Panama!

First Caribbean impressions in Bocas del Toro, Panama! It is beatiful! Bocas is an archipelago on the western end of Panama, close to the boarder to Costa Rica. Beatiful beaches, a great diving destination, good surf when the saison is right and a nice place to learn a proper backflip.

Postcarad-Caribbean at Redfrog Beach on Isla de Bastimentos!

The swell season usually starts in december and so we were lucky to get some waves. We surfed at Caraneros, a spot with a lot of Indonesia-atmosphere! A boat takes you to the reefbreak, crystal clear water which results in nice see-through waves and a good view on the reef only a couple of feet below...

No worries, just a dolphin!

In contrary to the photos above it also rained a lot in Bocas. A good game of leaf-poker can bring you through a rainy afternoon and maybe the whole night. Leaf = 50, toiletpaper balls = 100, 5 dollars buy-in, let´s roll!

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Panama City! The Miami of Central America. 

Of course we visited the locks of Miraflores at the Panama Canal and got to see a couple of huge ships. 

77km long and constructed between 1904 and 1914 the Panama Canal replaces a long route around Cape Horn. It´s considered one of the most difficult engineerng projects ever, the French had to give up their attempt started in 1880 and in total around 30.000 workers died during construction. The passing of the canal costs up to 300.000$

The skyline of Panama City. It´s raining a lot and we´re waiting for a boat to Colombia. Unfortunately there´s a storm in the Caribbean, telephone lines are down, roads are blocked and no one knows when boats are leaving.

Casco Viejo with a touch of modern art...*

*this comment was contributed by Laura Soizig Langlois

The Museum of Contemporary Arts.

This is not the cleaning girl, it´s still the Museum of Contemporary Arts.

One night on the Partybus! 15dollars for entry, free alcoholic drinks. It was devastating...

Hey fellows!

Stuck in Panama. Worse things can happen in life. While I´m finishing this blog I have already reached Colombia and it has been quite an adventure to get here. More about camping on deserted islands in my next entry! Cheers!

Costa Rica!

Bienvenido Costa Rica! After a grand time on Isla de Ometepe we left Nicaragua and proceeded to the Peninsula of Nicoya in Costa Rica in search of more good times and good surf!

Probably one of the most beatiful sceneries on my trip I witnessed on the ferryride from Puntarenas to Paquera. The sun was setting and we just came in time for the last ferry of the day. Beforehand Tino had forgotten his guitar on the public bus and had to chase it down with a taxi, an obscure moment that resolved smoothely thanks to his emedeate reaction. Got the guitar back, made it to the ferry, everything good. So as Sarah, Dave Tino and I sat there on the upper deck of the ferry, watching the sun go down over the peninsula, turning the beautifully calm sea into a gigantic mirror we saw a group of dolphins jump out of the water in the distance. A pure moment of live, no longings, no thoughts, just watching, enjoying that present moment, what better can it get?



We made it to an Israeli-owned hostal in Santa Teresa that same night and got some sick waves the next day and throughout the week! I can tell you the surf in Santa Teresa was awesome! Our timing was good as always, the week before it had been raining hard, causing landslides and blocking roads. When we arrived it was already over and everythang had been cleaned up. Besides people told us there haven't been any proper waves in ages. Oh well... Thank you Sarah for taking this picture on a peculiarly good day! Nothing beets the feeling of the moment, but good memories  always put a smile on your face!



We stayed in that hostal for a couple of days and then finally fulfilled our wish of moving into a proper house. This is Magnus  from Sweden, enjoying the hammock on the first floor! Once lying in the most popular spot of the house, you won't give it up too quick...



Since Costa Rica is kind of expensive we did a lot of cooking ourselves. We reached the zenith that one night when Tino and I prepared the famouse traditional dish called SPATZLN! Don't worry, we didn't make them in the wok, that's just the onions...



A good meal with good friends! Sarah and Dave from Canada, Magnus from Sweden and Tom from New Zealand.

Near the village of Montezuma you can find some nice waterfalls, definately worth a daytrip!

Watching a waterfall get's boring after a couple of minutes, so we got creative...

It was actually kind of high!

After almost two weeks we left Santa Teresa and headed twoards Panama. On our way we stopped by a place called Monteverde. It's up in the mountains of Costa Rica on about 1400m sea level and you can still see the Golf of Nicoya from there. It's well known for  ziplining and night-tours in the jungle. You can see a zipline here, the end of the cable is on top of the hill on the other side of the valley. Link on to the cable and enjoy the 'flight'!

The tour is as touristy as it ever get's but nevertheless a lot of fun!

Nothing to add...



After the thrill of ziplining we did the nighthike, which promises sights of the many residents of the jungle. Armadillos, Raccoons, Owls, a big variety of insects and the infamous Sloth presented itself to our flashlight beams!



The sight of the Tarantula made my day! From time to time you see some big spiders in Central America, I definately prefer seeing them in their natural enviroment over encountering a Tarantula on the toilet wall...

So that was Costa Rica! I never planned to stay as long due to it's reputation of beeing americanized and expensive. Depending where you go, Costa can be a touristy place but Santa Teresa is pretty much off the shot and having good friends makes kind of every spot a good place to hang out! Next stop will be Bocas del Toro in Panama. The swellforecast predicts some waves in the Carribean, so we're going for it!