Las Olas Beach All Incl David

... We were hoping we would get luckly and be visting the country at the same time... and we were.

So Devin and I drove back up on Friday and just spent the night in David. We didn´t do much, as the region is mainly agriculture and not alot of tourist attractions to visit.

... the turtles' ability
to lay eggs. We stopped and laid in the sand while they tried to
ignite a fire. After many failed attempts and many newly acquired
mosquito bites, we moved on. Our hopes of finding live turtles were
dwindling. As the moon set on the horizon, the stars above magnified,
and the night´s complete darkness set in with the same intensity as
our tiredness. I don't think I have ever been able to see more stars
in the night's sky, and ...

... but I think they were all sleeping or spying on us cos we heard sounds, but saw nada. After passing through the tree, yes, through the tree, we decided to head for the river and after about another 45 mins we reached a really cool spot with massive boulders and a rushing stream. It was so tempting to take a swim as we were all quite hot and sweaty by then, but the water was refreshingly freezing and we opted against it. We followed the river for a little while ...

... as we neared the boarder and after actually crossing over into Panama there were only seven of us left.
We had to physically get out and walk over the boarder so we busied ourselves as quickly as possible with going to the Costa Rican authorities and leaving - then walking over and arriving in Panama to the authorities there. We filled out forms, often guessing some questions but obviously what we handed in didn't indicate we were smuggling budgies in our ...

... such heaven! I am really enjoying the hikes; checking out the colorful birds in the morning is great- but the best part of the hikes are checking out the howler monkeys. They are everywhere!!! I am convinced that they enjoy watching me as much as I enjoy watching them. The smaller monkeys seem to be more curious than the adults and will often swing down the branches to check me out... sometimes within a few feet of my face! I made a little friend here already ...

... bus to Cerro Punta, a village in the highlands. It's a beautiful area surrounded by cloudforest peaks, a few villages and farms. There are also a surprising amount of shops selling fresh strawberries and cream.... drool. After getting a taxi up the hill we quickly came to the end of the asphalt (sorry for the Americanism) road. We then walked about 2km up a steep hill, before reaching the trail head at 2,500m. From ...

... it was getting hot again. I supose the power was back on after an hour or so, allowing us to sleep the rest of the night. I don't really know what to say about this place. Great bar, decent restaurant. Cool backpacker vibe. If you're a backpacker looking to drink beers in a cool ocean breeze, hang out with a lot of other backpackers, and really don't care how you sleep...then this is the place for you. Looking for something a little more grown up, then maybe its a pass.

(Mar. 21) Feels good to be done with the major part of our bus rides south. Last time we were here in David we couldn't find a hotel due a big flower festival, but this time we figured it'd be easy to find a place and that we wouldn't need reservations. WRONG. Apparently the biggest festival of the year, the INTERNATIONAL FAIR of David is taking place this week. We walked all around town looking for a place that would accomodate 5 (as Cory would be arriving that night) but couldn't ...

... 12 seater dining table lit by chandeliers, a big comfortable lounge with free internet and a garden beside a stream to sit and enjoy. $10 a night. My 3 dormies are all American and one is a member of the "groundcrew" and looks just like Lock out of Lost. We´ve had some very X-Files discussions. It´s a bit of a relief he´s leaving today. Now I´m going to try and find the 3rd garden which is also a bird refuge.