Chambres En Ville David

... together around us, often times hanging
down into the boat. We were instructed to dodge everything because of
the dangerous and plentiful wildlife that could be in the trees -
boas, coral snakes, vipers, etc. As we inched through the mangroves
with the full moon shining above, it felt like a scene straight from
an adventure movie. The boat ride lasted for almost an hour, but soon
enough we arrived at another island. We left the boat, which was ...

... the hiking trails and managing the coffee tour. We decided to make use of the stay two days and get the third night free offer and also decided to do the coffee tour the next morning. Mike, the only other backpacker staying there at the time was particularly grateful for us arriving as he had been waiting three days to do the tour as you need at least four people to go.

I got the feeling that everyone was a little hungover and my thoughts were confirmed ...

... the freezing airconditioning on the bus that had everyone shivering and piling on layers of clothing (be careful what you ask for). I'll skip the part about trying to use the toilet on the bus in the pitch black and splashing unknown liquid down my legs when I accidentally stepped on the flusher on the floor that I couldn't see. I'll skip the part about Mom and I having a knock-down-drag-out in the San Jose bus station ...

... a quick instruction, get us in our climbing harnesses and gloves and we hit the first platform. In total we would be doing 12 platforms covering 3km of canopy zip lining. SOOOOO much fun! You just kind of fall off the platform and begin whizzing down the cable using your one hand to break when you approach the next platform. We made it to the sixth platform, and then something happened. I was getting ready to go on the next line, and ...

... some other clothes, so, as we waited for our things to be dried, he went to buy some coffee and cakes. It was paradise to dress our dry clothes and drink the coffe and eat the biscuits!!!! How nice small things are : ) !!!!

We took a bus and came back to David, where we went to the hostel, take our stuff and said goodbye to Marcus. It was not possible to stay in the hostel, even just for a while, without paying ( as I have explained before) so we went to a ...

... also purchasing snacks) we stopped for 30 minutes so everyone could have lunch. Surely people can bring some snacks for the trip from home which would negate the need to stop for lunch? Stopping constantly so people could stuff their faces seemed to make a long trip even longer, but I can't complain too much as we did arrive one hour ahead of schedule into David - Panama's hottest city (so pretty damn hot). We walked to the supermarket to get some groceries ...

... also had dinner at the Italian restaurant down the street from my parent's house called El Pianista. We were the only ones in the riverside restaurant and the chef came to the kitchen from watching TV in his living room. We at a feast of focaccia bread with prosciutto, extra fresh mixed salads, a caprese salad, squid stuffed with shrimp, baked zucchini, meat ravioli and pasta with bacon and mushrooms. For our last full day in Boquete, mom, dad and I woke up early ...

... construction. We do stand out here like a sore thumb, as its hard to dress all long sleeved and trousered up like the locals. It's a very busy, noisy [all car alarms endlessly go through every siren sound imaginable], but interesting city. We strolled through its ageing Avenida Central along to the many Plazas of Casco Viejo {its old town}which had a quaintly rustic feel of parts of Spain. We decided to head out of the city to see the 'real' Panama, and the natural ...

... I stay and see what I can make happen for myself here. It is nice to have the flexibility to be open to the suggestion of something other than what I was looking for. I feel incredibly fortunate. It is not likely I will continue this blog in the format I have been pursuing. I will probably make quarterly updates with photos so everyone outside of my physical world can keep track of my activities. I have so enjoyed the notes and comments I have received during this past year. How ...

... It was miserably hot, and humid. To give you an idea of how hot, when we woke up, it was 80 degress in the room...and that felt cool. Callista slept fine. Lucky her. I think Farida and I laid in bed, awake and silent for the first three hours. You didn't want to move, or talk, just in case the other person was lucky enough to have fallen asleep. At some point you do fall asleep. But then the pillow takes its toll, racking your neck into a serious ...