We made it to Costa Rica!!
The last post came from Bocas del Toro in Panama on the northern Carribbean coast, and we are now all the way on the other side at the Pacific coast of Costa Rica.
Yesterday was a rather uneventful day. We left Bastimientos early in the morning and took a water taxi to Isla Colon, where we hung out for a little while and did a little shopping (tshirts, bathing suits, etc) before heading to the mainland in another water taxi. This one was more like a 15 passenger speed boat and we were very happy that it had a canopy with pull down sides to keep us dry!
Once on the mainland we all hopped in the back of a pickup to get to the bus terminal (we were travelling with 6 of the Yosemite Gang). This bus ride was a bit of an adventure as the driver really liked to race around the blind curves through the mountains. We spent most of the time hanging on for dear life and trying to stay upright! At one point we were unsure if we would make it to our destination because we were stopped by the police and the driver seemed to be in some serious trouble. We never did find out why they stopped us and held up the bus for 20 minutes...but we managed to get into some trouble of our own. While we stopped I decided that it would be cool to have a picture of the police station with all the cool vegetation surrounding it....but as soon as I opened the window and snapped a picture a policeman armed with a shotgun told me that it was prohibited to take pictures of police stations in Panama. Who knew? So I put the camera away and went back to my seat promising not to take any more....apparently this was not enough for him and he got on the bus asking to see my camera and made me erase the picture! We were worried for a while that he might try to take my camera away from me, but don´t worry Jimmie, I still have it!! I would have held on kicking and screaming before he got it away from me!
We ended up staying the night in David last night because we didn´t want to cross th boarder at night. It was a nice relaxing evening and a good chance to say goodbye to Genny, who we will greatly miss as a travelling companion. We had another great plate of mixed seafood for dinner (in wonderful company with the Yosemite Gang who were celebrating Thanksgiving) and after dinner Mom, Genny and I did a little shopping. I even found a great Christmas dress! We finished off the night with a trip to the Cine to see 40 year old virgin...funny show but pretty crude!
Today we got up early and started the LOOOONG trek to Costa Rica. The boarder crossing went relatively smoothly, but was a little confusing at times. There were no signs at all directing us where to go, and if we hadn´t asked the men changing money I think we might have just ended up walking into the town at the boarder without getting our passports stamped...not a lot of security that´s for sure!
The bus ride from the boarder was a long one. The highways in Panama were much better than the ones in Costa Rica, and we are already missing the awesome bus system there. We got on a bus at the boarder thinking that it would be a smooth ride, but about half an hour into the trip we were kicked out of our seats because apparently the pre assigned seats sell out a few days ahead of time and everyone else still gets to go on the bus but has to stand. So it was a long 5 hour ride to San Isidro el General where we ended up missing the last bus to our final destination for the day. Because we missed the bus we ended up hiring a taxi driver to take us the last hour and a half of the trip to Matapalo where we found a lovely little hotel with Cabins on the beach.
The room we have here is great. It´s almost twice as much as we paid last night at $41 dollars US, but it is a spacious cabin complete with a little table by the windows and separate towels for shower, beach and pool use...we can see the beach through the palm trees....it doesn´t get much better than that! We are a little sad though, because the first thought that we had when we entered the room was that there was an extra bed that Genny could have stayed in. We miss you already Genny!
We got all settled in and had a few beers at the hotel restaraunt with a fellow from Alaska, his Canadian son and an american who came to visit Costa Rica 5 years ago and just never made it home. After a nice chat with them we said goodbye and headed down to the beach to watch the sunset. Beautiful!
We will likely stay here for a few days before heading on to Quepos and a national park called Manuel Antonio where we will hopefully catch a glimpse of some of the wildlife we hear Costa Rica is famous for! I need to get a picture of a Monkey or Jim says I can´t come home!!!
For now we´re off to the hotel to enjoy a fresh Tuna filet cooked up by the owner of our hotel...the seafood diet is still going well!!
Yesterday was a rather uneventful day. We left Bastimientos early in the morning and took a water taxi to Isla Colon, where we hung out for a little while and did a little shopping (tshirts, bathing suits, etc) before heading to the mainland in another water taxi. This one was more like a 15 passenger speed boat and we were very happy that it had a canopy with pull down sides to keep us dry!
Once on the mainland we all hopped in the back of a pickup to get to the bus terminal (we were travelling with 6 of the Yosemite Gang). This bus ride was a bit of an adventure as the driver really liked to race around the blind curves through the mountains. We spent most of the time hanging on for dear life and trying to stay upright! At one point we were unsure if we would make it to our destination because we were stopped by the police and the driver seemed to be in some serious trouble. We never did find out why they stopped us and held up the bus for 20 minutes...but we managed to get into some trouble of our own. While we stopped I decided that it would be cool to have a picture of the police station with all the cool vegetation surrounding it....but as soon as I opened the window and snapped a picture a policeman armed with a shotgun told me that it was prohibited to take pictures of police stations in Panama. Who knew? So I put the camera away and went back to my seat promising not to take any more....apparently this was not enough for him and he got on the bus asking to see my camera and made me erase the picture! We were worried for a while that he might try to take my camera away from me, but don´t worry Jimmie, I still have it!! I would have held on kicking and screaming before he got it away from me!
We ended up staying the night in David last night because we didn´t want to cross th boarder at night. It was a nice relaxing evening and a good chance to say goodbye to Genny, who we will greatly miss as a travelling companion. We had another great plate of mixed seafood for dinner (in wonderful company with the Yosemite Gang who were celebrating Thanksgiving) and after dinner Mom, Genny and I did a little shopping. I even found a great Christmas dress! We finished off the night with a trip to the Cine to see 40 year old virgin...funny show but pretty crude!
Today we got up early and started the LOOOONG trek to Costa Rica. The boarder crossing went relatively smoothly, but was a little confusing at times. There were no signs at all directing us where to go, and if we hadn´t asked the men changing money I think we might have just ended up walking into the town at the boarder without getting our passports stamped...not a lot of security that´s for sure!
The bus ride from the boarder was a long one. The highways in Panama were much better than the ones in Costa Rica, and we are already missing the awesome bus system there. We got on a bus at the boarder thinking that it would be a smooth ride, but about half an hour into the trip we were kicked out of our seats because apparently the pre assigned seats sell out a few days ahead of time and everyone else still gets to go on the bus but has to stand. So it was a long 5 hour ride to San Isidro el General where we ended up missing the last bus to our final destination for the day. Because we missed the bus we ended up hiring a taxi driver to take us the last hour and a half of the trip to Matapalo where we found a lovely little hotel with Cabins on the beach.
The room we have here is great. It´s almost twice as much as we paid last night at $41 dollars US, but it is a spacious cabin complete with a little table by the windows and separate towels for shower, beach and pool use...we can see the beach through the palm trees....it doesn´t get much better than that! We are a little sad though, because the first thought that we had when we entered the room was that there was an extra bed that Genny could have stayed in. We miss you already Genny!
We got all settled in and had a few beers at the hotel restaraunt with a fellow from Alaska, his Canadian son and an american who came to visit Costa Rica 5 years ago and just never made it home. After a nice chat with them we said goodbye and headed down to the beach to watch the sunset. Beautiful!
We will likely stay here for a few days before heading on to Quepos and a national park called Manuel Antonio where we will hopefully catch a glimpse of some of the wildlife we hear Costa Rica is famous for! I need to get a picture of a Monkey or Jim says I can´t come home!!!
For now we´re off to the hotel to enjoy a fresh Tuna filet cooked up by the owner of our hotel...the seafood diet is still going well!!
posted by Dee @ 4:17 p.m.
1 Comments:
At 12:09 p.m.,
Anonymous said…
Sounds like you both are having a good time. Enjoy the weather -12 to -18 in Calgary and snowing. See you when you get back Shelley. Janet
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