Costa Rica was a short 2 day stay. San Jose is not too exciting and really not all that much to see. It probably would have been better though if it wasn’t the start to Holy week as nothing and I mean nothing was pretty open. I left as quickly as I could on the next shuttle to Panama. It turned out to be a rainy drive to Puerto Veijo. We stopped here just long enough for lunch and finally to be able to step my feet in the Caribbean ocean. We switched shuttles for another short drive to the border which was probably the craziest border I saw on my whole trip. An old railroad bridge crossing over a pretty fast flowing river. Oh and no warning signs of how many missing planks there and loose bolts. I was just glad I didn’t trip or drop my passport. No signs for immigration no where and only maybe 2 cops the whole time. Then we drove a little further to the ferry (a little speed boat) to get out to Boca del Toro. From there I walked to a place called Casa Verde to await my next adventure volunteering with Give and Surf. I took one more boat to Bastimentos Island where I was brought to pure paradise. My home for the next 9 nights was Palmer Tent Lodge. I stayed in a dorm style canvas buildi                                      ng. 

 

My first couple days was touring around a little with a couple of the workers from the organization. The first day for volunteering was a really unique experience. I was picked up by the boat and we went to different parts of the island to pick up all the preschool aged children. The Ngobe children seem very shy at first but I few of them warmed up after a day and some only minutes. We had preschool for a couple hours each day. Then we had an hour of english class with the older kids sometimes there and sometimes and another school on the island. It’s a little harder to get full attention from the older kids but they all seemed to still learn a little english each day. It’s amazing to see the children are able to get at least some education considering they are on an island. I loved every minute that I got to spend at the schools and wish I could have stayed a way longer time to get to know each and everyone of them. Hopefully as the program builds a little more there will be more families wanting to send their younger children to preschool on a more regular basis. They also have their own language which would have been great to learn but did not seem so easy to learn.     

 

The rest of my time on the island I tried to enjoy the sun as much as possible even though rainy season was just starting. I also went to the Bat Caves one day. Getting there was part of the adventure between boating to a different part of the island, then canoeing down through the jungle with the old wooden canoe paddles. Barely any noise except nature going through the jungle. Caving is always amazing and always some what different. I have never seen so many bats in my life though. I also got to crawl up through a tiny space to see a pool of water you can jump in. One more cave down billions to see in the world yet. 

Next adventure was my snorkeling trip. I haven’t really snorkeled that much before but I loved this place. You barely even had to go out into the water to start exploring. I stayed pretty close to the shore and I can’t believe how much I saw. Underwater is like a whole new world to see. The walk back was an incredible walk on the beach and jungle. So many different birds to see and red frogs. The sunset was unbelievable. 

The last couple evenings were spent with quite a few amazing people I met once again. Some panama beers and board games was pretty much the only thing to do while it was raining. The last night we went up to a different restaurant and the baseball game was on for the Panama Series. So much fun to be watching with some of the staff. 

Next day I was at Casa Verde and met a lady from Panama. Her and I ended up being on the same flight to Panama city (decided against one more long bus ride.) I ended up at my Hostel Panamericano. It just happened to be the day a major street perfomance was going on and the hostel was part of the show. It was quite crazy there but happy I got to see some sort of a festival. That night my friend showed up unexpected and we ended up going for a nice dinner outside with a clear view of the city and water. After that the Panamanian lady swung by and we went out for some drinks with some of her friends. We even made it to a few innings of the final series of the Panama Baseball. Next day she took me to the Panama Canal and had a few beers there as we waited for the ships to come in.Later that night she took me to an amazing restaurant right by the water. It was probably the best experience I could have had in Panama city especially been shown around by such a generous local woman. Thanks if you are reading this. 

 

My trip sadly came to an end the next day. The trip never really ended until I got home though considering I met awesome people in the airport and on the plane. Even though it’s the end of this trip, it’s not the end of my journey that I’m on. There is plenty more to come especially since I’ve decided to move to BC. 

Stay tuned for the next part of my journey…..