It has been SIX months on the road!!

We have finally made it to Panama City!! It took us six months to get here from Cancun, but we did hit every country on the way down! Looking back on the past six months, it's been such great fun and we have seen and done so much! I honestly wasn't sure how I would feel after traveling for, let's say, even three months. But, I am really loving it. I think even more so then when I started. I have learned to chill a bit and not need be on the go as much as I usually am. Traveling on a budget certainly means that we are not taking expensive tours every day, but there is something else to be gained by slowing down and doing this a little differently. Being away from home and the people I love there is the hardest, but while I am still enjoying myself the road is still calling me :)

Here are some highlights that pop to mind over the last half year...

The whole country of Guatemala was amazing. It's such a beautiful country, and very cheap! I recommend anyone interested to visit there. Tikal, Semuc Champey, Lago Atitlan...ahh...

I loved seeing all the different Mayan ruins as we came south, and I have learned a lot about the Mayan culture...(even enough to question some elements of the movie Apocalpto)

Scuba diving has been completely amazing...and addicting!! It is so fun to be underwater and observe the world down there. My favorite place to dive has been in Belize, near Caye Caulker, where the water is crystal clear, making the visibility perfect. There were so many fish, and the coral reef itself was fascinating.

Having visitors!!! My mom and her friend Lyne visited us in Honduras, and our friends Gavin and Lilly visited us in Nicaragua. Huge props to them for coming to see us in these areas of the country where not many people have an interest in seeing. I know that we were the main draw, but I think they all enjoyed there visits, and in a place where they might not have normally gone to. I would not be surprised if my mom went back to the Bay Islands of Honduras, because they were just beautiful...If anyone else is interested-we would love to have you!

Boquete, Panama, was a great spot for us to hang for awhile...Since I just talked about it I won't blab any more about it.

Meeting great, fun, interesting people along the way.

Trying to learn Spanish...I am getting a little better, but is still intimidating to speak in front of Adrian, who speaks Spanish perfectly. Damn him! :) At least I get a laugh out of the silly things I end up saying by mistake, and I know am able to accept help from Adrian now instead of being annoyed...Watching the Olympics in Spanish gives me alot of new words!

There may be more, but that is what I have at the moment. Time has gone by so quickly! Time to go explore the city...

Back on the road...

So we finally managed to leave our cozy little town of Boquete. We left a little over a week ago. We first went to David, the closest city to Boquete and then onto Santa Catalina, a surfing village on the western coast. We went there on our first trip to Panama, and wanted to go back and stay a little longer this time.

Santa Catalina is a very, very small town, with not much to it except a few places to stay and some surf camps. There are two tiny little markets that run out of food towards the end of the week, one pay phone in the center, and no internet places!!! It´s definitely nice for a change to be away from everything, but I completely forgot how basic this town was. On the first day we got there, it was the end of the week, so the market shelves were wiped out. We couldn´t even by bread to make sandwiches...And because the place is so quiet, some of the few restaurants don´t open every night, or close as soon as they run out of food, which can be often. It certainly is a funny dynamic to adjust yourself to that pace and non-technology of a place. But, it´s a very quaint town that is very relaxing. We spent a day or two relaxing, reading, laying in hammocks, and going for walks. Adrian had another go at surfing as well, but this time I just cheered him on from the beach.

Last Friday we took a snorkling trip from Santa Catalina to Isla Coiba. Isla Coiba is a national park, about a 1.5 hour boat ride off the coast. It´s really interesting- they call it the poor man´s Galapagos, as the island never had any serious development on it, and it has a few species of animals that are only found on this island. Back from 1919 to 2004 the island actually served as a prison colony that was pretty brutal for its´ prisoners. Other than the few prison facilities, nothing else was ever built on the island so it remained a hotspot for birds and wildlife....

So, doesn´t it sound like an interesting place to visit? The boat ride out to the island was pretty spectacular. The coast line was mainly just rocky cliffs with a few isolated beaches sprinkled around. There were a ton of little rock islands that formed off the coast. We stopped at a spot and snorkled around, and then went on to the island. What a cool spot. I wish we had thought ahead to stay overnight there. We did a brief little hike to see some of the island. We didn´t see such spectacular wildlife on our brief walk, just tons of iguanas and some cool birds. If we had more time it would´ve been amazing to check out more of the island...If anyone is in the vicinity, you should make a point to get out there-it´s a great spot!

From Santa Catalina we came to Las Tablas, a small city on the way to our next destination. Our main idea was to come back to civilization, use computers- and I wanted to go shopping (which is a completely different/strange experience then shopping at home!). We are going to try to get to another remote island when we leave here (possibly this afternoon) called Isla Cañas. It seems like it will be an adventure to get there, so we´ll see!

Still in Boquete!

Here's my favorite little guy at the Paradise Gardens...Billy the Capuchin Monkey!!! He is only a few months old, and when we first arrived he had only been there a few days. He was so scared of people he did a lot of squeaking and running away from us. We really couldn't get near him...But, after almost one month, he is getting so brave! He now comes and sits on us and hangs out, pulls our hair and plays with us. He has learned a lot from his older monkey friend, Monty. It has been really cool to see him become healthier and less scared as we spend more time with him...

It's been very nice settling for a bit here in Boquete. It's been a month, and we will leave at the end of the week :( Volunteering at the gardens was the best move we could do while we here-we got to spend time with fun animals, and got to meet really great people! One of my favorite things about the gardens is that the people there are so nice. The owners, Jenny and Paul Saban, have created a truly homey community among the people that spend time there. When it's raining we all just sit around on the porch, drink tea, and chat (the owners are English, so our tea drinking has definetly gone up over the last month!). Since we have been on the move for the most part of the last 4-5 months, it is a different, enjoyable feeling to stop in somewhere and start to get to know people there. It will be sad to leave here, but there is more to explore of Panama...and then on to South America!

Time to stay put, for a little while.

We have decided to hang out here in Boquete, for about a month...We have been thinking that somewhere in Panama we would try to stop for a bit, and either work or volunteer somewhere. By staying in one place we will save a little money by not paying for traveling expenses every couple of days, and getting a deal on a place to stay. Plus, it's nice to unpack for a bit! We rented a little cabina right across the driveway from the cool hostel we were staying at. It is a pretty good setup for us!!

On our second or third day here we visited Paradise Gardens, and garden and wildlife refuge started by an English couple that retired here in Panama...After some time, they started taking on all sorts of rescue animals and trying to rehabilitate them. Three years later, they have a beautiful garden, bird aviaries that contain beautiful tropical birds, different monkeys and other animals. I am not doing the place justice in my inadequate description, but when we went for a visit we absolutely loved the place. We stopped back to ask if they could use our help, and we are now volunteers there!!! It is so fun!! We go there in the afternoons and give people tours and tell them about the animals, or do various other things to help out around the place...The other day I sawed down an orange tree (a first for me!) and put the branches in the animal cages for them to play with. We get to play with all the animals, and start to try to hand feed some of the rescued babies. What is so cool about this place is that it is just run on donations, and the retirement pension of the couple that started it! I think it will be a fun way to spend some time here, hanging out with animals and trying to learn all the plants that they have. Here is a picture of me with Precious, a Hyacinth Macaw. I have never seen a bird like this before, she is absolutely beautiful!

Country number 8!

We are back in Panama! Last week we visited Bocas del Toro, a town on an island called Isle de Colon, on the North Eastern coast, just below Costa Rica. It is the same spot where we spent New Years' 06-07. It was nice to revisit a place that was slightly familiar. Being on the road and seeing so many new things is really great, but it is a nice to change to have a little sense of knowledge of the place. I think I have forgotten that reassuring little aspect of familiarity! It was cool to go back there and remember that the white truck at the end of the road has a guy who makes the most delicious sandwiches in the town...We went several nights for dinner there, and told as many people we could about his yummy sandwiches- They all agreed. I think the sandwiches were still even the same price:)

I thought it would be boring to go back there, but we ended up staying for a week!! We had a blast and weren't bored at all. We went to the beach, we did a cool dive, and we even attempted more surfing (it didn't go so well this time, as we forgot the board wax and couldn't stay on the board because it was too slippery!). We stayed in a relatively new hostel, and we met some great people that we hung out with for the week. Bocas is a big party town, and it is extremely hot AND buggy. Not a fun combination. It was the strangest thing, we decided that around 7pm was the hottest time of the day...It was very weird, you felt ok, finally cooling off from the scorching daytime heat and then in the evening you started sweating all over again! So, the combination of staying up late, not sleeping due to the heat, and being eaten alive- Bocas kinda wiped us out...

Which leads us to where we are now. We are in the highlands, in a town called Boquete. There is supposed to be some good hikes and some hot springs here. For today, we are doing nothing...Relaxing and catching up on sleep, as well as enjoying the cooler mountain temperature! We are finally not sweating!!! And my bug bites are subsiding...

There is a serious need for editing down here...

Do you see anything wrong with this sign?
It doesn't make any sense!!! It was a sign that was in our hotel, encouraging visitors to book any excursions with them because they would allow a full refund if you would like to cancel due to rain, unlike other tour operators in town. A very good thing to have, as it really pours here during the rainy season!

Adrian and I have a great idea for a new business...Contracting Sign Editors for businesses all over Central America. We've been seeing signs, all over the place, written in English for benefit of the non*Spanish speaking visitors. This is a very good idea, obviously, but noone seems to execute it very well. The translations turn out very bad, and often don't make much sense. If you were a business owner and had the good idea to make your signs in English, shouldn't you go to a little bit of trouble to find a native English speaker to give it a once over?! I'm not trying to make fun, as I myself am trying to get by in a country who's language I don't speak very well...But we do find it funny that noone takes that extra little step to make sure the signs make sense...Or that there are no spelling errors. Just a thought!

Costa Rica!

So we have made it to Costa Rica...Like I mentioned before, the rainy season is upon us, but it´s really not too bad. It rains for a bit in the afternoon, or just at night. For us it just means that we now bring our rain jackets with us all the time, and try to plan it so we are not stuck in a downpour with all our belongings on our backs.

After the tropical storm passed in Nicaragua, the next day was absolutely beautiful. So, of course we headed to the beach and took surfing lessons! It was great! I was able to stand up after a few tries, and by the end of the afternoon I could stand on almost every try. Granted, I still had help from the instructor turning the board around and getting into the wave at the right time. Next time I try I´m sure it will be so much harder, as you have to do so much crazy paddling! But it was fun, and we will definetly do some more. I wish Christen were there to learn with me!

Anyways, back to Costa Rica...We just spent the last three days driving up and down the Western coast of the Nicoya peninsula. We beach hopped and drove between all these hard-to-get-towns. We rented a car because it was easier than using the bus for where we wanted to go. I know, renting a car-so luxurious!!! It worked out well, though. We went to Tamarindo and Samara as our two major stops, and checked out most of the beaches in between. The beaches near Samara were pretty nice, and you could find yourself all alone on a beach. Very nice...We just headed back inland and into the mountains, we are on our way to Volcan Arenal and then Monteverde Cloud forest.