Isla Zapatilla , Bocas del Toro - PanamaI don’t remember when was the last time I wrote, but seems like a whole era had passed since then. My last words were from San Pedro, right before I started to make my way to Costa Rica, and here I am today on my 3rd day in Panama, after a very rocky week...
Maybe I will start at the end:
Panama is amazing. I am spending my days on the most amazing Caribbean islands, the most amazing I have ever seen in my life, I am with Joost (The Dutch guy I met in Mexico), we are having the best time together and everything is great.
Now how come I ended up in Panama when the plan was to travel through Costa Rica?
That’s a whole different story...
Leaving San Pedro was not easy, but I had lots of anticipation for what is yet to come and this excitement made things easier. Flora and Anjela, two beautiful girls who sold me ¨Pan de banana¨ every day, walked me to the dock and stood there, waving goodbye, as I got on the boat to Panahachel with my huge muchila.
When I got to Pana to take the bus back to Antigua, I discovered that the driver is the same guy that drove me and Torna to Pana 9 days ago, and went through with us the entire drama of her being sick. He told me that Torna was taken to a hospital in Antigua, where she was diagnosed with Salmonella and stayed there for 4 days and on that day left back to Australia.
I was so grateful for that piece of information, and finally I know the end of the story. Funny how things work, seeing that driver again and getting the last piece of the puzzle from him...
Then it was time to say goodbye to Guatemala, and make my way to Costa Rica. And I am terrible with saying goodbyes... Guatemala has been such a precious, unique and life-changing experience for me. It’s true that I take all the important things with me, but still, I feel as though a piece of me remains there, and that I would like to go back one day.
The 1.5 hours on the plane were enough for me though to switch to a completely different mode and get really excited. Mostly about seeing Joost, after 1 month that he was traveling in Cuba and I in Guatemala. I pushed the thoughts about what would it be like, traveling with someone I spent only 4 days with a whole month ago to the back of my mind and said to myself that no matter how things turn out, all will be fine. The decision to meet him in Costa Rica felt very right from the get-go, so there was no reason to doubt it.
And when I saw him again, and after a couple of hours it felt as if we knew each other for a very long time, I knew my initial feeling was right.
We took the taxi to San Jose, and it didn’t take us long to discover how different Costa Rica is. Joost was amazed by the many options you have for everything after the conservative Cuba and I was kind of overwhelmed by the Americanization and commercialism of everything after simple and down to earth Guatemala...
It was funny to see how our reactions to the place were completely different depending on the place we came from. I was still expecting people to smile at me and greet me everywhere I go, and he was expecting people to hand out their hands asking for money if they just answered a simple question.
San Jose was our first stop, just to relax from the journey and figure out where we wanna go next. We had nothing planed.
Very soon the city was revealed to us as a large, busy and sweaty metropolin, with people driving like crazy, and where the ones who walk down the street march instead of strolling with no smiles on their faces. Seeing this, we have made up our minds immediately to take the first bus the following day at noon to Puerto Viejo, which is a small village on the Caribbean.
But, this is where fate or mostly - San Jose - intervened.
The next morning, a few hours before needing to get on the bus to Puerto Viejo, we took out some money from the ATM and sat down at a restaurant in the center of the city to have a nice breakfast before we download all the pictures from our cameras to a CD for safety.
And that’s where I got robbed.
I won’t go into all the details of how it happened. I would just say that it was a combination of me being reckless for the first time on my trip, pure bad luck, and a very clever and smooth scheme of three people.
I found myself without my money, credit card, traveler checks, but most horribly - without my camera with all my pictures from Mexico and Guatemala.
I literally felt the ground beneath my feet collapse.
I felt angry and sad and mad at myself and the world, and especially San Jose.
I was particularly angry with myself for letting my guards down even for just a second, a very crucial second, just because I was together with someone and not alone anymore.
I know, these things happen to almost anyone and everybody says that San Jose is a dangerous place, but still. I was so proud of myself so far for being so resourceful and not losing or getting anything stolen, and now this. In the worst way possible, too.
So, needless to say, we didn’t go on the bus as planned. That day, and half of the next one, was devoted to canceling my credit card and T.C`s, waiting in line at the police station to file a report and so on and so forth... By the end of this I was exhausted and depressed and mainly I just wanted to get the hell out of that damned city.
So after all the tiring necessities were taken care of, we finally managed to get on the bus to Puerto Viejo. That alone was enough to lift my spirit a little. In parallel I started sending emails to all the people I traveled with, asking them to send me as many pictures as possible, in an attempt to have some tangible memories after all. And maybe there is something symbolic about it, that now the people I have met along the way and kept in touch with, will fill in the void that was created by my own pictures getting lost…
We got to Puerto Viejo on Friday evening.
This place is nothing like any other place in Latin America I have seen so far. Most of the people there are Jamaican-looking, with a strange English dialect and mostly a very laid-back and happy way of living. I guess living in a small village on the Caribbean kind of gets you this way...
But, the bad cloud that came over me as I landed in Costa did not pass by then. That evening, I got sick. The good old Streptococcus once again. Fever and all. Good thing I brought a little pharmacy with me from home, so I had all I needed.
And in some bizarre way, we didn’t let it ruin our time together that much.
It was raining like mad the whole time we were there, so there wasn’t much to do anyway seeing this is a beach village. So we just stayed around our sweet hostel, cooked ourselves really good dinners, and just enjoyed each other’s company with hot ginger tea and long conversations.
That was when the plan to leave Costa Rica behind took shape. I’m sure it’s an amazing country that has a lot to offer, but I just had nothing but bad luck ever since I got there. And these things cannot go unnoticed, that’s what life taught me in more than one occasion.
Getting to Panama from Puerto Viejo is just a matter of taking a 1.5 hours bus to a border city, Sixaola, then cross a huge bridge (if you make it alive with all the mad trucks that pass there all the time), go through customs - and you’re there. Easier than moving from Eilat to Sinai even.
From the border we took a boat to the main Island in a chain of Caribbean islands - Bocas Del Toro. The boat ride itself was breath taking, and I immediately knew that we have made the best decision. This feeling only got stronger with every minute that went by.
This is the 3rd and last day here in Bocas Del Toro. So far we took a boat and spent one glorious day in the secluded and unbelievably beautiful island Bastimentos, where we bathed in the smoothest waters of the ¨Red Frog¨ beach. A sweet Panaman kid who came to us with a very satisfied green on his face and handed us a plastic cup showed us exactly why this beach is called this way: In the cup the kid had a tinny red-orange frog! He just came by to show it to us, watched our eyes widen with amazement, and kept on walking, happy with his finding. The sweetest thing ever.
Then today we took a boat and watched dolphins, dozens of them, dance around us, as if knowing we are there and putting a show to us, only this was in the middle of the ocean and these were wild nature dolphins, which made it of course all the more amazing.
Then, the boat dropped us off in paradise.
All the beaches and the islands I have seen so far, Rhodes, Crete, Thailand, Mexico, Costa Rica... simply pail in comparison.
Zapatilla is the name of this little island, which is also a national reservation of plants and animals, and it is completely untouched.
Virginal sands and waters with colors I didn’t even know existed, fish from all shapes and colors swimming right next to you and as the water is so clear you don’t even need to Snorkel to see them!
We spent a few hours there, just connecting to this piece of amazing nature, and not wanting to let go. The skies were a perfect addition to this breath-taking place, with dramatic clouds changing in the sun light...
And now we’re back, just before dinner, and finally I felt passionate about writing another reflective piece. Feeling revived again, and excited about big and small things at the same time.
It was a rough start, and I think that maybe a part of me was allowing myself to let go now that I knew someone is there beside me, who will take care of me if I get sick, maybe this is something I saved for a while that just came out now.
And like with everything else, there are things to learn from the bad experiences.
At first I thought the fact that I allowed myself to get robbed takes away from the feeling of pride and confidence I gained during this trip. Now I know that the things I did and the choices I made and the way I was on this trip is mine to have and nothing can take that away.
The words produced from the experiences I have are probably every bit as vivid as the pictures were, and they are any way on my mind for all time. Traveling is like this, it’s not always moments of joy and happiness; people will not always smile at you everywhere you go and treat you softly and nicely. And like traveling, such is life. The good and the bad are intertwined. Being able to take it all – the negatives as well as the positives, and still love the experience, appreciate it, see it as a growing opportunity – that is the most important thing, and after feeling mad about myself and about everything else – this is what I am trying to do.
Time is getting shorter... and in a little over a week I will already make my way back home. With mixed feelings, that is true. There are many things I dread from in this home-coming, and look for, at the same time. But this morning, after waking up from a terrible home-coming dream, I decided for myself that I won’t get greedy. I will experience every minute that is left on this trip to its fullest, just like I have done so far, and will treasure this as a complete, perfect thing. Other amazing adventures are already waiting around the corner...
Maybe I will start at the end:
Panama is amazing. I am spending my days on the most amazing Caribbean islands, the most amazing I have ever seen in my life, I am with Joost (The Dutch guy I met in Mexico), we are having the best time together and everything is great.
Now how come I ended up in Panama when the plan was to travel through Costa Rica?
That’s a whole different story...
Leaving San Pedro was not easy, but I had lots of anticipation for what is yet to come and this excitement made things easier. Flora and Anjela, two beautiful girls who sold me ¨Pan de banana¨ every day, walked me to the dock and stood there, waving goodbye, as I got on the boat to Panahachel with my huge muchila.
When I got to Pana to take the bus back to Antigua, I discovered that the driver is the same guy that drove me and Torna to Pana 9 days ago, and went through with us the entire drama of her being sick. He told me that Torna was taken to a hospital in Antigua, where she was diagnosed with Salmonella and stayed there for 4 days and on that day left back to Australia.
I was so grateful for that piece of information, and finally I know the end of the story. Funny how things work, seeing that driver again and getting the last piece of the puzzle from him...
Then it was time to say goodbye to Guatemala, and make my way to Costa Rica. And I am terrible with saying goodbyes... Guatemala has been such a precious, unique and life-changing experience for me. It’s true that I take all the important things with me, but still, I feel as though a piece of me remains there, and that I would like to go back one day.
The 1.5 hours on the plane were enough for me though to switch to a completely different mode and get really excited. Mostly about seeing Joost, after 1 month that he was traveling in Cuba and I in Guatemala. I pushed the thoughts about what would it be like, traveling with someone I spent only 4 days with a whole month ago to the back of my mind and said to myself that no matter how things turn out, all will be fine. The decision to meet him in Costa Rica felt very right from the get-go, so there was no reason to doubt it.
And when I saw him again, and after a couple of hours it felt as if we knew each other for a very long time, I knew my initial feeling was right.
We took the taxi to San Jose, and it didn’t take us long to discover how different Costa Rica is. Joost was amazed by the many options you have for everything after the conservative Cuba and I was kind of overwhelmed by the Americanization and commercialism of everything after simple and down to earth Guatemala...
It was funny to see how our reactions to the place were completely different depending on the place we came from. I was still expecting people to smile at me and greet me everywhere I go, and he was expecting people to hand out their hands asking for money if they just answered a simple question.
San Jose was our first stop, just to relax from the journey and figure out where we wanna go next. We had nothing planed.
Very soon the city was revealed to us as a large, busy and sweaty metropolin, with people driving like crazy, and where the ones who walk down the street march instead of strolling with no smiles on their faces. Seeing this, we have made up our minds immediately to take the first bus the following day at noon to Puerto Viejo, which is a small village on the Caribbean.
But, this is where fate or mostly - San Jose - intervened.
The next morning, a few hours before needing to get on the bus to Puerto Viejo, we took out some money from the ATM and sat down at a restaurant in the center of the city to have a nice breakfast before we download all the pictures from our cameras to a CD for safety.
And that’s where I got robbed.
I won’t go into all the details of how it happened. I would just say that it was a combination of me being reckless for the first time on my trip, pure bad luck, and a very clever and smooth scheme of three people.
I found myself without my money, credit card, traveler checks, but most horribly - without my camera with all my pictures from Mexico and Guatemala.
I literally felt the ground beneath my feet collapse.
I felt angry and sad and mad at myself and the world, and especially San Jose.
I was particularly angry with myself for letting my guards down even for just a second, a very crucial second, just because I was together with someone and not alone anymore.
I know, these things happen to almost anyone and everybody says that San Jose is a dangerous place, but still. I was so proud of myself so far for being so resourceful and not losing or getting anything stolen, and now this. In the worst way possible, too.
So, needless to say, we didn’t go on the bus as planned. That day, and half of the next one, was devoted to canceling my credit card and T.C`s, waiting in line at the police station to file a report and so on and so forth... By the end of this I was exhausted and depressed and mainly I just wanted to get the hell out of that damned city.
So after all the tiring necessities were taken care of, we finally managed to get on the bus to Puerto Viejo. That alone was enough to lift my spirit a little. In parallel I started sending emails to all the people I traveled with, asking them to send me as many pictures as possible, in an attempt to have some tangible memories after all. And maybe there is something symbolic about it, that now the people I have met along the way and kept in touch with, will fill in the void that was created by my own pictures getting lost…
We got to Puerto Viejo on Friday evening.
This place is nothing like any other place in Latin America I have seen so far. Most of the people there are Jamaican-looking, with a strange English dialect and mostly a very laid-back and happy way of living. I guess living in a small village on the Caribbean kind of gets you this way...
But, the bad cloud that came over me as I landed in Costa did not pass by then. That evening, I got sick. The good old Streptococcus once again. Fever and all. Good thing I brought a little pharmacy with me from home, so I had all I needed.
And in some bizarre way, we didn’t let it ruin our time together that much.
It was raining like mad the whole time we were there, so there wasn’t much to do anyway seeing this is a beach village. So we just stayed around our sweet hostel, cooked ourselves really good dinners, and just enjoyed each other’s company with hot ginger tea and long conversations.
That was when the plan to leave Costa Rica behind took shape. I’m sure it’s an amazing country that has a lot to offer, but I just had nothing but bad luck ever since I got there. And these things cannot go unnoticed, that’s what life taught me in more than one occasion.
Getting to Panama from Puerto Viejo is just a matter of taking a 1.5 hours bus to a border city, Sixaola, then cross a huge bridge (if you make it alive with all the mad trucks that pass there all the time), go through customs - and you’re there. Easier than moving from Eilat to Sinai even.
From the border we took a boat to the main Island in a chain of Caribbean islands - Bocas Del Toro. The boat ride itself was breath taking, and I immediately knew that we have made the best decision. This feeling only got stronger with every minute that went by.
This is the 3rd and last day here in Bocas Del Toro. So far we took a boat and spent one glorious day in the secluded and unbelievably beautiful island Bastimentos, where we bathed in the smoothest waters of the ¨Red Frog¨ beach. A sweet Panaman kid who came to us with a very satisfied green on his face and handed us a plastic cup showed us exactly why this beach is called this way: In the cup the kid had a tinny red-orange frog! He just came by to show it to us, watched our eyes widen with amazement, and kept on walking, happy with his finding. The sweetest thing ever.
Then today we took a boat and watched dolphins, dozens of them, dance around us, as if knowing we are there and putting a show to us, only this was in the middle of the ocean and these were wild nature dolphins, which made it of course all the more amazing.
Then, the boat dropped us off in paradise.
All the beaches and the islands I have seen so far, Rhodes, Crete, Thailand, Mexico, Costa Rica... simply pail in comparison.
Zapatilla is the name of this little island, which is also a national reservation of plants and animals, and it is completely untouched.
Virginal sands and waters with colors I didn’t even know existed, fish from all shapes and colors swimming right next to you and as the water is so clear you don’t even need to Snorkel to see them!
We spent a few hours there, just connecting to this piece of amazing nature, and not wanting to let go. The skies were a perfect addition to this breath-taking place, with dramatic clouds changing in the sun light...
And now we’re back, just before dinner, and finally I felt passionate about writing another reflective piece. Feeling revived again, and excited about big and small things at the same time.
It was a rough start, and I think that maybe a part of me was allowing myself to let go now that I knew someone is there beside me, who will take care of me if I get sick, maybe this is something I saved for a while that just came out now.
And like with everything else, there are things to learn from the bad experiences.
At first I thought the fact that I allowed myself to get robbed takes away from the feeling of pride and confidence I gained during this trip. Now I know that the things I did and the choices I made and the way I was on this trip is mine to have and nothing can take that away.
The words produced from the experiences I have are probably every bit as vivid as the pictures were, and they are any way on my mind for all time. Traveling is like this, it’s not always moments of joy and happiness; people will not always smile at you everywhere you go and treat you softly and nicely. And like traveling, such is life. The good and the bad are intertwined. Being able to take it all – the negatives as well as the positives, and still love the experience, appreciate it, see it as a growing opportunity – that is the most important thing, and after feeling mad about myself and about everything else – this is what I am trying to do.
Time is getting shorter... and in a little over a week I will already make my way back home. With mixed feelings, that is true. There are many things I dread from in this home-coming, and look for, at the same time. But this morning, after waking up from a terrible home-coming dream, I decided for myself that I won’t get greedy. I will experience every minute that is left on this trip to its fullest, just like I have done so far, and will treasure this as a complete, perfect thing. Other amazing adventures are already waiting around the corner...
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