Travel – Page 16 – Whatsittwoya

Tenting…

That little pad is NOT comfortable…

I just spent my first night in a tent down here. I think I rolled over about 30,000 times. If I am going to do this I will need something a little more substantial that a thin little pad, although…I am not really aching or anything. It just could have been better.

This place has several rooms bordering an open area for gathering, and a camping area out the back for those with tents.

Understandably, I was up before anyone else here, made myself a pot of coffee from my little kit I kept from last year, and had a shower before the bathroom got busy.

Yesterdays’ little adventure to the beach here cost me 6 buks just to park. I am not sure I am willing to deal with that kind of thievery every day when what you pay for is little more than a garbage dump next to the ocean. Locals have no respect or understanding for what they have.

The beach was great. It is 8 AM here now, and I don’t have a clue what I am going to end up doing today. There should be a few more beaches around here. You would think.

Oh yeah, the place i am staying is called Hotel Tucan. www.tucanhotel.com

Anyways, here are a few pics.

Travel

Costly Rica

Well, I finally made it. I made it to the border around 9 or so and wasn’t finished until 3. Then the problems started. Having a car that is Panamanian, and driving it out of the country as a tourist, is a major hassle. I had to sit with the “boss of everyone” again, as his henchmen eyed me up and down, to get his permission. He is a nice enough guy, and I suppose my situation is rare, so when he gave his go ahead, I should have been pleased.

They produced a bunch of papers for me saying this and that. Photo-copy this and that, and carry on to the Costly Rica side.

That side was jammed to the rafters. I had my “helper” standing in one line, while I waited in another. They only had one officer at each window for well over 400 people, standing, waiting, dehydrating in the mid-day sun. That being said, I said I wouldn’t bitch about Costly Rica too much, so I will just have to end it there.

They have improved the road considerably since I was last this way, so the road before the turnoff at Palmar Norte (where I finally found a bank machine that worked for me), was pretty good.

I found my way back out to the road towards Dominical, back to the very same spot I stayed last year, and if you didn’t know it was here, you would miss it entirely. Perfect.

Too late to go for a dip, so I will save that for the morning. The food at this place is good, cheap, and basic. Same with the room. A fan, a bed, a shower (tube sticking out of the wall that ran some terrible color of mud for a few minutes before clearing up), and a nice little seating area outside where I am typing this now.

I like this place mostly because of the beach it is close to. I don’t know it’s name, but it is close to Tortuga Abajo, just past the little bridge going north, and the beach here was deserted last time I was here. Just cut across a field, stumble over some dead fall, and you are on the beach with no one around and good body surfing. I hope there aren’t any more jelly-fish.

I guess I am also going to keep monkeys in mind if I want to keep my stuff. I read they are pretty light fingered little buggers, and if given the chance, will take off with your bag on the beach. Just tuck it under a log or something heavy.

That’s all I have for now. Looking forward to a good nights sleep.

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Well, I got one. Went for a dip in the morning (they have since built a little wooden walkway over the dead fall and “wetlands”). It was too hot by 10, so I went back to the room, showered, and left for Uvita where I am now. The place is called.. oh I forget. I am going to try camping for a night to see how that goes. 2000 Colones for a night. That is like 3 buks or so. Not sure of the exchange rate here right now. Don’t care, either.

I am waiting until about 3:30-4:00 to head down to the beach here and see what it is like. No idea yet but I see a lot of surfboards around. Gonna take a splash before I go. Will post some pics later.

Travel

Brain Sweats

Today and yesterday were spend studying Spanish. When I took it in Guatemala, they taught present tense, and then past tense, so what I have to go on are conjugations of different verbs, both past and present, separated by about 15 pages or so. The constant flipping back and forth just doesn’t allow it to set in.

There are more tenses in Spanish than there are days of the week, and I didn’t learn how to say words ending with “ing” or “ly”, which are pretty damn important. I don’t even know what tense they are called.

So I have been making little cards for myself.

Lost in Time

I have been lying here in a hammock for nearly and hour now, drifting off into this and that, staring at the stars, and wondering what it is that makes some people come down this way and others just not bother.

When I say to people that I am going to go to Panama, most kind of look at me funny, and say “Why Panama?”

Well, you would just have to come here to figure that out.

Chitre and Playa El Rompio

Well, finally off and rolling. ATTN: If you click on the pictures they will come up in a bigger size. Some of you don’t know this.

I left Boquette at 8 AM yesterday morning, and in no time was glad that I left so early. I had put off the trip due to some continuing car problems that I have now worked out, and finally seem to get gone. I made a run for it yesterday morning only to make it to the bottom of the hill, stop for gas, and find under my seat a set of Kens’ keys. By the time I made it back up to return the keys, it was 10 AM. I had already lost an hour…

I decided to wait until the morning and not leave later in the afternoon, and a good thing too. It took until noon to make it to Santiago, the capital city in these parts, and it was HOT!! The road in between David and Santiago has a lot of re-constructive surgery going on, and the places where it isn’t happening, there are fine stretches of road, and then Wham, stand on the binders! Read more “Chitre and Playa El Rompio” →