May 8, 2011
We haven't written in while because we are running out of time and are trying to pack in a lot of stuff! But I will try to start where i left off...
We booked the overnight bus to Panama City as it was an 18 hour ride. We left SJ at 11pm and got woken up at 4am to get off the bus and stand in line at the immigration office. The office however didn't open until 6am. Two hours of sitting on the ground half asleep for no reason. They wouldn't let us back on the bus. Finally the office opened at 6:30am!! One little stupid stamp and off we went to another line!! 9:00am and we were finally through the border. 5 hours of stupid lists and calling our names and not even once looking through our bags. To get into Panama you are supposed to have a ticket out of the country. We lacked that of course because we are taking a boat out of the country. We told the officer that and he shrugged and stamped away. I think because it says Canada on the front of my passport he didn't really think i was going to try to live in panama illegally.
We arrived in Panama City around 3pm and took a taxi to a hostel called Luna's Castle. This place is amazing. It is a converted colonial mansion. There are rooms tucked away in every corner and art covers the walls everywhere. There is even a theatre room with makeshift movie couches going up to the ceiling. We watched a few movies in there and had a grand time. We met lots of other Canadians here. One being an army med student from Toronto who never seems to be sober. The first morning we saw him he was chowing down on a stack of pancakes (pancakes being free at our hostel). He unfortunately went to a strip club the night before and being quite drunk let a Colombian stripper sit on his lap. She pick pocketed him and left him broke. He managed to still have his passport but all of his cards and cash were now gone. There is even a warning sign at the hostel stating in bold letters "If the girl flirting with you is too good looking to be talking to you she is probably Colombian and on the clock!"
We spent about 4 days around PC exploring the old town or Casco Viejo it is called. It is falling apart in some areas. The ruins of old buildings mixed with bold colours and liveliness of the people is amazing to look at and take pictures of. The presidential palace and the national theatre are both in this area. We went out for pizza the first night we were there and ended up in the "Red Zone" or the zone where whiteys are not accepted readily. We had no clue and no body bothered us at all.
We booked a sailing trip to Cartagena, Colombia on a catamaran called Buon Vento or Good Wind in Italian. The captain was this greasy old salty italian fella whose English was less than great. He sold us with the italian chef on board and promises of pristine islands and what not. $450 each it was a bit steep but only 100 more than a flight so we signed up! While we were signing up we met 5 of the other passengers. The captain was really insisting on us having our passports in Puerto Lindo the next day but we still had some sights to see in PC. He suggested that we find this fellow named Mor who was also staying at the hostel and give him our money and our passports. We figured he must be a crew member but when we met him the next morning he stated that he was just another passenger and was wondering why the hell the captain was telling him to come two days early and to carry that much money and two Canadian passports of people he didn't even know. Mor is from Israel and worked in security and said "ahh Canadian passports? they are worth a lot of money you know." he seemed nice enough. hahah. we being the trusting canadians gave him our passports but no money.
While in Panama City is an apparent must that you have to visit the Panama Canal. We teemed up with our shipmates Dave, Sarah and Sarah from England and went on our merry way. Dave being fluent in spanish after having a spanish girlfriend for three years navigated our journey. First thing however we needed to stop at the mall for a rain coat and a Panama hat. Chicken busing it around the city for 25cents a ride is the way to go! We arrived at the Miraflores Locks. We paid $5 to go up to the observation deck and watch as some big ships were heading through. Super interesting but mostly the kind of thing our Dad's would appreciate we all thought. After hiding in a bus shelter for an hour from the downpour the bus finally showed up and off we went home.
To get to our launch point for the sailing trip we had to get to a tiny town called Puerto Lindo. Its so tiny its not even on any maps. We took a taxi and two buses. On the last bus (chicken in type) we had to squeeze ourselves and our bags into the back. Finding there a lad from saskatchewan. Odd place to find a saskatchewanee but there he was and he and chad chatted it up for the hour or so ride where we were squashed in. The naked baby in front of me was blowing snot bubbles out of her nose and her umbilical hernia was bulging out like a belly wiener. She was adorable.
We got dropped off at our hostel called Wunderbar. Owned by a German couple who have a little daughter with a crazy mullet haircut and a rather rough way with the animals. She has many pets but her favourite and the brunt of most of her tough love was a baby sloth named Lazy. He was adorable and clung to a teddy bear most of the time or hung out upside down in a tree in the yard. We got to hold him and feed him mango. There were also two little green birds that she would grab and stick on her shirt and then wheel around in her power wheels and yell "beep beep!" before she ran over your toes. We went on a walk to town to obtain provisions for the boat. Provisions being booze...and lots of it.
Next morning we met Eduardo and Nicky the Italians who run Buon Vento. We boarded the boat and were shown to our cabin with even our own bathroom. The others however were not as lucky. There were four bedrooms and one small berth at the front of the boat. Eduardo totally overbooked the trip and crammed three people per bed for the people who were not couples. He even put Mor the Israeli guy in with two girls from France and Switzerland. We were lucky and so were the Irish couple because we got our own rooms. Nicky and Eduardo slept in the kitchen.
The first day we sailed for 6 hours until we came to the San Blas Islands. It was a bit rough and almost everybody was sea sick. Chad and I were lucky that time. We anchored right beside a village of the Kuna people who literally live in shacks made of sticks, yet they wear western clothing and really like coca-cola. They paddled across in their ramshackle old canoe came aboard the ship after we had dinner and brought some of their items for sale. For an added commercial effect they had to of course bring their little two year old to charm us into forking over some cash. American cash at that. I bought two purses for my nieces and lots of the other girls bought ankle bracelets that they have to put on you in a certain way by wrapping it around and tying each stand so that it makes a pattern. Some of the boys swam to shore and went about collecting and breaking open coconuts. The Kuna however were not so happy with this as this is the only thing that grows on the island so they would rather that you bought one from them for a dollar and they will break it open for you.
Next morning we had some breakfast and after a quick swim we motored a ways out and the captain let us all get out and snorkel. In this area there was a wreck and it looked rather recent. It must have hit the reef and then sunk because it was hanging on the side of the corral wall. Saw lots of cool fish. After only another hours sail we were at our next stop. This stop was in front of an amazing little beach with a corral reef just to the left of us. It was absolute perfection. The water was crystal clear and full of fish. I even saw pairs of squid changing colours as I got closer. We spent hours snorkeling and usually I get cold eventually and have to get out of the water but the water was so warm that I didn't even feel like I was in the water. Our chef Nicky was out today too with his spear gun. He trapped two huge lobsters and a big crab, our dinner for that night. Once again eating illegally fished lobster! No one seems to care that they are disappearing as fast as we are eating them. Esther from Switzerland mentioned this but it was to deaf ears. You can never waste a lobster so we made sure every last piece if meat was gone. The food on this trip was great but the portion sizes lacked and Chad was starving the whole time!
That night we took the dinghy to the island and made a huge fire on the beach. The Irish couple brought out their drum and best singing voices and we practiced our hippy skills: hoolah hooping and rope and ball swinging. Super fun. We got to swim back to the boat in the dark! The glowing plankton was so beautiful as it lit up around your moving hands and feet. Next morning I woke up and we were in a whole new spot! This was were we were guaranteed to see rays and sharks. The captain took us on the dinghy to the starting point up current a ways. There was a huge piece of pipeline actually stuck in the corral and the sharks like to hide behind it. He let us out in some very shallow water and said to just let the current take you back to the boat. So off we float. Within about 5 minutes I saw my first shark ever! It was a relatively small nurse shark but so unreal to see. They have big fins and these little whiskers on their snouts. I got one blurry picture. Chad had fins on so he could stay close to where the sharks were without getting pushed by the current. He saw 3 sharks, nurse and reef. One he said was about 6 feet long. As we drifted further down we saw tons of rays nestled in the sand. One got spooked and shook off its sand and sped away. The english sarah's had to share a snorkel which was bull shit and blonde sarah almost put her foot down on the ray's tail because she couldn't see that it was below her. Once we got back to the boat it was time for brunch and then to ready ourselves for 30 hours for the open sea crossing.
The crossing itself was uneventful until we were joined by probably about 6 dolphins! They stayed at the front of the boat and dove in and out of the water taking a look at us. They stayed with us for a good 10 minutes or so. It actually helped some of our seasickness to have something to focus on other than how miserable it is to be sick. Brown haired english sarah was the sickest and yacked off the side of the boat a few times. The rest of us were a little green around the gills as well. Not Chad though....show off! I spent most of the time in my cabin sleeping and listening to music. Reading or writing or anything that involved using your eyes was impossible. Usually the crossing takes two days but the captain was eager to get there so he had sails and motor on the whole time which usually doesn't happen. We heard of one boat whose engine broke on the crossing and because the winds are blowing right into us they had to tack the whole way. It took them 10 days!! I couldn't imagine. I would die!!
Once we arrived in Cartagena the captain took us to his friend's restaurant for pizza and told us how to obtain cocaine easily and safely while in Colombia! yeesh!
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