We got out of David early enough, which is always a good thing.  Getting going before the madness begins goes a long way towards getting where you want to be, and you just never ever know what you are going to run into.

The road between Santiago and David is being redone, so there are a lot of stops and starts, switching back and forth side to side, and rough patches followed by brand new runs.  From David to the turnoff to Hornocito took us an hour.  From there, it’s a leisurely drive down through Hornoncito, where you take a right, and onto Boca Chica, the port across from Boca Brava.

Getting close to to coast, there are a few nice views.

Once in Boca Brava, you find a place to park the car, drag all your gear down to the dock, and get a water taxi over to the island.

This place hasn’t changed a whole lot.  The new guy, Brad, running the place is a likable character.  He’ll chat you up for a while no matter what he’s doing, but this place always keeps a guy busy.  Yesterday I caught him fixing a water line from the well up to the holding tanks.  I apologized for bringing the water problems with us, but he said it beat us there by a day.  LOL

The food last night was OK.  My spaghetti bolegnese was a little salty (I’m still thirsty), and Cass still hasn’t learned not to order a hamburger down here.   When it comes to hamburgers, they just don’t get it, y’see, and never will, but breakfast was excellent, and the coffee was great.

The room has a little balcony, and looks over the channel between the island and mainland, where you can hear boats buzzing by, then to be replaced by the sound of howler monkeys, and whatever else lurks in the dark here.  Not a damn rooster can be heard, but I’m still waking up at 5:30 just the same.  That will take a few days to break.  The kitchen opens at 7:30.  That’s two full hours without coffee, so I’ve been thinking about taking a water-taxi back to get the big tote of stuff (coffee) from the car.  We’re here for a week, so I think it would be worth it, but for now I’ll just suck it up and wait for the kitchen to open.  Here’s a veiw out the door.

I still can’t believe a person can stay here for 25 buks a day.  The bathrooms are communal, but clean.  We were offered a room with a private bathroom for the same price, and we hummed and hawed about it, but it was small, and after the tight confines of the Pension, we decided to go with this.  Elbow room is well appreciated now.

Leaving the camera at home, we made our way to Christinas’ beach yesterday, along a hilly path that has now mostly grown up along both sides, and now you are in shade nearly all the way there.  New buildings have popped up, one with gross looking tents (Howlers Bay), and a few others.  “Gone Fishing”, a hoity toity outfit for sport fishing has the doors welded shut, and a se vende sign.

At the beach, a small bay, we hung our hammocks under a big tree overhanging the beach, and for the first time since we’ve been in Panama, went for a swim in the ocean.  Nice.  I guess I was trying to make up for lost time, because I’m a little lobster-like right now, I’ll have to take it easy for a day or two before we head out on a boat tour to Isla Bellenas.

That’s all for now.  More pics in the days to come.  Now, it’s 7:27, and time to go get a coffee.