Around the World (2014-2016)
Apr 3, 2015 | 11:19 am
#91
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 762
Live #45, Isla de Ometepe, Nicaragua
03/04/2015 I’m back from Antarctica and it has been a truly breathtaking experience! Can’t wait to write about it once I managed to sort out all the pictures and videos. Right now I am in a hotel in Ushuaia, trying to find a Couchsurfing place for tonight. A good opportunity to provide you my last live update from Nicaragua: Isla de Ometepe.
There are no direct buses to Mérida, so I had to change in Altagracia after the pleasant ferry ride to the Island’s capital Moyogalpa. I tried to find a guide to climb up Volcan Conception there as well, but could not find anyone going up strangely. On my first day, I planned to visit the Waterfalls of San Ramon on the East part of the Island, so that was where I was headed first. The bus to Mérida did not come though, so I ended up in a small shuttle taking me to Santa Cruz. The next bus from there would come in three hours, I was told, making me start walking the 6km to Mérida. A local guy was heading the same way to his house and we joined forces while it started to rain a lot (during the dry season). I actually like the refreshment and we had a fun time communicating in my broken Spanish :-)
Just after leaving Mérida, I got picked up by a huge truck full of local farmers. Hopping on the back with my big backpack, the local kids on the street cheered up after my big jump on the (real big) truck. It was too late to visit the waterfall now, so I decided to continue walking the last 9km to the place of my Couchsurfing host. Luckily though, I was picked up by another guy in his jeep after walking just 20 minutes or so. He actually knew the french guy living at the beach and pointed me to the path leading to his house.
The CS’ name was Thomas and he built his own house close to Tacana in pretty much the most remote corner of the Island. It was impressive to see how self sufficient he was there, growing all kinds of plants and basically not being depending on anything outside his house. His toilet walls were recently blown away by a storm and sitting on it on a little hill top was quiet funny. Luckily, some palm trees blocked the view to the rest of the area :-) He also had two guys volunteering for him as well and we shared a dinner before going to bed, or to be more precise, the hammocks right at the beach!
I was not feeling very well the next morning and had to get up really early to catch the daily bus at 5AM. If you don’t get up to the street at 4:30AM, you might miss it and have to walk all the way back. Luckily, I did not miss it though and made it to the San Ramon Waterfalls. Leaving my backpack behind, I began the 3km hike which turned out to be at least 4 1/2 km though. The waterfall itself was pretty dry and must be impressive during rainy season with it’s 180m drop. On the way back, I got a ride on a buggy from two tourists I met on the way to the waterfalls. Extremely helpful as it was very hot now and I felt even worse, just wanting to get to my hostel called Monkey Island.
The hostel close to the Island with the same name charged 7$ for the night and was pretty nice actually. They had decent WiFi too and access to the beach. Catching the 5AM bus to Altagracia on the next morning, I stayed at Hospejade Ortiz for 5$. They also had a guide there who would take me up Volcan Conception on 5AM in the next morning! He was 5$ cheaper than the usual rate, charging 20$ in the end. We started the hike and he walked very fast, which I liked because I walk fast too. He was REALLY fast though and I had to pace him a bit because I was hoping to hit a good weather window at the top to get a nice view.
The weather in the morning was horrible, it basically rained throughout the complete hike, offering a really spooky atmosphere though. Howler monkeys were all around in the first hour and we would soon arrive at the top after crossing an old lava river. The weather did not get any better and I couldn’t see a thing throughout the complete hike. Waiting on the extremely windy top was not an option too after my guide told me that the weather will be like that for 95% of the days in the year and won’t change at all this day.
We basically ran down the volcano again, reaching the entry point exactly five hours after starting the hike. It was actually good for me because I wanted to get to Tamarindo in Costa Rica before the evening of the same day, a journey which was eventually delayed by a broken ferry and other problems along the way. I arrived at the border pretty late (even though I took an expensive taxi to get there as fast as I can) and had a lot of problems entering Costa Rica. The Immigration officer wouldn’t let me enter unless I showed him a proof of onward travel. I had my booked San Blas Island tour from Panama to Colombia, but he wanted something from Nicaragua to Panama. The only option would have been to buy an expensive 60$ bus ticket from Capital to Capital, rendering completely useless for my travel plans, but thanks to my annoyance and coming back to the same officer three times, he eventually gave me the stamp for free just when I was ready to give up and buy the bus ticket! I caught the last bus leaving the border but was too late for the connection bus to Tamarindo, leaving me stranded in a town between the border and my destination…
>> Pictures
03/04/2015 I’m back from Antarctica and it has been a truly breathtaking experience! Can’t wait to write about it once I managed to sort out all the pictures and videos. Right now I am in a hotel in Ushuaia, trying to find a Couchsurfing place for tonight. A good opportunity to provide you my last live update from Nicaragua: Isla de Ometepe.
There are no direct buses to Mérida, so I had to change in Altagracia after the pleasant ferry ride to the Island’s capital Moyogalpa. I tried to find a guide to climb up Volcan Conception there as well, but could not find anyone going up strangely. On my first day, I planned to visit the Waterfalls of San Ramon on the East part of the Island, so that was where I was headed first. The bus to Mérida did not come though, so I ended up in a small shuttle taking me to Santa Cruz. The next bus from there would come in three hours, I was told, making me start walking the 6km to Mérida. A local guy was heading the same way to his house and we joined forces while it started to rain a lot (during the dry season). I actually like the refreshment and we had a fun time communicating in my broken Spanish :-)
Just after leaving Mérida, I got picked up by a huge truck full of local farmers. Hopping on the back with my big backpack, the local kids on the street cheered up after my big jump on the (real big) truck. It was too late to visit the waterfall now, so I decided to continue walking the last 9km to the place of my Couchsurfing host. Luckily though, I was picked up by another guy in his jeep after walking just 20 minutes or so. He actually knew the french guy living at the beach and pointed me to the path leading to his house.
The CS’ name was Thomas and he built his own house close to Tacana in pretty much the most remote corner of the Island. It was impressive to see how self sufficient he was there, growing all kinds of plants and basically not being depending on anything outside his house. His toilet walls were recently blown away by a storm and sitting on it on a little hill top was quiet funny. Luckily, some palm trees blocked the view to the rest of the area :-) He also had two guys volunteering for him as well and we shared a dinner before going to bed, or to be more precise, the hammocks right at the beach!
I was not feeling very well the next morning and had to get up really early to catch the daily bus at 5AM. If you don’t get up to the street at 4:30AM, you might miss it and have to walk all the way back. Luckily, I did not miss it though and made it to the San Ramon Waterfalls. Leaving my backpack behind, I began the 3km hike which turned out to be at least 4 1/2 km though. The waterfall itself was pretty dry and must be impressive during rainy season with it’s 180m drop. On the way back, I got a ride on a buggy from two tourists I met on the way to the waterfalls. Extremely helpful as it was very hot now and I felt even worse, just wanting to get to my hostel called Monkey Island.
The hostel close to the Island with the same name charged 7$ for the night and was pretty nice actually. They had decent WiFi too and access to the beach. Catching the 5AM bus to Altagracia on the next morning, I stayed at Hospejade Ortiz for 5$. They also had a guide there who would take me up Volcan Conception on 5AM in the next morning! He was 5$ cheaper than the usual rate, charging 20$ in the end. We started the hike and he walked very fast, which I liked because I walk fast too. He was REALLY fast though and I had to pace him a bit because I was hoping to hit a good weather window at the top to get a nice view.
The weather in the morning was horrible, it basically rained throughout the complete hike, offering a really spooky atmosphere though. Howler monkeys were all around in the first hour and we would soon arrive at the top after crossing an old lava river. The weather did not get any better and I couldn’t see a thing throughout the complete hike. Waiting on the extremely windy top was not an option too after my guide told me that the weather will be like that for 95% of the days in the year and won’t change at all this day.
We basically ran down the volcano again, reaching the entry point exactly five hours after starting the hike. It was actually good for me because I wanted to get to Tamarindo in Costa Rica before the evening of the same day, a journey which was eventually delayed by a broken ferry and other problems along the way. I arrived at the border pretty late (even though I took an expensive taxi to get there as fast as I can) and had a lot of problems entering Costa Rica. The Immigration officer wouldn’t let me enter unless I showed him a proof of onward travel. I had my booked San Blas Island tour from Panama to Colombia, but he wanted something from Nicaragua to Panama. The only option would have been to buy an expensive 60$ bus ticket from Capital to Capital, rendering completely useless for my travel plans, but thanks to my annoyance and coming back to the same officer three times, he eventually gave me the stamp for free just when I was ready to give up and buy the bus ticket! I caught the last bus leaving the border but was too late for the connection bus to Tamarindo, leaving me stranded in a town between the border and my destination…
>> Pictures
Apr 7, 2015 | 9:33 am
#92
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 762
Live #46, Tamarindo, Costa Rica
24/01/2015 Starting with my first live update from Costa Rica, I will now use the date of the actual time I have been to the places in my live updates here instead of the current day. It just makes much more sense and I don’t know why I haven’t done it from the beginning
So Costa Rica… the first country in which everything gets a bit more expensive. The start was really cool, watching turtles laying their eggs at the beaches near Tamarindo!
Tamarindo itself did not please me a lot, it’s full of tourists and the only thing you can do is haning out at the beach I suppose. Not my cup of tea. However, during night, there is a really great thing to do: Watching huge pacific green turtles laying their eggs! We went out with our guide Sergio (20$ each, most others charge 35$ but he just wants to cover his costs) and he turned out to be an awesome one, according to the people working in Tamarindo it is actually the best, so try to get him if you are around!
It was already 22:00 when we started our night tour in the beaches north of Tamarindo, about a 45 minute drive away. We were only allowed to use the red light of our head lamps and had to wait patiently in one spot while Sergio went out in the pitch black darkness to find the turtles. Eventually he found 6 of them for us, some of them on the way back to the beach and some of them drying to dig a hole to lay their eggs. Some of them had problems digging the hole deep enough because of rocks, but the 6th one we encountered was actually able to lay their eggs. We were all lying down around her and witnessed the complete process of laying around 80 or so eggs. The whole experience was great, walking around in the dark at the beach along had it’s atmosphere for it and actually seeing the turtle lay the eggs was certainly the highlight. Nobody was sad that we could not see the bigger leatherbag turtles after all. Great start to the new country!
>> Pictures
24/01/2015 Starting with my first live update from Costa Rica, I will now use the date of the actual time I have been to the places in my live updates here instead of the current day. It just makes much more sense and I don’t know why I haven’t done it from the beginning
So Costa Rica… the first country in which everything gets a bit more expensive. The start was really cool, watching turtles laying their eggs at the beaches near Tamarindo!Tamarindo itself did not please me a lot, it’s full of tourists and the only thing you can do is haning out at the beach I suppose. Not my cup of tea. However, during night, there is a really great thing to do: Watching huge pacific green turtles laying their eggs! We went out with our guide Sergio (20$ each, most others charge 35$ but he just wants to cover his costs) and he turned out to be an awesome one, according to the people working in Tamarindo it is actually the best, so try to get him if you are around!
It was already 22:00 when we started our night tour in the beaches north of Tamarindo, about a 45 minute drive away. We were only allowed to use the red light of our head lamps and had to wait patiently in one spot while Sergio went out in the pitch black darkness to find the turtles. Eventually he found 6 of them for us, some of them on the way back to the beach and some of them drying to dig a hole to lay their eggs. Some of them had problems digging the hole deep enough because of rocks, but the 6th one we encountered was actually able to lay their eggs. We were all lying down around her and witnessed the complete process of laying around 80 or so eggs. The whole experience was great, walking around in the dark at the beach along had it’s atmosphere for it and actually seeing the turtle lay the eggs was certainly the highlight. Nobody was sad that we could not see the bigger leatherbag turtles after all. Great start to the new country!
>> Pictures
Apr 11, 2015 | 10:13 am
#93
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 762
Video from Honduras
I arrived in Puerto Natales and will start a five day hike in Torres del Paine tomorrow! The weather looks good and I can’t wait to have a walk without pouring rain all day long like the last one to Cabo Froward near Punta Arenas. As mentioned earlier, I finished two videos while crossing the Drake Passage to Antarctica and this is the second one. Honduras had a lot to offer and I especially liked the Tucan that tried to steal my Marshmellows in Macaw Mountain and of course, my very first diving sessions in Utila! Hope you like the video
>> Direct video link
I arrived in Puerto Natales and will start a five day hike in Torres del Paine tomorrow! The weather looks good and I can’t wait to have a walk without pouring rain all day long like the last one to Cabo Froward near Punta Arenas. As mentioned earlier, I finished two videos while crossing the Drake Passage to Antarctica and this is the second one. Honduras had a lot to offer and I especially liked the Tucan that tried to steal my Marshmellows in Macaw Mountain and of course, my very first diving sessions in Utila! Hope you like the video
>> Direct video link
Apr 18, 2015 | 7:38 am
#94
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 762
Live #47, Tilarán & Lago de Arenal, Costa Rica
26/01/2015 I’m back from six awesome days in Torres del Paine, having sun all way through and just rain on the last day! A lot of great pictures got out of that trip, so I better hurry up with my older live updates to quickly get up to speed again after weeks of internet absence. The second update from Costa Rica covers Tilarán & Lago de Arenal and not much happened there expect for an awesome rainbow
Tilarán was a bit of a strange city. It just had a strange vibe for me and I don’t really know why. As far as I was concered, there is not much to do in the town anyway so Alex and I were heading down to the much promising lake, Lago de Arenal. It was a windy, cold and grey day, making the experience a bit less nice than it could have been I guess. We managed to hitch hike up the hill in the back of a pick up truck and took some pictures from the lake. The view was just very dull though; so soon after we were heading back, hitch hiking with a nice Canadian couple. They first passed us but eventually drove backwards to pick us up again, sometimes rain can be helpful for hitch hiking
The “highlight” presented itself upon our return to town when the sun finally came up and produced a nice double rainbow. After taking plenty of pictures, we took the 12:30 PM bus to Santa Elena & Monteverde for some Canopy/zip-lining action in the Cloud forests there! I promise the next update will be a bit bigger as well
>> Pictures
26/01/2015 I’m back from six awesome days in Torres del Paine, having sun all way through and just rain on the last day! A lot of great pictures got out of that trip, so I better hurry up with my older live updates to quickly get up to speed again after weeks of internet absence. The second update from Costa Rica covers Tilarán & Lago de Arenal and not much happened there expect for an awesome rainbow
Tilarán was a bit of a strange city. It just had a strange vibe for me and I don’t really know why. As far as I was concered, there is not much to do in the town anyway so Alex and I were heading down to the much promising lake, Lago de Arenal. It was a windy, cold and grey day, making the experience a bit less nice than it could have been I guess. We managed to hitch hike up the hill in the back of a pick up truck and took some pictures from the lake. The view was just very dull though; so soon after we were heading back, hitch hiking with a nice Canadian couple. They first passed us but eventually drove backwards to pick us up again, sometimes rain can be helpful for hitch hiking
The “highlight” presented itself upon our return to town when the sun finally came up and produced a nice double rainbow. After taking plenty of pictures, we took the 12:30 PM bus to Santa Elena & Monteverde for some Canopy/zip-lining action in the Cloud forests there! I promise the next update will be a bit bigger as well
>> Pictures
Apr 23, 2015 | 6:28 am
#95
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 762
Live #48, Monteverde Canopy Tour, Costa Rica
26/01/2015 A spectacular eruption of Volcan Calbuco happened yesterday just a few hours after I left Puerto Montt, coming back from the four day Navimag cruise along the Western Fjords of Patagonia. Now I am in Casto (Chilóe) and have to change my plans a bit, climbing in the Cochamó valley is off the table since it’s very close to the still active volcano… Well, at least I can get the next update out from the Canopy/Zip Lining trip in the Monteverde Cloudforest in Costa Rica. Hope you like it and I hope I will be able to leave the area again towards Buenos Aires as planned!
A 20-minute drive took us to the Xtremo arenal including 14 Zip Lines, 1 rappel (30m), 1 Tarzan Swing and 2 Superman Lines. The first superman, stretching over a really nice valley for more than 1000m was certainly the highlight, closely followed by the Tarzan Swing. The rest was okay but nothing nerve wrecking.
Weather wise we were confronted with the typical weather in Costa Rica: Rain! It rained so much that day, we were completely soaked wet after the 4-5 hours Canopy tour and happy to come back to town with some sunshine to dry off everything. Even though it’s always a bit wet in the cloud forest, the amount of rain we received was not normal according to the guides. Well that’s it! We saw a lot of rainbows again that day and sadly we were not able to get to the Skybridges since they are located in a different part and we had to catch the 4 1/2 hours bus to San José.
>> Pictures
26/01/2015 A spectacular eruption of Volcan Calbuco happened yesterday just a few hours after I left Puerto Montt, coming back from the four day Navimag cruise along the Western Fjords of Patagonia. Now I am in Casto (Chilóe) and have to change my plans a bit, climbing in the Cochamó valley is off the table since it’s very close to the still active volcano… Well, at least I can get the next update out from the Canopy/Zip Lining trip in the Monteverde Cloudforest in Costa Rica. Hope you like it and I hope I will be able to leave the area again towards Buenos Aires as planned!
A 20-minute drive took us to the Xtremo arenal including 14 Zip Lines, 1 rappel (30m), 1 Tarzan Swing and 2 Superman Lines. The first superman, stretching over a really nice valley for more than 1000m was certainly the highlight, closely followed by the Tarzan Swing. The rest was okay but nothing nerve wrecking.
Weather wise we were confronted with the typical weather in Costa Rica: Rain! It rained so much that day, we were completely soaked wet after the 4-5 hours Canopy tour and happy to come back to town with some sunshine to dry off everything. Even though it’s always a bit wet in the cloud forest, the amount of rain we received was not normal according to the guides. Well that’s it! We saw a lot of rainbows again that day and sadly we were not able to get to the Skybridges since they are located in a different part and we had to catch the 4 1/2 hours bus to San José.
>> Pictures
Apr 25, 2015 | 1:34 pm
#96
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 762
Volcan Calbuco eruption in Chile
25/04/2015 I think recent event’s here in Chile justify a small special live update from the front. Just two hours after I left Puerto Montt towards Chiloé last Wednesday, Volcan Calbuco erupted and caused airport’s to be shut down and the evacuation of 4.000 people in a 21km radius. You can see a YouTube Video from the spectacular event here. After spending a few days away, I arrived in Puerto Varas yesterday and am currently stuck here because the border to Argentina is closed. The volcano is constantly producing a lot of smoke, but a third major eruption did not happen yet. I will keep you updated on Instagram and hope that my flight from Bariloche to Buenos Aires on the 30th of April will not be cancelled!
>> Instagram
25/04/2015 I think recent event’s here in Chile justify a small special live update from the front. Just two hours after I left Puerto Montt towards Chiloé last Wednesday, Volcan Calbuco erupted and caused airport’s to be shut down and the evacuation of 4.000 people in a 21km radius. You can see a YouTube Video from the spectacular event here. After spending a few days away, I arrived in Puerto Varas yesterday and am currently stuck here because the border to Argentina is closed. The volcano is constantly producing a lot of smoke, but a third major eruption did not happen yet. I will keep you updated on Instagram and hope that my flight from Bariloche to Buenos Aires on the 30th of April will not be cancelled!
May 1, 2015 | 10:54 am
#97
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 762
Live #49, Chirripó National Park, Costa Rica
29/01/2015 Volcan Calbuco erupted again but luckily the wind did not blow the ash to Bariloche, so my flight last night to Buenos Aires was not cancelled! I am here now and will try to get a nice Argentinean BBQ organized This update reports from my failed attempt to climb Cerro Chirripó in Costa Rica!
I had planned for a 40km overnight hike to Cerro Chirripó in a single day due to limited time, so wearing in the hiking boots first by doing a short 6km hike in the Cloudbridge reserve just next to the Chirripó National Park seemed like a good idea. The weather was pleasant while we hiked through the jungle, crossed a few waterfalls and had a little dip in the freezing cold water of the river. I also found two solid wooden sticks that I would use for the hike to Cerro Chirripó for midnight.
We stayed in a very nice hostel called Casa Mariposa, I can only recommend checking it out! It is also conveniently located just next to the entrance of the National Park. Staying at the same hosteI was an American guy called Nathan, who had the same plan for the Cerro Chirripó. So obviously we joined forces and met up at midnight while everyone was sleeping, trying to sneak up the mountain. We both had no permits, hoping that no one would check up on us now! To our big disappointment, just 50m after leaving the hostel, a group of six people waited for us at the entry point and while I first thought it was just another group to go up with a guide, they were actually there to check for the permits in a pretty unfriendly way
Since the hike did not work out, I decided to get down into town to buy a pizza instead in the evening! Someone in the hostel told a story about huge pizzas for just 3500, giving me enough motivation to start the long hike through the jungle, into town and then onwards to the other end of the town. I actually found the place but they would only sell pizzas for 7000! I told them I only have 5000 and they gave me a special deal, making me leave with an actual big (not huge for my appetite though) pizza It took me about 40 minutes to walk uphill all the way to the hostel again while eating half of the pizza already and watching fireflies around me in the dark jungle
>> Pictures
29/01/2015 Volcan Calbuco erupted again but luckily the wind did not blow the ash to Bariloche, so my flight last night to Buenos Aires was not cancelled! I am here now and will try to get a nice Argentinean BBQ organized
This update reports from my failed attempt to climb Cerro Chirripó in Costa Rica!I had planned for a 40km overnight hike to Cerro Chirripó in a single day due to limited time, so wearing in the hiking boots first by doing a short 6km hike in the Cloudbridge reserve just next to the Chirripó National Park seemed like a good idea. The weather was pleasant while we hiked through the jungle, crossed a few waterfalls and had a little dip in the freezing cold water of the river. I also found two solid wooden sticks that I would use for the hike to Cerro Chirripó for midnight.
We stayed in a very nice hostel called Casa Mariposa, I can only recommend checking it out! It is also conveniently located just next to the entrance of the National Park. Staying at the same hosteI was an American guy called Nathan, who had the same plan for the Cerro Chirripó. So obviously we joined forces and met up at midnight while everyone was sleeping, trying to sneak up the mountain. We both had no permits, hoping that no one would check up on us now! To our big disappointment, just 50m after leaving the hostel, a group of six people waited for us at the entry point and while I first thought it was just another group to go up with a guide, they were actually there to check for the permits in a pretty unfriendly way
Since the hike did not work out, I decided to get down into town to buy a pizza instead in the evening! Someone in the hostel told a story about huge pizzas for just 3500, giving me enough motivation to start the long hike through the jungle, into town and then onwards to the other end of the town. I actually found the place but they would only sell pizzas for 7000! I told them I only have 5000 and they gave me a special deal, making me leave with an actual big (not huge for my appetite though) pizza
It took me about 40 minutes to walk uphill all the way to the hostel again while eating half of the pizza already and watching fireflies around me in the dark jungle >> Pictures
May 3, 2015 | 8:30 am
#98
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 762
Live #50, Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica
01/02/2015 I made it to country No. 54 (Uruguay) and will travel from Colonia to Montevideo today. This update is the last one from Costa Rica and the Corcovado National Park was actually my highlight of the overall a little bit disappointing Costa Rica.
We took the 5:15 AM bus from San Gerardo de Rivas to San Isidro and just barely made it there for the 6:30 AM bus to Puerto Jimenez; a five hour journey that would take us to one of the entry point of the Corcovado National Park. There were a few options to enter the park and we choose to stay with Bolita, which is basically a little wooden house in the middle of the jungle without any road connections. Their office is at Dos Bratos and from there it took another 45 minutes walking through a nice scenery to arrive at the hut. There was no electricity and the sound setting in the middle of the jungle was just amazing!
After a first quick walk around the area to a nice valley including Macaws and lots of other animals, we returned to Bolita in the afternoon to have enough time preparing the dinner while it was still light outside. The only source of light for later would be a candle because of the missing electricity. Six other people occupied the pleasant hut with us and instead of mosquitos (which are suddenly leaving the area in the darkness), we had lot’s of fireflies to look at. Finally we found ourselves in an actual real jungle without too many other tourists around, making the last days of Costa Rica the most enjoyable ones as well.
The next day was actually a really exciting one. Together with our guide Thomas, we would be the first tourists to enter a brand new hiking path called El Tigre, scheduled to officially open four days later. The new path offers a cheaper alternative to enter the park from another side opposed to the more remote corners, involving hours of transportation to get to the starting point. In our tour, we saw a great deal of wild life as well as plants. Thomas did a great job finding and explaining everything, the highlight being a very poisonous Coral Snake just 3 meters away that would leave you six hours to reach a hospital for treatment in case you get bitten. Besides that, we saw lots of frogs, scarlet macaws, tucans, howler monkeys, all kind of other monkeys, lizards and animals I won’t even know how to describe them. There was also a pretty cool tree that you could climb up from the inside. So overall the seven (!) hour tour was totally worth the 50$ we paid each, usually it would be 65$ but since the park was not officially opened, we could avoid the 15$ entrance free.
After the guided tour, we hiked back up to the Bolita hut to spend another night there, meeting some really interesting people during dinner. I was now getting used to the pretty loud jungle sound around me and could sleep very well in the second night to be ready for a very early wake up call at 4:30 AM in the next morning, hiking down the path in pitch black darkness with our head lamps. I was headed to Panama next after crossing the beautiful Golf of Golfito and heard about the pretty tough border crossings from Costa Rica. So thanks to tip of the owner of Bolita, I came very well prepared and presented an American Airline Ticket from Panama City to Frankfurt (which was just on hold and I did not have to pay anything for it, letting it expire automatically after 24 hours) as well as plenty of cash, leaving me with no problems whatsoever to enter Panama.
>> Pictures
01/02/2015 I made it to country No. 54 (Uruguay) and will travel from Colonia to Montevideo today. This update is the last one from Costa Rica and the Corcovado National Park was actually my highlight of the overall a little bit disappointing Costa Rica.
We took the 5:15 AM bus from San Gerardo de Rivas to San Isidro and just barely made it there for the 6:30 AM bus to Puerto Jimenez; a five hour journey that would take us to one of the entry point of the Corcovado National Park. There were a few options to enter the park and we choose to stay with Bolita, which is basically a little wooden house in the middle of the jungle without any road connections. Their office is at Dos Bratos and from there it took another 45 minutes walking through a nice scenery to arrive at the hut. There was no electricity and the sound setting in the middle of the jungle was just amazing!
After a first quick walk around the area to a nice valley including Macaws and lots of other animals, we returned to Bolita in the afternoon to have enough time preparing the dinner while it was still light outside. The only source of light for later would be a candle because of the missing electricity. Six other people occupied the pleasant hut with us and instead of mosquitos (which are suddenly leaving the area in the darkness), we had lot’s of fireflies to look at. Finally we found ourselves in an actual real jungle without too many other tourists around, making the last days of Costa Rica the most enjoyable ones as well.
The next day was actually a really exciting one. Together with our guide Thomas, we would be the first tourists to enter a brand new hiking path called El Tigre, scheduled to officially open four days later. The new path offers a cheaper alternative to enter the park from another side opposed to the more remote corners, involving hours of transportation to get to the starting point. In our tour, we saw a great deal of wild life as well as plants. Thomas did a great job finding and explaining everything, the highlight being a very poisonous Coral Snake just 3 meters away that would leave you six hours to reach a hospital for treatment in case you get bitten. Besides that, we saw lots of frogs, scarlet macaws, tucans, howler monkeys, all kind of other monkeys, lizards and animals I won’t even know how to describe them. There was also a pretty cool tree that you could climb up from the inside. So overall the seven (!) hour tour was totally worth the 50$ we paid each, usually it would be 65$ but since the park was not officially opened, we could avoid the 15$ entrance free.
After the guided tour, we hiked back up to the Bolita hut to spend another night there, meeting some really interesting people during dinner. I was now getting used to the pretty loud jungle sound around me and could sleep very well in the second night to be ready for a very early wake up call at 4:30 AM in the next morning, hiking down the path in pitch black darkness with our head lamps. I was headed to Panama next after crossing the beautiful Golf of Golfito and heard about the pretty tough border crossings from Costa Rica. So thanks to tip of the owner of Bolita, I came very well prepared and presented an American Airline Ticket from Panama City to Frankfurt (which was just on hold and I did not have to pay anything for it, letting it expire automatically after 24 hours) as well as plenty of cash, leaving me with no problems whatsoever to enter Panama.
>> Pictures
May 7, 2015 | 8:08 am
#99
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 762
Video from Nicaragua
Time for the next video! The Stone Man Alberto Gutierrez already received a special video a few months back; now I can present the rest of Nicaragua – one of my favorite countries in central america actually! Check it out for the awesome Volcano Telica & Isla de Ometepe, and of course it also features some GoPro footage of the infamous volcano boarding at Cerro Negro Hope you like it!
>> Direct Vimeo Link
Time for the next video! The Stone Man Alberto Gutierrez already received a special video a few months back; now I can present the rest of Nicaragua – one of my favorite countries in central america actually! Check it out for the awesome Volcano Telica & Isla de Ometepe, and of course it also features some GoPro footage of the infamous volcano boarding at Cerro Negro
Hope you like it!>> Direct Vimeo Link
May 11, 2015 | 2:10 pm
#100
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 762
Live #51, Boquete, Panama
05/02/2015 I made it safe & sound to Brazil and already visited two great spots in the south’s nature: Itaimbezinho Canyon and Caracol Falls! More on that in about three months or so when I will probably reach Brazil in my Live Updates
Now it’s finally time to cover the last country of my Central America trip! Panama exceeded my expectations and it all started in Boquete, hosting a Jazz & Blues Festival at the time and some really nice hikes in general.
As mentioned before, I came very well prepared to the border of Panama after crossing the Golf of Golfito in Costa Rica; presenting an American Airline Ticket from Panama City to Frankfurt (which was just on hold) as well as plenty of cash, leaving me with no problems whatsoever to enter Panama. Once in the country, I had to get to David first and then change into another chicken bus towards Boquete in the north. Everything worked out smoothly and in Pension Topas, I even found a last second accommodation during the busy Jazz & Blues festival weekend. I actually ended up sleeping in a tent because all rooms were booked out, but thanks to the very nice German owner, the tent has been very comfortable with a lot of sheets and pillows.
It was already getting a bit cold in Boquete, mainly due to it’s higher elevation, and going for a swim in Topas’ pool was certainly a good way to wake up in the morning. I had big plans that day, trying to hike as much as I could from the Quetzales Trail. Doing it from East to West and starting in Boquete takes a long time, as the trail gains over 1000m in elevation. I originally planned to take a collectivo to the starting point but then opt in to walk because of the fact that nobody else wanted to share the collectivo, leaving me with a pretty high price on my own.
Walking up there was actually really nice, passing Mi Jardín es Su Jardín on the way and enjoying it’s free garden. I eventually made it out of town and soon after got a ride actually for about ten minutes, getting me to the starting point of another little excursion: The lost waterfalls hike. I hiked up the muddy path and eventually reached a little booth. There was a charge to enter and getting to the last waterfall was supposed to take a long time, making me turn back while enjoying the splendid views across a nice valley. Getting up here was actually worth just for that view!
I continued the hike uphill along a street with some cool climbing areas nearby, sadly I had neither shoes nor ropes or a climbing partner with me. The path finally turned into the jungle and all of the sudden it started to rain pretty heavy. I was crossing the river several times and trying to stay in good spirits while the rain constantly battled down on me. No other people could be seen anywhere until about one hour later, when a french couple told me that they had turn back because of the rain, mud and probably very bad visibility on the lookout.
Eager to check out the situation myself, I walked into the actual really muddy jungle path for another hour, motivated by the stopping rain and periodically peaking out sun. After a while the sun disappeared again and I had to keep the time in mind, stopping me just before a bigger river crossing. I was out there without a tent and had to get back the roughly 24km to Boquete on the same day. After leaving the jungle and entering the road again, I saw a collectivo waiting and ended up taking it this time since it was already half full. My feet were certainly happy about that decision and I made it back to Boquete early enough to enjoy the town’s Jazz & Blues Festival for a little bit. One older gentleman looked like Gandalf’s secret brother and certainly had the best mood of all people in town, I am sure you are able to spot this guy in the video
>> Pictures
05/02/2015 I made it safe & sound to Brazil and already visited two great spots in the south’s nature: Itaimbezinho Canyon and Caracol Falls! More on that in about three months or so when I will probably reach Brazil in my Live Updates
Now it’s finally time to cover the last country of my Central America trip! Panama exceeded my expectations and it all started in Boquete, hosting a Jazz & Blues Festival at the time and some really nice hikes in general.As mentioned before, I came very well prepared to the border of Panama after crossing the Golf of Golfito in Costa Rica; presenting an American Airline Ticket from Panama City to Frankfurt (which was just on hold) as well as plenty of cash, leaving me with no problems whatsoever to enter Panama. Once in the country, I had to get to David first and then change into another chicken bus towards Boquete in the north. Everything worked out smoothly and in Pension Topas, I even found a last second accommodation during the busy Jazz & Blues festival weekend. I actually ended up sleeping in a tent because all rooms were booked out, but thanks to the very nice German owner, the tent has been very comfortable with a lot of sheets and pillows.
It was already getting a bit cold in Boquete, mainly due to it’s higher elevation, and going for a swim in Topas’ pool was certainly a good way to wake up in the morning. I had big plans that day, trying to hike as much as I could from the Quetzales Trail. Doing it from East to West and starting in Boquete takes a long time, as the trail gains over 1000m in elevation. I originally planned to take a collectivo to the starting point but then opt in to walk because of the fact that nobody else wanted to share the collectivo, leaving me with a pretty high price on my own.
Walking up there was actually really nice, passing Mi Jardín es Su Jardín on the way and enjoying it’s free garden. I eventually made it out of town and soon after got a ride actually for about ten minutes, getting me to the starting point of another little excursion: The lost waterfalls hike. I hiked up the muddy path and eventually reached a little booth. There was a charge to enter and getting to the last waterfall was supposed to take a long time, making me turn back while enjoying the splendid views across a nice valley. Getting up here was actually worth just for that view!
I continued the hike uphill along a street with some cool climbing areas nearby, sadly I had neither shoes nor ropes or a climbing partner with me. The path finally turned into the jungle and all of the sudden it started to rain pretty heavy. I was crossing the river several times and trying to stay in good spirits while the rain constantly battled down on me. No other people could be seen anywhere until about one hour later, when a french couple told me that they had turn back because of the rain, mud and probably very bad visibility on the lookout.
Eager to check out the situation myself, I walked into the actual really muddy jungle path for another hour, motivated by the stopping rain and periodically peaking out sun. After a while the sun disappeared again and I had to keep the time in mind, stopping me just before a bigger river crossing. I was out there without a tent and had to get back the roughly 24km to Boquete on the same day. After leaving the jungle and entering the road again, I saw a collectivo waiting and ended up taking it this time since it was already half full. My feet were certainly happy about that decision and I made it back to Boquete early enough to enjoy the town’s Jazz & Blues Festival for a little bit. One older gentleman looked like Gandalf’s secret brother and certainly had the best mood of all people in town, I am sure you are able to spot this guy in the video
>> Pictures
May 15, 2015 | 7:27 pm
#101
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 762
Live #52, Cangilones de Gualaca, Panama
08/02/2015 Arriving in Paraguay during their Independence Day celebration was certainly a good timing! I had a great time checking out the live action downtown while stuffing myself with delicious street food. Now I am heading out to do the Golden Circuit around the Capital Asuncion and luckily this update is a short one, featuring the Cangilones de Gualaca in Panama, a great spot for deep water bouldering!
I am really short on time, but basically I went out to the Cangilones de Gualaca with two people I met in the hostel before and had a great time bouldering. When we arrived it was super packed with locals going out for a swim and also climbing the cliffs, they were actually really good at that! Us, on the other side, could only do a couple of climbs because we were badly out of shape Still great fun! Maybe I will update this post later with some more info, see you for now
>> Pictures
08/02/2015 Arriving in Paraguay during their Independence Day celebration was certainly a good timing! I had a great time checking out the live action downtown while stuffing myself with delicious street food. Now I am heading out to do the Golden Circuit around the Capital Asuncion and luckily this update is a short one, featuring the Cangilones de Gualaca in Panama, a great spot for deep water bouldering!
I am really short on time, but basically I went out to the Cangilones de Gualaca with two people I met in the hostel before and had a great time bouldering. When we arrived it was super packed with locals going out for a swim and also climbing the cliffs, they were actually really good at that! Us, on the other side, could only do a couple of climbs because we were badly out of shape
Still great fun! Maybe I will update this post later with some more info, see you for now >> Pictures
May 20, 2015 | 5:25 pm
#102
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 762
Live #53, Panama City, Panama
09/02/2015 Waiting for the border to re-open after the weekend and about 23 hours in the bus coming from Paraguay left me with only two days here in Bonito, Brazil. It’s safe to say I made the most out of the first day by visiting the amazing Rio da Prata. If you ever wondered how it feels to swim in an aquarium, check this place out! Panama City has been a big surprise on my trip through Central America. I had no idea how nice it is there, especially the skyline really impressed me. Check it out in this post for some pictures, along with the famous Panama Canal
There is something really special about Panama City – at least in my eyes Parts of it feel like the usual Central American towns I have seen and visited so often in the past months; but other parts, such as the great skyline at the waterfront, reminded me a lot to more modern cities. It was the last big city before heading to Colombia via the San Blas Islands and also the time of Carnival, adding just a little bit of spice to my visit as well.
I was only able to spend a few days in Panama City because of a spontaneous trip down south towards Las Tablas for what was supposed to be the craziest carnival party in Central America (more on that in the next post..). While in Panama City, I checked out the Cementerio del Rosario, a cemetery with a great ambiance close to some of the poorer areas in town – make sure you don’t wander around in the wrong streets here as some locals warned about possible dangers there. I liked it there, having a huge run-down building just behind it. There was also some nice street art in the city and of course the old town, which contains pretty buildings along with some nice views on the skyline.
Checking out the Panama Canal was obviously a must-do as well. The Miraflores lock provide the easiest access if you are short on time (like me) and I got there at 09:30 AM to see the last ship of the morning passing through the locks. It is quiet impressive to see how it works, but really in the end it was not much more than a huge version of the canals close to my old neighbor hood in London Paying 15$ for it was just within the boundaries to not make me feel bad about spending it.
My personal highlight, however, was a walk up the hill of the last island at the end of the Amador Causeway. It was actually forbidden to go up there, but sometimes it is good to ignore little signs like that if you are rewarded with an amazing panoramic view across the City, along with some cool remains of World War 2 bunkers and some wildlife. One huge Iguana crossed the plateau just when I got there and I barely could catch him on video, sadly I don’t have a good photo. There were also hundreds of birds gliding above and enjoying the amazing sunset as well as a huge spider with really nice colors – I got that one on a photo at least!
The carnival in town was pretty big, but not really impressive if you would look for a big party. Probably it was too early and unfortunately, I had to get up really early to start my trip to the San Blas Islands in the next morning. But at least I could see the skyline at night one more time; add a firework and I get myself a great ending to the chapter Panama City.
>> Pictures
09/02/2015 Waiting for the border to re-open after the weekend and about 23 hours in the bus coming from Paraguay left me with only two days here in Bonito, Brazil. It’s safe to say I made the most out of the first day by visiting the amazing Rio da Prata. If you ever wondered how it feels to swim in an aquarium, check this place out! Panama City has been a big surprise on my trip through Central America. I had no idea how nice it is there, especially the skyline really impressed me. Check it out in this post for some pictures, along with the famous Panama Canal
There is something really special about Panama City – at least in my eyes
Parts of it feel like the usual Central American towns I have seen and visited so often in the past months; but other parts, such as the great skyline at the waterfront, reminded me a lot to more modern cities. It was the last big city before heading to Colombia via the San Blas Islands and also the time of Carnival, adding just a little bit of spice to my visit as well.I was only able to spend a few days in Panama City because of a spontaneous trip down south towards Las Tablas for what was supposed to be the craziest carnival party in Central America (more on that in the next post..). While in Panama City, I checked out the Cementerio del Rosario, a cemetery with a great ambiance close to some of the poorer areas in town – make sure you don’t wander around in the wrong streets here as some locals warned about possible dangers there. I liked it there, having a huge run-down building just behind it. There was also some nice street art in the city and of course the old town, which contains pretty buildings along with some nice views on the skyline.
Checking out the Panama Canal was obviously a must-do as well. The Miraflores lock provide the easiest access if you are short on time (like me) and I got there at 09:30 AM to see the last ship of the morning passing through the locks. It is quiet impressive to see how it works, but really in the end it was not much more than a huge version of the canals close to my old neighbor hood in London
Paying 15$ for it was just within the boundaries to not make me feel bad about spending it.My personal highlight, however, was a walk up the hill of the last island at the end of the Amador Causeway. It was actually forbidden to go up there, but sometimes it is good to ignore little signs like that if you are rewarded with an amazing panoramic view across the City, along with some cool remains of World War 2 bunkers and some wildlife. One huge Iguana crossed the plateau just when I got there and I barely could catch him on video, sadly I don’t have a good photo. There were also hundreds of birds gliding above and enjoying the amazing sunset as well as a huge spider with really nice colors – I got that one on a photo at least!
The carnival in town was pretty big, but not really impressive if you would look for a big party. Probably it was too early and unfortunately, I had to get up really early to start my trip to the San Blas Islands in the next morning. But at least I could see the skyline at night one more time; add a firework and I get myself a great ending to the chapter Panama City.
>> Pictures
May 23, 2015 | 8:11 am
#103
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 762
Live #54, Pedasí, Panama
13/02/2015 After the Chapada dos Guimarăes yesterday, it is now finally time to head into the Pantanal for two days! We will drive down the Transpantaneira road in a small Opel Corsa and sleep somewhere in a tent, apparently there are a lot of Jaguars out there so chances are there to see them Back in Panama, I was headed down to Pedasí near Las Tablas to celebrate the carnival. Turns out it was not the party I expected it to be!
Yea well this is quick to tell: While in Panama City, word was that the carnival there is not really that good. Everyone was talking about Las Tablas. So i checked couchsurfing last second and found some hosts, also in another city called Pedasí. Apparently the carnival seemed to be even better there, so the decision was made to stop by in Las Tablas and sleep in Pedasi. While we were in Las Tablas, there was nothing going all at all (should have come in the evening!) and the celebration in Pedasi was rather quiet. It felt more like a family fest than a big party. But in the end, it didn’t really matter. I’m not a carnival type and was just curious about it anyway and had great company and therefor a lot of fun nevertheless! Ah there was a nice beach though which was fun to visit, too bad I can’t kitesurf since it was really windy
>> Pictures
13/02/2015 After the Chapada dos Guimarăes yesterday, it is now finally time to head into the Pantanal for two days! We will drive down the Transpantaneira road in a small Opel Corsa and sleep somewhere in a tent, apparently there are a lot of Jaguars out there so chances are there to see them
Back in Panama, I was headed down to Pedasí near Las Tablas to celebrate the carnival. Turns out it was not the party I expected it to be!Yea well this is quick to tell: While in Panama City, word was that the carnival there is not really that good. Everyone was talking about Las Tablas. So i checked couchsurfing last second and found some hosts, also in another city called Pedasí. Apparently the carnival seemed to be even better there, so the decision was made to stop by in Las Tablas and sleep in Pedasi. While we were in Las Tablas, there was nothing going all at all (should have come in the evening!) and the celebration in Pedasi was rather quiet. It felt more like a family fest than a big party. But in the end, it didn’t really matter. I’m not a carnival type and was just curious about it anyway and had great company and therefor a lot of fun nevertheless! Ah there was a nice beach though which was fun to visit, too bad I can’t kitesurf since it was really windy
>> Pictures
May 25, 2015 | 1:42 pm
#105
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 762
Thanks! Always nice to get some feedback hehe.
Live #55, San Blas Islands, Panama
16/02/2015 I’m back from the Brazilian Pantanal, feeding Caimans and Eagles on a Boattrip and spotting countless animals along the road. The area around the capital of Brasilia is next for me, but first it is time to release the last update from Panama and thereby wrapping up all of Central America! Cruising the San Blas Islands towards Capurganá in Colombia is probably the best way of crossing countries, just after going on foot through the Gap of Darien of course; this true adventure seemed to be a bit too risky at the time though and I promised my mom to stay safe. If you are in the mood for some photos of picture perfect isolated beaches, check out this update!
Getting to the port village north of Panama City took a little while. First, the 4×4 Jeep came half an hour late at 05:30 in the morning and then struggled to find the last missing person, which turned out to be someone I actually met months ago in Nicaragua climbing Volcan Telica! Everyone else in the vehicle booked the 5 days sail cruise and I was the only one with the 4 days speed boat cruise, which focuses more on staying on the islands. Luckily it was all sorted out and I later changed into another jeep, getting me to the right departure spot of the speed boats
The ride in the boats was very bumpy, resulting in a lot of splash water in my eyes and a painful butt after a while. Our first ride luckily didn’t take too long, after around 45 minutes we reached a tiny island to relax, play volleyball and go snorkeling. Lot’s of clouds were hiding the sun sadly but everyone still had a great time getting to know each other – we were actually a group of about 28 people or so, split down in two speed boats. We continued the ride to a bigger island, on which we would spend the night as well. It featured a few huts on the sand with a bunch of hammocks for us gringos, as well as some more the people living there.
Did you know that every coconut on the San Blas Islands belongs to a person and you can only get one if you pay a dollar? Well, now you do. I was not really interested in coconuts anyway. The actual food provided for us from our tour company was created in a joint effort of our guides and the local family and I have to say: It was pretty damn impressive! We would get a huge all-you-can-eat buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner and not only was it much more than we could possibly consume, it was also amazingly fresh and delicious! We also got rum punch every night, followed by more drinking of stuff that everyone bought on the mainland. Add a guitar, really nice people and you don’t want to leave that place anytime soon again!
The second day welcomed us with a lot of sunshine – the last thing that was missing to make this trip perfect! Everyone was in a great mood, sunbathing, chilling, playing games and socializing. It felt a little bit like being on the island from LOST – just without all the drama and mystery We were not alone on the island either, more and more sail boats anchored around us and paid us a visit. One group was actually a Kite Surfing tour, doing some kind of documentary. Although the weather was really nice, the forecast regarding the wind actually made us stay for another day on the island.
The evening was perfectly commencing with the rum punch after dinner and I got to know three new drinking games (I liked “21” a lot), which resulted in hilarious situations once everyone was pretty much drunk. I will spare you with the details and am sure the people involved will agree We had a lot of fun, some actually a bit more than others and causing a little bit of a problem. I didn’t think it was a big deal, but the tour operator felt differently and actually removed one Australian dude (joined by his girlfriend) from the island for bad behavior while he had a bit too much to drink. It was a shame because I was actually getting along with them very well and would meet them afterwards in Colombia again.
On the next day we had to catch up on some ground after being stuck on the first island for 2 nights. The resulting two hour boat ride was not really comfortable but despite all the splash water in our faces, everyone was still in a great mood because we spent two amazing day on a beautiful isolated island. We had a nice lunch break on the island that was supposed to be our home for the second night and spent about three hours there. Enough time to take the snorkel and swim over to one of the nearby islands. There are actually about 365 islands in the San blas and only 49 are inhabited. It was great to be able to swim to another tiny island and go exploring.
One problem we were all facing I suppose was the fact that there were no fresh water showers around. Even my short hair started to be sticky after constantly being in the salt water without having a way to get the salt off afterwards. Well, certainly a problem everyone would like to have I guess – at least if it’s not for weeks or even months Eventually, it was time to move on to our last destination: A Kula village with roughly 800 inhabitants. Houses are built on stilts along the waterfront and married women wear traditional clothes and jewelry, which actually looked really nice I have to admit! Especially the kids were really excited to see us, being very happy and playful.
Experiencing how the local indigenous people on the islands live was a great way to end the trip! The last dinner at a local restaurant, though, was not nearly as good as they stuff our guides prepared and also the portion was pretty small. At least for my appetite After partying a lot in the last nights, everyone was a bit tired now and took it easy in the last night. We were sleeping in the village and had rooms full of (uncomfortable) hammocks as well as a really cool outdoor bathroom, in which you can see how fish take care of your business as you just poop into the water. Sounded strange at first but I have to admit I was never entertained more sitting on a toilet!
We ended the (amazing) trip by arriving in Colombia’s northern border town Sapzurro, which can only be reached by boat. We got our passports stamped, luggage checked and eventually arrived in Capurganá. I did not know much about this place first but luckily found out that it was supposed to be one of Colombia’s most remote and best diving location, making me decide to actually spend two nights there before heading onwards to Cartagena. The next live update will show you if it was really that good as I took down my first fun dives after the PADI Open Water Certification in Utila, Honduras
>> Pictures
Always nice to get some feedback hehe.Live #55, San Blas Islands, Panama
16/02/2015 I’m back from the Brazilian Pantanal, feeding Caimans and Eagles on a Boattrip and spotting countless animals along the road. The area around the capital of Brasilia is next for me, but first it is time to release the last update from Panama and thereby wrapping up all of Central America! Cruising the San Blas Islands towards Capurganá in Colombia is probably the best way of crossing countries, just after going on foot through the Gap of Darien of course; this true adventure seemed to be a bit too risky at the time though and I promised my mom to stay safe. If you are in the mood for some photos of picture perfect isolated beaches, check out this update!
Getting to the port village north of Panama City took a little while. First, the 4×4 Jeep came half an hour late at 05:30 in the morning and then struggled to find the last missing person, which turned out to be someone I actually met months ago in Nicaragua climbing Volcan Telica! Everyone else in the vehicle booked the 5 days sail cruise and I was the only one with the 4 days speed boat cruise, which focuses more on staying on the islands. Luckily it was all sorted out and I later changed into another jeep, getting me to the right departure spot of the speed boats
The ride in the boats was very bumpy, resulting in a lot of splash water in my eyes and a painful butt after a while. Our first ride luckily didn’t take too long, after around 45 minutes we reached a tiny island to relax, play volleyball and go snorkeling. Lot’s of clouds were hiding the sun sadly but everyone still had a great time getting to know each other – we were actually a group of about 28 people or so, split down in two speed boats. We continued the ride to a bigger island, on which we would spend the night as well. It featured a few huts on the sand with a bunch of hammocks for us gringos, as well as some more the people living there.
Did you know that every coconut on the San Blas Islands belongs to a person and you can only get one if you pay a dollar? Well, now you do.
I was not really interested in coconuts anyway. The actual food provided for us from our tour company was created in a joint effort of our guides and the local family and I have to say: It was pretty damn impressive! We would get a huge all-you-can-eat buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner and not only was it much more than we could possibly consume, it was also amazingly fresh and delicious! We also got rum punch every night, followed by more drinking of stuff that everyone bought on the mainland. Add a guitar, really nice people and you don’t want to leave that place anytime soon again!The second day welcomed us with a lot of sunshine – the last thing that was missing to make this trip perfect! Everyone was in a great mood, sunbathing, chilling, playing games and socializing. It felt a little bit like being on the island from LOST – just without all the drama and mystery
We were not alone on the island either, more and more sail boats anchored around us and paid us a visit. One group was actually a Kite Surfing tour, doing some kind of documentary. Although the weather was really nice, the forecast regarding the wind actually made us stay for another day on the island.The evening was perfectly commencing with the rum punch after dinner and I got to know three new drinking games (I liked “21” a lot), which resulted in hilarious situations once everyone was pretty much drunk. I will spare you with the details and am sure the people involved will agree
We had a lot of fun, some actually a bit more than others and causing a little bit of a problem. I didn’t think it was a big deal, but the tour operator felt differently and actually removed one Australian dude (joined by his girlfriend) from the island for bad behavior while he had a bit too much to drink. It was a shame because I was actually getting along with them very well and would meet them afterwards in Colombia again.On the next day we had to catch up on some ground after being stuck on the first island for 2 nights. The resulting two hour boat ride was not really comfortable but despite all the splash water in our faces, everyone was still in a great mood because we spent two amazing day on a beautiful isolated island. We had a nice lunch break on the island that was supposed to be our home for the second night and spent about three hours there. Enough time to take the snorkel and swim over to one of the nearby islands. There are actually about 365 islands in the San blas and only 49 are inhabited. It was great to be able to swim to another tiny island and go exploring.
One problem we were all facing I suppose was the fact that there were no fresh water showers around. Even my short hair started to be sticky after constantly being in the salt water without having a way to get the salt off afterwards. Well, certainly a problem everyone would like to have I guess – at least if it’s not for weeks or even months
Eventually, it was time to move on to our last destination: A Kula village with roughly 800 inhabitants. Houses are built on stilts along the waterfront and married women wear traditional clothes and jewelry, which actually looked really nice I have to admit! Especially the kids were really excited to see us, being very happy and playful.Experiencing how the local indigenous people on the islands live was a great way to end the trip! The last dinner at a local restaurant, though, was not nearly as good as they stuff our guides prepared and also the portion was pretty small. At least for my appetite
After partying a lot in the last nights, everyone was a bit tired now and took it easy in the last night. We were sleeping in the village and had rooms full of (uncomfortable) hammocks as well as a really cool outdoor bathroom, in which you can see how fish take care of your business as you just poop into the water. Sounded strange at first but I have to admit I was never entertained more sitting on a toilet!We ended the (amazing) trip by arriving in Colombia’s northern border town Sapzurro, which can only be reached by boat. We got our passports stamped, luggage checked and eventually arrived in Capurganá. I did not know much about this place first but luckily found out that it was supposed to be one of Colombia’s most remote and best diving location, making me decide to actually spend two nights there before heading onwards to Cartagena. The next live update will show you if it was really that good as I took down my first fun dives after the PADI Open Water Certification in Utila, Honduras
>> Pictures