What an eventful few weeks I've had, coming to the end of Central America very quickly, only six days from now till i fly to Puerto Rico, but also very excited.
My last blog left off in Bocas before our under sea adventure, we woke fairly early and walked to the tour company, it looked like it was going to rain, the big storm clouds hovering above looked threatening. We headed off in a tour boat with a group off about 10 people, we first went to a place called Dolphin Bay obviously looking for Dolphins, unfortunately we didn't see any, I'm guessing they were hiding from the bad weather, shortly after we moved on to a tiny island full of trees, where we looked at the sloths. Apparently they can swim across from the main land which i found extremely weird because they move that slow in the trees i just couldn't picture them to swim haha, such a weird creature, The humming birds there were also beautiful. Continuing on we went to this amazing island called Zapatilla Island II, it was amazing there, we snorkelled around for about 2 hours way out to these islands about 5 m round, there were hundreds of incredible tropical fish just everywhere you look. My favourite were these full black fish with glowing blue dots all over them, i have no idea what they were, they were very shy. The current was really strong and the seas were rough so we were the only ones out there which was good. Once coming back to shore we had some lunch with the group. Lunch, beers, drinks and everything was included. Then it was time for the main event, which was the undersea board, it was a clear disk that you hold onto, it's tied behind the boat and you just tilt the disk down to go under then up to go up for air, it was really fun and you just take a big breath go down, turn and swim around like all the other fish, then come up for air we you want. The fun only lasted 15 minutes and that was it, 5 people at a time behind the boat. We were done and by this time it was around 3pm, we made the journey back to Bocas town were we got some beers ready for the big party that night at Aqua Lounge (another hostel) it has trampolines that you can jump into the sea from, really awesome place for partying but there is no way you could stay there, you wouldn't get any sleep. The next couple of days in Bocas we didn't really do a lot, just spent lots of time at the beaches and working out where to go next. We made a decision on going straight to Panama City, basically we wanted to go to San Blas, but to get there you really need to organise it trough your hostel in Panama City. We left Bocas early in morning, Tom, Harry, Avia, Lital and myself. Avia and Lital are two Israeli girls we had been hanging out with a bit for a while, even before Bocas, they are the cutest smallest girls ever, and heaps of fun! We left Bocas on the boat around 7am, once reaching the mainland 30 minutes later, we got a taxi to the bus station. We waited around for about 30 minutes for our bus, Tom was basically dying, he had caught a really bad fever in Bocas and had spent the past few days in bed, so he was really struggling. The bus was one of the worst trips i have had, we were told to bring warm clothes because it's know to be cold like most busses, but this was just ridiculous, it would have been no more than 12 degrees on the bus and about 30 outside. I really don't understand why the do it, everyone asked him to turn it down but he just said "it's either on or off" but he wouldn't turn it off. It was a 11 hour trip, i was wearing socks pants and my rain jacket, but with the cold air blowing straight at me, i was chilled to the bone not to mention the flat tire we had on the way. Eventually we made it to Panama City, we had been recommended a hostel called Lunas Castle, we got a taxi from the station there, arriving there was hell, it was about 8pm and saturday night, there would have been 80 people all just partying, it was a huge place with a bar and night club in it to. To be honest i couldn't of thought of a worse place to stay after a crappy 11 hour bus, but we checked in and organised our San Blas transport, we were getting picked up at 5:30am, we got some food and tried to go to sleep kind of early, that was out of the question, i was in a 10 bed dorm right above the night club and had people in my room drinking and partying all night turning the light on and off literally till 5am, i maybe got 1 hours sleep then got ready for San Blas, i hated that place. We got picked up by a 4x4, then left Panama City and went to a nearby supermarket to get some supplies and cash for the islands, the drive to the Caribbean coast was amazing, really windy through the mountain ranges that overlook the Golf of San Blas, we arrived there around 9:30 where a boat was waiting for us to go to the island we had chosen called Chichime, the boat ride there was pure bliss, i could not get rid of the smile on my face, it was just the most magical place i had ever been to, around 30 minutes later we reached our island, i was thinking to myself when the boat started slowing down (there is no way this is our island) haha it was just to good to be true, we were paying $30 a night with 3 meals a day in this tropical paradise. I was just dazed when i got off the boat looking around at where we were just smiling at nothing. The chef walked us around and showed us our little hut we would be staying in, no beds just hammocks which was surprisingly comfortable. We lazed around in the crystal clear blue waters of the Caribbean all that afternoon, just amazed at where we were. The way it works is, you are dedicated to the one family on the island that look after you, you can't go and eat anywhere it is considered an insult if you do, basically breakfast is at 7 - 8, lunch is 12 - 1 and dinner is between 6 - 8, you just listen out for the bell they ring when the meals are ready and everyone on the tiny island makes there way to the dinning hut where they serve fresh fish and rice nearly every meal, i wan't arguing because most the time it was grilled tuna and really good to. You need you own snacks for the islands because the portions are fairly small, the second day on Chichime we got the chef to take us to Dog Island, where there is a ship wreck with some of the best snorkelling I've ever done, it was the clearest water i have seen and just amazing colours. That night on our island they had a little fiesta with all kinds of hippy games and music, it was really funny. The following day we changed islands to Senidup which was just incredible, the most amazing thing i have been, i liked Senidup better than Chichime it was just so picturesque and perfect, the island was only 80 m square. That night i stayed up and took some pictures of the stars, there was just absolute silence, everyone on the island was asleep, i was the only one awake just swimming in the water with the luminescence glowing blue all around me, i didn't want the moment to end. I would have been out the for about 2 hours. I'd say the time we spent in San Blas 40% of the time was in the water, it was without dout my favourite place so far! The next morning we left San Blas and headed back to Panama City, once arriving back to Lunas Castle we collected our big backpacks that we had left in storage, because your only aloud to take 10kgs to the islands. We got our bags and got out of there as fast as we could and went to another hostel that (Sofi the Swed) had recommended, it is called Magnolia Inn where im sitting right now in the kitchen typing whilst eating some breakfast, it is amazing here the cleanest and nicest hostel i have stayed in yet, hot water showers, AC in the room all day, really clean bathrooms, good kitchen, just can't fault it. The night we got back from San Blas Tom and I went for a run along the board walk by the water in Panama City, it's a beautiful city all new big building really clean and a lot of wealth. It was Tom's last night with us, the following day he was flying to Peru. We decided to find a really nice restaurant for his send off, we found a Brazilian restaurant called Os Segredos da Carne, which is where they walk around with all kinds of different meats and carve what you would like on to your plate, we were feeling very out of place with all the wealthy people around us, it was some of the best meats i have eaten, just amazing. It was $30 ahead plus our bottle of red wine we shared. We all pushed it way to far with how much we ate, we tried to go for a beer afterwards but could drink it, we put ourselves in a meat coma it was ridiculous, but well worth it. The following day we went on a shopping spree, Panama City has the biggest shopping centre in all of Latin America, i brought a new filter for my telephoto lens, some clothes, sunglasses, running tights and a hair buzzer! Harry and I are just hanging out around Panama City until i fly out, he still doesn't even know where he is going haha! I'm all checked into my Caribbean cruise, it's coming around really fast. I hate coming to the end of good friendships, When you spend everyday together for 6 weeks, you form a good friendship and then you have to say goodbye and start over. Tom, Harry and I have had sooooooooo many good times together and so many laughs, i plan on seeing Tom in Israel for sure. Finally been running a bit here it's so nice along the boardwalk. We have been eating at a little local cafe around the corner, where you get a full plate of veg and meat or what ever you choose from the buffet for around $3 it's really good to.
That's about up to date with my travels at the moment, i will now start blogging more frequent, when travelling with the boys it was hard to find the time to sit down and type for a couple hours, we were always busy doing something!!!
Nearly ready for the next chapter of my story, now that Central America is over and done with.
PA
A little msg for you Pa, I hope you had an amazing 80th, i wish i was there for it more than anything. Sharni sent me a few photos and it looked great, miss you and love you. I'm having the time of my life. I hope all is well at home and talk to you soon Xx
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