Debbie
08/03/2009, Bocas del Toro, Panama

I've been waiting for months for my good friend, Kristel, to come visit us on the boat here in Panama. The past few years, we've celebrated our birthdays together because mine is August 5th and hers is August 12th. She said that just because I'm in Central American wouldn't stop our tradition. I had just made the trip to the States and back and if you've read my previous blog, you know that I had issues with the actual travel and was very concerned about her making the trip by herself. Anyway, she assured me that she was going to be fine and would actually be traveling with an acquaintance, Nan, that just happened to be traveling this way. It was such a relief and, gullable me, I believed every word. So, the day came to meet her bus in Changuinola, Panama. Bryan and I were there 4 hours early and anxiously waiting. The bus pulled up, she got off, and there were lots of hugs and kisses and big smiles. We tried to hussle her off to grab some food and drinks but she insisted that we meet Nan because "she's a really nice lady." So we're waiting for Nan to exit the bus and out comes our son, Ben. Kristel had orchestrated the whole birthday surprise, had harrassed him daily to get his passport, and told a few fibs to keep it all a secret from us. Well,..... then I really put on a show for the locals there at the bus stop by screaming, laughing, sobbing, dancing around, etc. Everyone on the street was watching and smiling. Panamanians are very family oriented and they were all enjoying our wonderful surprise. What a good friend I have in Kristel......

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Debbie
07/21/2009, Columbia, Missouri

Its been a while since I updated my blogs. I took a trip back to the States to visit my dad, brother, and his family for 2 weeks. I was having too much fun, did too much shopping, and took too many long soaky baths to write any blogs while there. About 2 months before I left for the States, Bryan started his online shopping for boat stuff. When I arrived there, I had about 17 packages waiting for me. Needless to say, my little duffle bags weren't large enough. My brother gave me a really large duffle bag with wheels, a backpack, and I bought a second big duffle on wheels. My visit was absolutely wonderful.

As my family and I were all afraid of, the heavy baggage was a little too much for me. The first bag was 65.5 lbs and the second was only 48 lbs so I only had to pay $75 instead of $125 for bags. Dragging them around wasn't too bad in the St. Louis airport cause I had a cart.

Once I got to San Jose, Costa Rica, I almost couldn't get out of Customs. It wasn't the weight but the total cost of the stuff Bryan bought for the boat was over $500 (actually about $1500) and they were going to hold the baggage until the next day when I could pay Costa Rican taxes or something when the office opened at 8am. That would mean that I would miss my 9am bus to Panama. I went into my pitiful and panicked mode and finally some guy that could speak some English told me that "if I helped out the Custom's guy then he would help me out." I asked how much would he suggest and he said I'd have to negotiate that with the Custom's guy. So I put one $20 in one pocket, one $20 in the other pocket, and my last $20 bill (Some smaller bills were totally hidden away.) in my purse and headed to the Custom's guy. I tried to hand him one $20 and he waved me to hide it under the paperwork then said 'More'. That's probably the only English word that he knew but he said very clearly. I pulled out another $20 and gave him a shrug like that was all I had. He gave me a look and started scrounging in my luggage and waved me on. Whewwwww!!

I got the bags to the curb then paid the shuttle guy $2 to carry my bags to the shuttle and then gave the hostel guy $2 to carry them to my second floor room. Yesterday morning I dragged them both down the stairs to the lobby and paid another hostel guy $2 to drag them out to the curb and get a taxi. Then I paid the taxi guy an extra $2 to drag it to the curb by the bus stop. The taxi guy pointed to his eyes then pointed to my luggage warning me to watch them carefully. I did for the next hour waiting for the bus. The bus came and I pulled them closer to the storage bins below the bus and the driver loaded my 2 big bags. I reached down for the backpack (which Bill has just given me and which I should have had on my back, I know) and it was gone. I looked up and saw a guy walking down the sidewalk with 2 backpacks, yelled at him, and took off running. As we rounded the corner he ducked into a restaurant where some other guy blocked my path. Next I know the backpack guy walks out with only a third and different backpack on. There were all these men just standing and sitting around looking at me so I gave up and knew to get out of there. It was a lost cause. So, my camera, the copies of my boat documentation that I needed to get over the border, all my Lasik information, my red spiral notebook that Bill gave me with ALL my notes that I'd been writing for 2 weeks, my new Unabridged Spanish/English dictionary, 4 other new books, my birthday cards from Bill and Chris, the letter and motorcycle license that I had for my friend Susie, all the snacks that I'd bought for the trip, and odds and ends were gone. I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream and curse. Instead I just went back to the bus and got on and started worrying about how I was going to get through the border.

I had about 5 hours to fret because the roads were really bad. There were entire chunks of concrete missing for about 50 feet here and there and just gravel and pot holes that slowed us down. Then we had to wait about 20 minutes because there had been a landslide/mudslide from the mountain, that must have happened the day before, onto the road and while they were clearing it there was only 1 lane passable when they would let you pass. We stayed on the bus but most people from other cars and trucks were out walking around the road.

The border wasn't quite as bad as I thought. I pictured me sitting on the ground at the border for a few days until Bryan or someone came looking for me. I pictured muggings and dying. I was really, really lucky however. There were arguments between the officials about what my Maritimo Permit was and what I needed to do. Finally a lady official introduced herself and explained the Maritimo Permit to them and said that I just needed to pay $5 (which I paid for in US quarters, nickles and dimes and a 1000 colon from Costa Rica) for a Tourist Card and everyone was happy. In fact I ended up being one of the first people to get back on the bus because everyone else was still being hassled.

We finally made it to Changuinola about 5pm Panama time (4pm Costa Rica time). Bryan had been waiting since noon. I told him I felt like falling to the ground and kissing the sidewalk. I was really glad to see him so I kissed him instead. We grabbed a van taxi with some other folks that took us right to the water taxi for $2 each (35 minute ride). We even gave the kids $2 that grabbed my bags out of the van taxi and hauled them to the water taxi.

Sooooooooo,,,,, I'm sure glad I knew to have a lot of $1 bills stashed away from previous trips. Bryan dropped me off at the marina and I ordered chicken fried chicken and several drinks while he took my bags to the boat. Since I wasn't sure what my day would involve after my backpack was stolen, I was afraid to spend much money on food so all I'd had was a Snickers bar for breakfast and a half bag of corn chips for lunch. Boy, did I enjoy that chicken fried chicken!!!

Well, I told Bryan 'never again'. I'm too old, too heavy, and too tired to handle that much luggage by myself. So check out the holes on this bridge. Its the one that you have to walk across at the border between Costa Rica and Panama and then get back on the bus.

Hopefully this looooonnnng blog makes up for my dry spell. :)

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Debbie
06/19/2009, Bocas del Toro

In previous countries, I've discussed the money and exchange rates. The country of Panama does not print their own paper money only coins. Therefore, they use the America bills and American coins and Panamanian coins. It sure makes it easy. Most folks speak Spanish and English so that's nice too. Bryan and I are still working on our Spanish anyway.

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Debbie
06/18/2009, Darkland

This is the local school bus here in Darkland. These folks came out of the jungle each morning, came by our boat really slow and keeping very close eyes on us (cause we're pretty scary folks, you know), then back to the jungle.

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Debbie
06/17/2009, Tierra Oscura

Darkland wasn't totally dark. There was one house that had a generator and was well lit. There were a few very faint lantern-type lights here and there. But, it was definitely dark enough that you could see stars clear down to the horizon and one night the phosphorescence was amazing. We've had some awesome nights off and on during our voyages so far but this was totally cool. Even with the few house lights, it was a different kind of dark than we're used to and the water kept sparkling with phosphorescence almost like the twinkling lights on a Christmas tree. While there, we had another young visitor. His name was Keneli and he was 14 years old. He was also out fishing in his own dug-out log canoe. I think this type canoe is called a 'Cayuga'. Through our awkward conversation, we ascertained that he had a mother, father, brother, AND a 14 year-old wife. Unfortunately, I think I embarrassed him because my mouth dropped open and I asked 'No ninas o ninos, si?' He grinned, ducked his head, and answered that he did not have any children. We visited a while, gave him some cookies and school supplies even though he said that he doesn't go to school anymore, and then he headed off to continue fishing.

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Debbie
06/16/2009, Dolphin Bay

Just wanted to add this photo of the dead abispos on our side deck each morning. I also forgot to mention that we are hearing the Howler monkeys each evening and early morning off in the jungle. Haven't seen any but they sound a whole lot like Tim Allen/Tim Taylor in 'Home Improvement' when he does the macho grunt noises. Its pretty funny hearing them calling back and forth to each other.

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