Ras’ update

Whenever we go to an internet cafe, I?m always stuck uploading pictures and labeling them, while Ras has time to chat on messenger, and write a long mass email. Arrgh! I’ve decided that he’ll write most of the summaries, and I’lll just add my own comments when I deem necessary.  Here?s his latest one, which was written 2 days ago. We?re now Bocas del Toro, arriving just 2 hours ago.

Read Ras’ email below:

on the way to panama, i had visions of tropical lushness – ala se asia. what a surprise to arrive here and find that i was dry. damn dry. i figured that i?d see palms to the left a right, monkey serving drinks in the bar, and other such madness. as it turns out (on the pacific coast at least), it?s not so green, not so lush. it?s a dry, windswept place (the severity varies from locale to locale), covered with tinges of green, though mostly decorated in shades of brown. even when we went to isla contadora, it was a dry place, only interspersed with the green palms of my dreams.

in el valle, the wind blew, at times shrieked like a banshee on speed, at all times. locals said it started at 5am, but i knew better. throughout the night, i would be woken up by what sounded like a WWE match being staged by thunderclouds over head – but no, it was just the never ending winds, smashing with such force on our tin roof that i jumped up in bed from a dead sleep at 2am.

the bus ride to pedasi showed the same vegetation, same landscape. usually rolling hills, brushed with dry, broken grass, laced with white, anorexic cattle and spotted with the occasional palm. not unpretty in it?s own right, just still not the "damn, i can?t believe i?m hanging out in the middle of a jungle" feeling that i longed for.

the best part about pedasi, certainly, was going to isla iguana. we took a 25 minute boat ride from a pier in the river (subsequently, the paved road and concrete pier – both very nice – were recently built by the japanese government. apparently panama had made an agreement that the japanese could run whaling ships from there. as soon as the road and pier were finished, the panamanian government rescinded the offer. tough luck for the whale meat lovers of japan). we arrived on a beautiful, soft, white sand beach, covered with hermit crabs who would freeze when your shadow crossed them. we spent 4 lazy hours reading, lounging and snorkeling – there was nobody else on the island the whole time we were there. about 7m out into the water, a carpet of coral began, and stretched as far as the eye could see. i saw needle fish, doctor fish, numerous fluorescent fish, swam with a turtle, saw white, red and purple coral….the list goes on. thing is, we never saw any iguanas……

after 2 days in pedasi we jumped back on the bus(es). from pedasi to las tablas to divisa to david to boquete (where we are now). yesterday was a long, long day of being stuck in moving vehicles.

the good thing was, finally the trees started to change. we were climbing into the mountains (right now we?re next to volcan baru, the highest mountain in panama) and green appeared. different hues, shades and sizes – what a relief. the closer we get to costa rica (be there withing a week), the more tropical it will be.

today we?re gonna take a walk around the valley, head to a coffee plantation (which turned out to be a really GOOD tour), just have a day in the cool mountain air. tomorrow, it?s off to bocas del toro, on the carribean side of the country. a couple days there, and it?s into the rich coast with nothing but beaches, jungles, ziplines, and national parks for the next month or so. it looks like i?m going to buy a marine pack for my sony dsc-p100 as soon as i can find one, as well as a mask and snorkel for the rest of the trip (it beats renting, and it?ll pay itself off in a few outtings) – if anyone has a recommendation as to what snorkel stuff to buy, let me know. again, to those who can (ler, snake, andre, coby, ian, ringer, rose und bill….) get a week or two off, and meet me somewhere for a warm beach and a cold beer. until we meet again, ciao

ras