Week 17 - La Fortuna to Panama city
Trip Start
Aug 01, 2007
1
28
69
Trip End
Dec 19, 2008
Panama City,
Panama
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Nov 23rd - La Fortuna to Monteverde & Santa Elena Cloud Forest
Super early rise today and a quick free breakfast at the hotel and then headed into town to hire a bike. The mission today was to cycle part-way up the volcano Arenal to the Fortuna Falls. Managed to get a cheap bike at $9 for 6 hours.
Just as I started cycling back to the hotel to pick up my swimming gear it started pissing down. Unperturbed by this (I'm getting used to these regular rainy season downpours) I got a black bin liner from the hostel staff and after cutting 3 holes in it slipped it over my head. Everyone at the hostel had a good giggle at the expense of my fashionable attire (admittedly I did look like a mobile phone).
Volcan Arenal hike Costa Rica
The ride up to the falls is notoriously tough but because the scenery was so beautiful it was ok to just walk for the killer uphill stretches. After 2 hours of rain and sweat I finally made it up and after paying the $7.50 entrance fee there was a 20 minute hike down to the falls. I could hear the rumbling and see the mist as I got closer and was well impressed when I got close to it. There was a swimming area which I readily hopped into (freeeeezing) and splashed around for a while.
After that it was time to challenge the might of the falls to see how close I could swim to its gushing power (not close at all...I kept getting pushed back by it). Exhausted after quite a few valiant attempts I dried off and bombed it back down the volcano slopes (I may need a bum cheek replacement op after todays cycling..the roads were well bumpy).
Got back just in time for my 2.30 bus to Monteverde. After an hour of bussing it it was all change to a small motor boat across the Lake Arenal (2 hours and beautiful views) and then another bus to Monteverde (1.5 hours) driving over more terrible roads (God help my bum cheeks).
Arriving in Monteverde after dark and after more than a handful of failed attempts at finding a bed for the night I finally struck gold
Arenal waterfall cycle 1
. Dave, the Casa Tranquila owner had just finished painting out one of his rooms a few days ago (the only room available) and offered it to me for half price ($5 a night...cheap as chips). Windows wide open and extractor left on I prepared myself for a night of fume-enduced sleep.Nov 24th - Monteverde/ Santa Elena
Groggy and still think thinking about last nights weird dreams (no more chickens thankfully but some kind of weird Lord of the Rings and Donnie Darko mix) I scoffed as much of the free breakfast as possible and went into town to go to the Santa Elena Could Forest. Most travel agents in town offer $2 shuttle services there so at 10.30am I arrived at the entrance to Santa Elena and paid the required $7.50.
Had a long walk through the beautiful rainforest, not seeing much in the way of animals but loads and loads of beautiful plants and trees. Walking into higher altitude areas there was a mist everywhere which added to the beauty. The reserve closed at 4pm so caught the last bus back and met up with a German couple I'd chatted to in La Fortuna for dinner (Fabien and Paula..on a student exchange program in the US but hating it for some reason).
Nov 25 - Monteverde
Today was the day of madness and scaring myself to bits
Arenal waterfall cycle 2
. I was booked for the 8am Canopy Tour ($55 including a bridge walk through the forest). The Canopy tour is a system of hanging wires running above and between the trees of the cloud forest and my job was to hang from harnesses and slide down 15 of these (Sweet Jesus...forgot I'm scared of heights when I booked it).So at 8am I was picked up by the bus. Everyone on board was a tad nervous (lots of exagurated jokes going on) with the impending jungle madness. From the bus I saw a lone sloth slotherly walking in a tree..amazing creatures. On arriving at the reserve I was kitted out with safety helmet, harness and special gloves and then went through a 10 minute crash course and safety speach (apparently the worst thing you can do is put your hand in front of the harness wheel attached to the wire...for obvious reasons).
Luckily the first few wire runs were low and short, just to get adjusted. I was well nervous but in the end absolutely loved the feeling of flying through the forest at high speed. The runs then became higher and longer and just simply amazing. Obviously there was no time to spot any animals but instead feel the speed sensation and see amazing views.
After getting quite handy with the wire it was time for the 'Tarzan Swing' which involves climbing up a high platform, getting attached to a rope, hanging on for dear life and then hopping off and swinging from a 70 metre height
Arenal waterfall cycle 3
. About half the people in the group refused to do it. I was close to bottling it but overcame my fear of heights got attached to the rope and jumped. Hate to say it but I screamed like a girl (well..not a high pitched girly scream..but a manly kind of scream). Honestly thought I was gonna have a heart-attack but loved every second of it. Sadly we were only allowed one go at it (I could have done it all day).After all that excitement it was time for a relaxing stroll over the walkways which stretch above the cloud forest trees. Very beautiful views of the tree tops, plants and birds but sadly saw no minkeys. Then bought a ticket to the humming bird garden. Really beautiful birds of all kinds of sizes (saw one as small as a little finger).
All the days amazing activities were over at 1.30 and I had a 2.30 bus to catch to Costa Rica's capital, San Jose. After checking out of the fabulous Casa Tranquila I got to the bus and found out it was sold out. Bought a 6.30am ticket for tomorrow ($4) and headed back to Dave's hotel and he kindly gave me the same room at the same price.
The afternoon was spent chilling and doing laundry chores. Also (for the first time in 4 months) gave my pack a good clean. The night before I'd found another cockroach clambering around in my stuff (can't afford to be carrying the extra load). A few days ago durin my morning ablutions I found a cockroach licking my toothbrush as if it was a lollipop (I think all this cockroach activity is some kind of revenge for my years as a pest controller for Rentokil).
Nov 26th - Monteverde to San Jose
Arrived at the bus stop at 6am and caught the 6.30 to San Jose
Arenal waterfall cycle 4
. Thankfully didn''t feel the bumpy roads on this big bus. Most of the journey was spent sleeping (aswell as cursing my MP3 player which decided to stop working just when I needed it). Reached San Jose at 11.30 and after a swift cup of Costa Rican coffee at a nearby cafe set off to find my budget hotel of choice. After walking around lost for nearly an hour and asking half the San Jose populace for directions I gave up and made a bee-line for the nearest hotel. Looked like a nice enough place and at $14 a night it was abit pricey.
After paying for the room and settling in I realised this wasn't your average hotel. The subtle signs I failed to notice durin the checking the room were there; the TV remote had a button marked XXX, the ceiling was mirrored, the key-ring for the room key was a bottle opener and there was a sign on the door in Spanish that said 'Refreshments and Condoms for sale at reception' (doh). Still, the room was decent and it was pretty central.
Went for a stroll around town and quite liked the place. It's not pretty but going by the central area there is a lot of stuff you can buy here that you can't in other Central American cities and everyone looks busier here
Arenal waterfall cycle 5
.Had lunch at a famous, and as it says in the guidebook 'seriously cheap chicken' place ($4..not cheap but indeed serious). Durin my walk around in the afternoon I noticed that the Costa Rican girls are seriously cute and are in the habit of wearing mini skirts (very tricky walking around with so many distractions all around).
Was shattered by 7 (paint fume syndrome) so after yet another chicken meal went back to my boudoir and house of sin and just chilled out and watched 'Momento' and '21 Grammes' on TV. Decided to do a spot of blog writing which was almost impossible to do because the occupants of neighbouring rooms had quite obviously found the button marked XXX on their remotes (dear God...what a racket!!).
Nov 27th - San Jose
Checked out of the 'hotel Condom' and picked a hotel from the guidebook that was fairly easy to find (a real exageration). What the hotel Baruka has going for it is it's cheap ($6 a night), its near the main bus terminals and the owner is a really friendly old dude. What it hasn't got going for it are the rooms well shabby and skanky, nobody's heard of it (I found it by chance..and as I was to find out later on finding it twice in a day is a miracle) and a name that sounds like a foot disease you pick up at the public swimming pool.
Had some bad news today reading an email from my fellow travellers and all round great people Antoine and Anne-Marie; they had their day-pack nicked while they were checking into the Hostel Pangea (they were checking the room and when they came back to reception it was gone
Arenal waterfall cycle 6
. They sadly lost her passport, camera and other stuff). As they were in town until a new passport was sorted I went to see them on my way to the Jade Museum (they weren't there in the end).The Jade Museum was pretty impressive with a huge collection of pre-Columbian Jade carvings. There was alot of info on the daily lives of the people back then and what their function in society was. Shamans had a good time of it it seems; regularly taking hallucigenics to bring them closer to the spirits and presiding over major events like weddings, funerals and births. The place is well worth a visit at $2.
It was time to bid a bon voyage to my travel mate Seungmi so got the airport bus (cheap as chips at 75c..the tourist bus is $15) and after a 45 minute ride said my farewells.
Caught the bus back and arrived at a different bus terminal than before. This is where my problems of the night really started. It was night and nobody seemed to know my hotel (even a couple of coppers I asked) so after walking around abit and ending up in a dodgy looking side of town (dark and quiet) I flagged down a cab in desparation.
I gave the driver the hotel name and the location (Avenida 1 and Calle 14) and he still couldn't find it. At the time I didn't think it too odd that he stopped at a brothel and asked the pimp (big lump with scars and tattoos all over) outside where it was. But when the pimp jumped in the car next to me and promising to help find the hotel in person I got worried. The cab sped off and the two were talking really quickly in a language I couldn't understand (didn't hear any Spanish..they did it possibly to test me if I understood anything)
Arenal waterfall cycle 7
.I was ready to jump out the car but there weren't any lights where he would have had to slow down and he was going too fast. After passing a square I recognised from my walk durin the day and noticing we were driving in the opposite direction to my hotel I told them it was back there. They ignored this and carried on driving into a dark and dingy area. Was well nervous at this point. I didn't have any major money on me but the pimp had already shown me his stab wounds and kept going on about how tourists should be careful here in friendly San Jose.
As I had hoped for, my chance came in the form of a traffic light on a dark and desolute road. As soon as he slowed down to a reasonable speed I quickly opened the car door on my side and hopped out running (lucky I didn't fall over). Both driver and pimp opened their doors and just before I started legging it back the way we came I dug into my pocket and flung all my loose change at them and the car (not really sure why I did that but I flung them so hard it made them hesitate for a second). I ran like a greyhound on steroids and reached the relative safety of the square I'd seen earlier. I was surprised they didn't follow me.
Again spent hours looking for the stupid hotel and again ended up in a dodgy part of town
Border crossing nic to Costa
. I even asked cab drivers but they didn't have a clue. In the end I was so desparate I asked a homeless fella who was looking for dinner in a pile of rubbish in a dark and manky street and he told me it was round the corner. As I cautiously turned the corner the sanctuary that was the hotel Baruka was there with a blinking sign. I went back to the homeless fella and gave him some money for being the only person in this city who seems to know the damned Baruka.Too exhausted from excitement and running I abandened any attempt to find food and instead settled for a bag of peanuts I'd stashed away for emergencies rather than proper grub.
I'd heard stories of cab robberies (and kidnappings) in Mexico city and Guatemala city where the driver drives the wrong way then picks up a sidekick to help out..but I stupidly thought San Jose was ok'ish. Lesson learned tonight?...stay at the Holiday Inn, which everyone knows or carry a compass at all times.
Early night tonight as tomorrow I'm bussing it to Panama.
Nov 28th & 29th - San Jose to Panama city
Woke up exhausted and angry about last nights events so decided to head to Panama for a few days and then continue south
Santa Elena Cloudforest 1
. Booked a bus ticket to Panama city (Panaline, $25) for 1pm and spent the morning uploading photos to my server (a precaution in case my camera gets nicked).The bus was a cheapish one with seats to give you sore joints even after just 1 hour and as usual on Central American buses it was freezing (with a capital free) because of the aircon.
After a very scenic drive through the Costa Rican highlands we reached the Panama border at 9pm. Did the usual Immigration procedures at Costa Rican side then crossed no mans land on foot to the Panama side (all easy and no charges).
I had planned to jump off the bus at a small town called Baragua, stay the night and then head to a desolute island but the driver told me we'd arrive at 4am and he could only drop me at the road-side. Still feeling abit shell-shocked after last nights events I decided to head straight to Panama city.
Arrived at the city at 5.30am and shared a cab ride with a Norwegian fella called Torpen who'd had his whole pack nicked while he was staying in Tomarindo. To cut costs we shared a room at the hotel Ideal (which I later found out to be in a right dodgy area) at $9 each a night. Did some email checking and walking around. Amazingly didn't see any Gringo's all day long. Really liked Panama city..very bustling and lots of characters around.
Tonight was my weekly pissup night (hadn't had one for weeks) so me a Torpen headed out and did some bar hopping and got totally wasted on 'Panama lager'
Santa Elena Cloudforest 2
. He told me a scary story about when he was in Tomarindo. He hung out there and surfed for a few months. It seemed he fell in with the wrong crowd of crack heads and sniffers. One evening he asked a local dude friend (or so he thought) to guide him to a famous spot where the sunsets are said to be spectacular.After an hour of walking and just reaching the shore he noticed 2 boats and 8 guys in a group on the beach. They were running towards him with torches and guns. He said to his pal 'look Tomas, be honest with me..do I need to run?' and his pal said in a hushed voice 'Run, amigo, run!'. So he legged it up into some surrounding hills where the gunmen followed him. Lucky for him he'd spent 2 years in the Norwegian army as a sniper so he used his skills to cover himself with leaves and mud and lay still for 12 hours in the dark. Insects and creatures were biting him all the time and at one point one of the gunmen walked close to him.
Eventually dawn came and the police were everywhere looking for him and the gunmen (he told somebody at the hostel where he was going). He crawled out from his hiding place and they took him back to town. What the gunmen had in mind was to kidnapp him, hide him in the basement of a crack den then call his family (who are quite rich) and get a ransom paid. Problem is because he knew some of the gunmen they would have definately killed him to cover their tracks (thats some scary shit).
After exhausting my nights spending money ($40..not bad for a night out) I rolled in at 6am (Torpen was busy with a girl he picked up at a club). Good night had by all.
The plan for the next week is a couple of days more in Panama city to catch some sites then fly from here to Cartagena (Colombia). And so will end my crazy time in Central America. And a fresh start in South America beckons. I can't bloody wait to start this part of the trip.
