First, let me say how glad I am to finally make it here. In my mind, this destination is the period at the end of my sentence. I came here in 2003 for two days and found paradise, and from there began the planning and hard work that has made my return an actuality. It is my opinion that no one who has a job, a week to spare, and the spare change to get here ($650 return to Panama City and $100 return from there by AirPerlas) should pine away in an office and dream about it. No more than $40 buks a day ($25/day @ A/C and cbl. TV)has you fed and housed on an island in paradise. High-speed wireless internet available at Mr.Roberts Restaurant (on the sea).

Ok, the story.   As I headed away from Boquete, the road was all twisty-turny like crazy.  This “short-cut” to the main highway to Bocas would have been better but for the 7 km of crappy gravel road just before it connected.  It was the kind of road that you could only do about 8… no 6 km/hr on and went up, and up, and up…. but… from the top I took this.

So, the crappy little road was actually worth it.  I didn’t take this route back, but I am glad I was there at the time.

Once you get to the “top” of the Continental Divide, there is a reservoir for Hydro-electric, a nice sight in a country that has just started a recycling program.   In selected areas.

Once at the top it is like a switch gets thrown. Dry and barren on one side after all the rain is squeezed out of the air, and lush tropical jungle on the other. This continued all the way down to the coast and was just the sort of thing I was looking for.   Mother nature on steroids.;)

All the way down the other side there were these little houses on stilts. It doesn’t seem like much, but really, what do you need. It’s not like it is cold or anything. You just need a place to get out of the rain. Ok, so there isn’t a car port…most folks get around on horse anyways.  Basic, content, happy people, wave to you as you drive past.

By now I am feeling pretty good about being on the road again seeing new things. Mostly because I just love the “strength” of the jungle. The road down the other side is challenging, to say the least, and had I took this road all the way from Gualaca, it would be another paradise ride on a bike (no, I haven’t forgotten).

My least favorite part of this leg was arriving in Almirante, the port town where you catch the water taxi across to the island. There, even before you are in town, you are absconded by hawksters on bicycles trying to get you to take this or that boat across. When I had two people in each window, each telling me this and that, I found the best way to deal with it was to hit the gas and see which one caught up to me first. That is the one I went with. Screw the rest.

Three buks a day in a guarded compound for the car, 3 buks to get across on the launch, and away I went. This was the view coming into the docks.

 

 

Once there, I wasted no time, found my way back to the same hotel I was at the last time, The Saggitarius, and went straight to a real-estate agent. I am now the owner of a nice little place, right on the island, all my own.

Once I got settled in there, I found a place to rent a bike. This is the startling cost of $3.50/day, but only if you talk to the right person.  Otherwise, it is 8.

There was also this. Worth mentioning due to the good food, Canadian owner, high-speed wireless, but mostly because of the Canadian flag up there without the obligatory yankee rag ruining the picture.

 

 

Ok, so the reason I rented the bike was so I could make my way around the east side of the island on the goat path that passes as a road. It’s probably a good thing, as there would me more traffic to ruin the place, otherwise. When you take this road, parts of it right on the beach (a good wave would wash it out), all the way to the end as far as you can go, past where the sea turtles nest, you end up at the northern tip of Playa Bluff.  Actually, anywhere along the last 4 km of “road”, you can head out through the trees towards the sound of surf.  It doesn’t matter where, it’s all the same once you make it to the beach.  Miles of pristine beach, and not a soul to be seen.   All day.

Go ahead, click the image!  That is what I have been talking about.  Driving everybody nuts with, I imagine.  Most people think you have to pay a fortune for a scene like this.  Not so.  Not so at all.

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THE STRAW HAT

There are many people out there, not the least of all travel agents, that carry ill-conceived notions about the reality of travel in and through Central America. Most are negative in nature, and are rarely formed from an accurate representation of reality.

There are vested interests set to keep people complacent, fearful, and most importantly, at their DESK, and use a thousand forms of misinformation:  be it Hollywood sensationalism, media reports depicting solely negative slants, pictures, web-sites with overt warnings (of which all could be excerpts found in your local paper), lack of adequate health care (of which I found it easier to access, and cheaper than home), blah blah blah…seek to make the thought of travel either an irresponsible venture into to the jaws of peril, or a dream; far off and unattainable.

Sheep!! It has been the aim of this blog (along with some entertainment) to dispel those fears and misconceptions as the BS that they are, and encourage those who are on the verge to get out and see it for themselves. How can you have an opinion when you only know one side of the story? Ask your travel agent if they have ever been to the place they warn you about. Never mind that, screw the travel agent!!:DD

So, without much further yonking, I’d like to thank you all for following my misadventures, putting up with my bitching sessions, sharing some of the laughs, and keeping me company along the way.

I’d Like to Thank

Chevy:

For making one damn tough car. Aside from insults incurred through my own beatings, I have only an alternator as new equipment throughout this entire trip, a voyage now totalling over 18 000 kms. Just don’t buy anything they make now-a-days. Seems they are going after the chinese market instead.

Hewlet-Packard:

For a laptop that will work in the heat and humidity and do all the things it does while being small enough to fit under the seat.

Canon:

For the digital camera that made every one of these pictures possible, and easy to load, but…there are still things it does that I don’t have a clue about.

Grant:

For the removable steering wheel, without which I would be without much. No wheelie, no stealie.

MigelCervantes in Xela, Guatemala:

Without their schooling in Spanish, anywhere from Guatemala south would have just suked. Huge.

Alpine:

I love the culture… but good, rockin tunes have been an essential on those winding, mountain roads.

Thunder-Range:

For a great cup of coffee in the mornings, and free (virtually) breakfast wherever I go.

ITMB Vancouver:

For every map I needed to get me around. There are still lots of surprises along the way, yet unmarked, but all in all, invalueable.

Lonely Planet Guide:

A regular companion on the passenger seat. Well thumbed and necessary for any trip abroad.

Jim Sinclair:

For keeping me informed and focused, as he always does.

www.blog.ca:

For having this site and changeing it’s characteristics often enough to keep me awake.

TacaAir:

For taking me home without having to land in the states.

And Barb, Bev, Ken, Mike, Wendy, Jon, Ted, Candace, Maria Elena, Mom, Vern, Crowchild Denture Clinic (lol), Sam, Devon, Desiree, Joan B., Josh, Rachel, Sarah, Barry, Darren, Ursa, and anyone else who I might have missed, for being there all the way. Thanks for the jokes and smart ass comments.

Mostly, I would like to thank all those who I will never be able to thank. The people in every country for being just who they were, when they were, showing me all is not as it seems, everyone has something in common, even the kindest can be an ass, poor is a measure of spirit, and that travelling is in the blood not a book.

Tune in next year for “Biking Central America”. Hopefully…maybe…