San Blas Islands, Panama

July 27-29

San Blas is a group of islands scattered off the Caribbean coast of Panama, and it is truly paradise. There are 365 islands, most of them uninhabited. The are owned by the Kuna people; natives of Panama. Most of the islands are tiny, covered in beautiful white sand and palm trees.

I booked onto a 3 day tour with Louise, who I had met back in Nicaragua. To get there, we left Panama City at an ungodly hour and rode a few hours in a bus (along an incredibly poorly built road) followed by a boat out to Isla Aroma, where we would be sleeping. We stayed on this island each night but did day trips to a few different islands each day.

On the first day we quickly settled into Isla Aroma before we headed to snorkel a shipwreck on another island. Unfortunately this was on a Sunday, and while this means absolutely nothing to a backpacker, it means that all the locals are off work and visiting the islands. There were SO many people. 

Our guide had told us not to touch or stand on the shipwreck because it destroys the sea life but of course all the local tourists don't care... It was a bit sad to see them trampling all over it.

The island was stunning...as they all are! We spent a bit of time snorkelling the shipwreck. I was amazed to see how much coral was growing on it and how many fish there were in there! Some beautifully colourful ones.

We zipped over to another island, where there was a restaurant over the water. They had a little rock pool full of turtles and lobsters for us to gaze at while we had our lunch. 

After lunch we relaxed on the picture-perfect beach! 

Eventually, late in the afternoon we returned to Isla Aroma and napped in the sun, recovering from our early morning and jam-packed day. Over dinner and a few relaxed drinks we learned a bit about the Kuna culture, including some history, language and a few interesting marriage rituals!

Day two we went over to Isla Perro Grande, yet another gorgeous island. When I went out snorkelling I saw lots of jellyfish! Delicious fresh-caught fish filled me up for lunch.

Later in the afternoon we set off for Pescina Estrella; a sunken island in the middle of the ocean filled with starfish and other interesting little creatures.

On the way back to Isla Aroma we went past Isla Pelicana, commonly know as 'the Microsoft island' because a snapshot from this stunning little spot is used as a Windows background/screensaver. 

The last day of our San Blas adventure involved...you guessed it, a beautiful little island! We were treated to an absolute feast for lunch. A nice way to end our San Blas adventure.

I spent one more day lazing around in Panama City (my very last stop in Central America!) before flying to Peru.

The journey through Central: Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica & Panama

Panama City, Panama

July 24-26

Panama City is by far the best capital city I've been to in Central America. It almost felt as if we'd stepped into another world when we arrived. There were skyscrapers, perfect roads, clean streets, huge shopping centres. Completely different from the other (rather dingey) cities I've been to thus far. 

It was a looooong journey to Panama City so we didn't get in until well after dark. Within minutes of arriving at our hostel we ran into various people we'd already met along the way, and shared a few drinks over happy hour. 

The next morning a few of us set off to check out the Panama Canal. I found this really fascinating! It was created as a way for ships to get between the Pacific and Carribean oceans. The French started building it, but after 23 years too many of their workers were dying from disease and injury... So the Americans came in and took over. By 1914 it was complete and the Americans had full control over it up until 1999, when Panama finally took over. At the Miraflores Locks there is a 26m difference in the water levels - so the locks are used to assist the boats in going up/down as they go through. We saw one cargo ship go all the way through, taking about 45 minutes. Apparently it costs the big ships up to $400,000 to go through! And an 8-10 hour journey from one ocean to the other. Still, better than going all the way down under South America!

We roamed around the Casca Viejo area in the afternoon, which is an incredibly mixed little spot. There are super fancy buildings as well as apartments that are falling to bits. 

Many of the streets are covered in colourful street art. We wandered down Central Ave and found barely in tourists in sight; just cheap shops and delicious local food.

Just before sunset a group of us went up to Trump Tower, where there is an infinity pool on the 66th floor with a fantastic view of the city. 

We had one very expensive drink, hopped in the pool and enjoyed the view. 

As it was my final night traveling with Aaron we had one last happy hour drink before an early night- preparing to get up at 4.30am for my San Blas adventure...

La Fortuna Jungle, Panama

July 21-24

Lost & Found is an amazing little hostel in the middle of nowhere. To find it, we got off a bus in the mountains and had to walk about 20 minutes up a very steep hill - with heavy bags on back! Along the way there were signs of encouragement and at one point even a bench for a rest.

On our first afternoon we set off to buy some groceries, having been informed that there was a supermarket "just at the bottom of the hill". All we found at the bottom of the hill was a little cafe and a fruit shop, but they informed us that the supermarket was a "five minute walk down the road" which of course was closer to 20 minutes! All part of the adventure when you're in the middle of nowhere. We managed to hitch hike back up the road on our way back to save a bit of walking. 

In the evening we had a 'family dinner' at the hostel and got to have a play with Rocky, their pet kinkajou. What a cutie! We spent the rest of the night playing drinking Jenga at the bar. A lot of silliness ensued!

The next day was an adventure! The hostel is surrounded by jungle trails which they've used to create a treasure hunt! We were given a map and the first clue at the hostel.

The first stop was a viewpoint - reached via a very very steep walk. Luckily the view at the top was worth it. I think. 

At each stop there were riddle-type clues leading us to the next destination. 

The path was constantly going up and down, often slippery, unstable and against cliff edges!

We walked through the jungle until we reached a river, where we saw many rapids and waterfalls.

 

 

 

     

We ended up trekking to a cave before the final clue led us back to the hostel. There we had to solve a tricky riddle and were able to claim a drink at the bar that night as our prize! 

Yet again we spent the night playing drinking Jenga, the highlight of which was two boys being taped together and then one of them having to attempt the splits! We also played many other games like yee-ha, question game and hi jack. 

The following day we were exhausted and perhaps a tiny little bit hungover. It was also raining, so it was the perfect day to just chill out. We watched some movies and didn't even make it out of our PJs all day. Might've been good to explore some more of the jungle, but a rest day was just what we needed!

Bocas del Toro, Panama

July 18-21

My initial plan at this point was to do some volunteering at a turtle conservation program in Costa Rica... However their secluded location meant that the food was very limited and they weren't able to cater to my fructose intolerance! Boo.

So instead... I have time to explore Panama!

Bocas Del Toro is a group of islands off the Carribean coast of Panama. We arrived into the main island and had a wander round before settling on a hostel that was on a neighbouring island (only 30 seconds away by boat) Pretty sweet set up for a hostel!

However we seemed to be just about the only people staying there... We were informed that there would be a massive party there later. We headed back onto the main island to meet some friends and have a few drinks, returning to our hostel late in the night when the party was pumping. 

The next morning we explored the main island. After a roam around Bocas town we got a bus up to Boca del Drago. The bumpy and windy road through the jungle was not ideal on a hangover, but it was a looovely beach, so well worth it.

After relaxing in the sun and filling our bellies with delicious local food we walked along a path and stumble across a few turtles. Cuties!!!

Eventually we arrived at Playa Estrella (meaning starfish beach!) This beach is known for being covered in starfish but unfortunately lots of stupid tourists pick up the starfish to get good snapshots, unknowingly killing them. Very sad. There are signs everywhere saying not to touch them, and yet we still saw multiple people doing it.

Just as we set off to walk back to get our bus back, it started to rain. By the time we got back to the bus stop it was pouring with rain and we were most ready to depart! However as we left we bumped into a few friends who were just arriving...not ideal timing for them! But looks like the weather is still working in our favour! 

In the afternoon we got a boat over to Bastimentos, another island of Bocas. We decided to stay there for the night. Old Bank, the only town on this island, was tiny and there was barely a tourist in sight. It felt very much like we were staying in a local village. The people were so incredibly lovely - probably because they're trying to grow the tourism industry over there so they wanted to ensure we had a good time. There were also signs that said things like 'Don't litter: we want the tourists to come back, but they won't return if our island is full of rubbish.' Obviously many businesses there depend on tourism for income.

Our hostel was up on a hill, with a lovely view over the rooftops of town and out onto the ocean.

That evening, in a moment of serious weakness, I ordered pizza for dinner. DELICIOUS. The next morning I inevitably woke up with a stomach ache. Usually some exercise makes me feel better so I went for a run. However this just seemed to cause nausea and vomiting. Not an ideal start to the day. Due to this, we had a very chilled out day.

We went over to Red Frog beach which has to rank as one of the nicest beaches I've seen in Central America.

Similar to the starfish beach, the red frogs are rapidly disappearing due to human interference. After we'd had a sleep on the beach (and I'd semi-recovered) we went off on a search for the frogs. They are bright red, but only about as big as your fingernail...so can be quite tricky to spot. We searched for 45 minutes and had reached the end of the path, feeling quite defeated. A local saw our distress and came to help us. Of course within about 10 seconds he had spotted one! Teeny tiny.

For our last evening in Bocas we returned to the main town on a mission to see turtles. We went up to Bluff Beach and met the turtle trackers. Every night they go out and search for leatherback and hawksbill turtles laying their eggs, then track how many are laid and later how many hatch and make it back to sea. We walked for more than an hour along the beach, finding only turtle tracks, where turtles had clearly already been. Just when we were giving up hope, one of the trackers up ahead spotted a hawksbill! She was massive. We saw her digging a hole to lay the eggs in, but it kept caving in. This meant that she had to find another spot to nest, and unfortunately we were already very late, so we had to head back. It's a shame we couldn't hang around but in the end we were an hour late coming back so it's completely understandable why they didn't want to hang around.

San Jose to Puerto Veijo, Costa Rica

July 15-18

Unfortunately we had to go back via San Jose to get to from the Pacific to the Caribbean coast. Luckily, Seth was also there for the night so we got to hang out with him and say goodbye again! But otherwise it was the same old boring San Jose.

We managed to book a white water rafting tour from San Jose that would drop us off in Puerto Viejo at the end - essentially organising our travel day for us! Very convenient. 

White water rafting was AMAZING. Rio Pacure is meant to be one of the best places in the world to do rafting (top 5 we were told!) and it's not hard to tell why. 

As well as amazing rapids there were dozens of waterfalls and picturesque views. 

Every now and then, between rapids, we were able to jump out of the boat and just float down the river.

The rapids were a little scary at times! A few times I was pretty convinced we were gonna flip...but we didn't. Sometimes when it's a dangerous bit, they tell you to 'get down' inside the boat. One time, towards the end, when we were 'getting down' Aaron and I bumped heads. Except it was his helmet and my face! Ow! Lucky I don't bruise...

Late in the afternoon we were dropped off in Puerto Veijo, a funky little beach town down near the Panama border. Lots of interesting shops, bars, restaurants and market stalls. Also a nice beach which was quite pretty at sunset. Cool place! 

We ran into a couple of English girls that I'd met earlier in the trip. The hostel we stayed at had a 'ladies drink free' special...so naturally we all had a few bevvies!

When we woke up the next morning it was pouring with rain and we were hesitant to even leave the hostel. But as per usual, our amazing weather luck kicked in and it was blue skies and sunny before midday. We headed off to the sloth sanctuary, which was probably the number #1 thing both Aaron and I wanted to do in Costa Rica.

One sloth, Buttercup, chills out near the reception in a little swing. Super cute, excellent photo op, great for killing time before our tour started.

Buttercup was by far the most lively sloth we saw! She just kept moving.

It was a two hour tour, which we assumed would be all focused on the sloths... However it began with one hour boat ride down a stream that ran through the property. It was very tranquil, but much like other parts of the country that we have already seen, searching for animals we had already seen. So a bit of a waste of our time...we wanted sloths!! That said... It was pretty.

Eventually it was time to hang out with sloths! Hurrah! We got to see 5 adult sloths, living in little open enclosures. We asked why they couldn't live outdoors on the grounds, but the guide informed us that they aren't able to survive in the 'wild' and that's why they're at the sanctuary. They do need to be kept separate to prevent breeding- any baby sloths born at the sanctuary or brought there within their first year aren't ever able to be released because they don't learn the necessary survival skills.

We also saw baby sloths which we kept in cages. Again, not 100% sure why this is necessary. They were cuuuute.

Some interesting sloth facts:

- Sloths are neither warm blooded or cold blooded...somewhere in between apparently

- Sloths only come down to the ground once a week to poop

- Sloth sex only lasts 40 seconds and it is 100% certain that if they have sex the female WILL fall pregnant

- Sloths do not show any signs on pregnancy (no big belly!)

In the end we didn't see much of Puerto Veijo. It's a nice beach town, with some funky shops and restaurants, but otherwise pretty standard.