OK, so this post is going to be quite random, covering the stuff I did in the last few days! First of all, hello from Costa Rica! Yes, I did manage to leave Panama behind me though it was hard ;)

Here´s a story about “lucky losers” - So I´ve made an effort to climb Volcan Baru (3478m), however this time Mother Nature was not in our favour as much as she was before. We climbed up at night (for those that dont´t know, over here 8pm equals pitch black ;)) hoping we could see the sunrise and as such, Panama´s both neighbouring seas. This might sound stupid but given the climate over in Boquete at this time of year it does make more sense, trust me :) However, it started to rain during the walk up and this didn´t stop until 11 the next morning - great! Well, camping in a small tent was fun but this caused us not to be able to get to the summit! However, the spot we camped in was quite a pretty one so we did get some good views (2600m altitude and enough sheep to provide snacks for a small town). Later on it turned out that the summit had been covered in clouds all day, meaning we were the only ones that did see something. Thank you once again Mother Nature! ;)

Next day consisted of some relaxing and reconnecting with some friends from Bocas (hello Bernadette, Nadine, Karen, Annelieke, Mathilde, Ins :)) and a fun visit to hot springs, in dry weather this time ;) Also visited a school - thanks to which I´m now sure I´ll never have kids - and a wildlife refuge (for those of you that didn´t know - this is NOT the same as a zoo ;)) After this random stuff I decided to go to Costa Rica to visit some friends there… si Lucia, vengo mañana! Te llamo en una hora! ;) As I´m sort of in transit to San Jose / Poas, I decided to crash down in a place that is more or less on the road - and why not pick a pretty one like Golfito! Warm regards from the Pacific side!

Speak soon again!!

-Rene

Update 02-Oct: Photos now available!

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Volcan Baru - grrr....

We meet again!

Pozos Caldera - in good weather!

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The downside about being in the same archipelago for 4 straight weeks is the fact that you don’t really get to write about a great variety of topics, other than the stuff you’ve already read below. However, as variety is the spice of life (and website traffic) and I don’t mean to slap you in the face with white-sand beaches, palm trees, blue waters and fun pics time and again I decided to take pictures of a few tours around the archipelago. Just because… and due to the fact that you actually do need a boat and a little jungle-wedging before getting to the nicest places around here.

Besides the stuff you’ve already come across on this website, Spanish classes are going well and I do seem to be getting up to a level where I can actually make myself understood (thanks Karen, Veronica, Aicel, Adrian!), though not good enough to annoy you with any Spanish posts down here :)

Further on life seems to be getting on quite easily - days merely exist of Spanish classes, the beach, day trips through jungles and stuff, sailing, and so forth. Kayaking was particularly fun too, especially when we got flipped over in high waves :) Also getting flushed away by a tidal wave is quite interesting (hey… I was sleeping!) as well as offroad bicycle rides through 3 km of mud puddles in order to get to a more secluded beach! Also had some dancing classes from someone from Costa Rica (muchas gracias Lucia!!) and it seems like my list of addictions is still growing!

Again, I will update this post with pics - yes, got a new camera! - later on as this doesn’t seem to work at present (surprise, surprise…) so be sure to return!

Hasta luego!

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Blablabla new pics blablabla lots of sand, beach, palm trees, friends, fun in the sun, blablabla … anyway, have a look!

Ciao!!

PS: I´m sorry for not using a new plugin for photos yet, will try again later!

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I must admit I do appreciate the fact people seem to return to this site, despite the fact not a lot is happening down here ;) Most of this is due to the elements (aka internet connections, electricity and computers built in 1985) not acting in my favour but I hope things have changed for the better now. Unfortunately I cannot post any pics right now but I’ll make sure to do this tomorrow (as in… mañana ;))

So here’s yet another summary of what I’ve been up to lately. Simply put, the last 2 weeks consisted of a few long trips (bus, plane, walk, bus, walk and again bus), swimming, surfing, sailing, beaches and learning a bit of Spanish. You might think this is quite a low level of variety but I can tell you it’s far from anything unbearable :)

So after leaving Colombia - and going through a one hour drug-check at the airport in Barranquilla while establishing a good friendship with the airport security personnel - I decided to go to Santa Catalina (South of Panama, 14 hours traveling) to check out my surfing capabilities and discovered I have yet another item to add to my list of addictions. My instructor took some pics of my first sessions but she hasn’t sent them over yet (no bs!!). In light of transparency it would be nice to post them, but I really have my doubts on whether I should once I receive them ;)

After Santa Catalina I had to make another 13-hour trip to Bocas del Toro (Isla Colon) to attend Spanish classes the next day. This Spanish course will last for four weeks on end so I’ll have plenty of time to post more pics of this place and it’s lovely surroundings (once again, elements…). As most of you probably know, the place is full of great beaches and I must say nightlife is not that bad either! Of course there’s more to do, so after finishing classes in the morning, activities also exist of snorkeling (no diving - still have to get my ears set straight!), walking some small jungle trails, boat trips and doing pretty much everything for which not a lot of effort is required :) The downside to all this is the fact that at the moment waves are as high as the beach chairs (I wanna surf!!) and there’s a severe water shortage which has caused people to be creative with whatever kind of supplies they’ve got. You read it right, Mommy’s little boy is going hardcore!

Last but not least; my camera has unfortunately not been able to bear my hardcore ways of traveling and therefore decided to call it quits :( Once again, the problem is being worked on and this time I didn’t lose any pictures.

Have fun watching… and smell you later!!

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Hello Folks!

Yes, I know it´s been a while since I last wrote something… I am equally aware of the fact I did not fulfill my promise of uploading some pics! :) Anyway, time for a short summary on what I´ve been up to in the last ten days: I´m having a blast! FYI; if you´d like to know any details on whereabouts and / or historical details, I suggest you look either here or here.

On the 9th I went from Panama City to Portobelo to get on a ship, sailing from there to Cartagena, Colombia via the San Blas Islands. First new experience to me was the fact that I got seasick on the first night (yay……) but fortunately recovered the day after! Next 2 days were spent in the San Blas archipelago, which is really a wonderful place to be. See the pics for more details, words cannot explain here. After this 2-day ´stop´ the plan was to sail on to Cartagena in 2 days, if it wasn´t for the engine which decided to go on strike in the middle of the trip…. which meant an additional day and a half in the open sea! No worries though, we still had a good time and there were plenty of dolphins around to keep us company!

Upon arrival in Cartagena, I´ve pretty much done all the tourist stuff and it struck me this is really a great place to be. There´s plenty of things to see and do in and around the city (check out those mud volcano pics!) and its whole vibe made me change my travel plans; instead of 2-3 days, I am now having my 6th day in Colombia - I love this place! After Cartagena I decided to travel to a town called Taganga (direction North East), from where I made my first dive trip yesterday. Unfortunately I ended up having to use some eardrops but the diving was still fun ;) The plan is to fly back to Panama City (please, no more boats for the time being ;)) on the 22nd or 23rd, ensuring I´ll still make it to my Spanish classes which start on the 26th. Never thought I´d be running into a tight schedule on this trip but here we go…

Anyway, as a picture is still worth a thousand words, have a look at a short summary of my trip below, including the following: Panama City´s Casco Viejo Area, the Miraflores Locks (Panama Canal), Isla Taboga,  San Blas, Cartagena, the Mud Volcano and some creepy fortress.

Till next time!

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Hey everyone, as things have been rather silent from my end during the last few days I decided to just put up a quick note here. All is going well, been doing a lot of stuff - just didn’t surf yet but as for the rest I seem to be executing my plans quite well… and I do reckon fulfilling a plan is probably a once-in-a-life-time experience for me :)

Also have just had very little time and opportunity to use the internet and as such update this site. Damage control for the pics has been done, I got most of them back and now just need to upload them so just be prepared to get really jealous in the next 24 hours ;)

As for everyone that sent me an e-mail - thank you so much! :) Yes, I do read them but just haven’t found the time to reply yet. No worries, I’ll be doing that shortly!

Just keep reading / posting as I might tend to get too lazy to do that myself ;) Have a warm, fuzzy day!

-René

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