Sunday (March 27).  My friend from the States was visiting this week with his kids and after several emails we planned to catch up on Friday night.  It was nice to meet his kids (aged 18 and 20) who are very cool.  We had a great catch up over drinks and dinner, then spent the rest of the evening together.   As I have no photos that relate directly to this post I have added in some random shots mostly from the Galapagos.

Post Office Bay, Floreana Island

My fav thongs

My cabin on MY San Jose (with Juddy)

27. Last Day in the Galapagos...or is it (again)!

Once again I pack up all my things and get ready to depart, a little concerned that Fabian has heard nothing from the tour company about the arrangements for my pick up.  This is not completely unusual in South America but still when you are the one being picked up it is good to know they are thinking of you...:)!  

As no one has arrived by the time the others leave to go to the Charles Darwin Research Institute, I agree to tag along.  It was great to see the giant tortoises, including Lonesome George, and to hear the great work they are doing there supporting the continuation of this species.  The tortoise eggs are hatched in a cabinet heated with a $20 hairdryer.  Depending on the temperature the eggs are heated to, determines if the resulting tortoise is male or female.  Female is the focus naturally to assist increasing the population.

After our trip here, we have free time in town.  I go straight to the TAME Airline office to see what time my flight was booked.  Apparently there was no flight booked for me today so I ask TAME person that was helping me to make a booking for the next day.  She did this without any problems.  I then go to find some internet access (as I don’t have mobile coverage in Ecuador) to contact the travel company and ask what the arrangements are.  I also need to contact my travel agent to change my flight from Ecuador to Costa Rica as there is no way I can make the early flight that I am booked on.  I also have to make a reservation for a hotel as I get into San Jose (in Costa Rica) about 11pm.  After trying the “fastest” internet cafe in town I give up and go to a cafe that has free wireless.  It was worth the cost of a coffee and snack as the speed was much better.  There is another passenger, Andrew, leaving after the tour into the highlands this afternoon and I wonder if I was meant to go with him?  I don’t hear anything back from the companies involved before I have to leave for lunch on board.  I gather my things after lunch, as are the arrangements for Andrew and we drop all our things off at his hotel (and now mine), the Red Booby, where I book a room (an unexpected $122 a night).  When I finally hear back from the travel companies that afternoon, they are very apologetic and start investigating what happened. 

Fabian suggests I come along to the afternoon tour as the minivan is going anyway.  Im glad I did.  It was a totally different perspective of Ecuador.  We go to a property where the giant tortoises go to breed.  At peak times of the year there are many tortoises throughout the fields and tourists are able to meander unguided around the fields spotting giant tortoise.  As there are not so many left at this time of year, one of the property workers rides on horseback and spots the tortoises for us.  The property has been in the same family for many years and is quite beautiful with green rolling hills.   At the end of the tour we are treated to free lemon grass tea, coffee or rum...which you can also try in your tea or coffee.  For some reason a couple of us think this is a good idea.  We look at one another as the host pours a significant shot into our lemongrass tea.  We take a sip and feel like we are about to combust.  Both of us are very generous with offering a taste around the rest of the group but I think they are on to us as we don’t get many takers!  Despite a big effort we cannot drink the concoction and discreetly leave it on the side as we leave.  On our return trip we stopped at lava tube, the biggest in Ecuador apparently.  

After spending some time in the fields spotting tortoises, we are amused to come out and find one at the back of our mini van, just sitting there as we are about to leave!!  We head back into town.  Andrew and I say our goodbyes to the rest of the group and agree to meet for dinner.  I head off to see if I have had any responses from the travel companies and confirm that I will have a way home tomorrow.  Andrew and I have a lovely dinner and share a crème brulee which was so delicious we discussed sharing another!!  We are strong and dont. Andrew has a very exciting adventure coming up.  He is doing 6 months volunteering in a remote area in the Amazon working with animals and different villages.

Thinking we have everything sorted we get back to the hotel and call it a night.  There is another phone call to the hotel telling me I should make my own way to the airport.  I question why I cant go with Andrew as there is a car arranged for him and I am entitled to an airport transfer as part of the tour.  Andrew and I had agreed to share the car.  As our flights are half an hour apart they insist I go in a separate car.  Nothing green about this arrangement.  I question it and they check again.  For each phone call the receptionist at the hotel has to get me to come down to the office for as there are no phones in the room.  After several phone calls it is confirmed that I have a ride to the airport.  I keep Andrew up to date with the developments and we agree to have breakfast together and he will come early with me to the airport.  We call it a night and I go to bed and wonder what turn the arrangements will take in the morning!