Panama City
Panama City August 5-10
Disembarking in Panama, with my backpack full of clothes on my back and my camera gear in a backpack on the front. The idea was it was supposed to balance me out, it didn’t my back was killing me. While we wait for Chris’s long time friend, Tom, who he hasn’t seen in 14 years I find a bar and order a double mojito. It was so cold and refreshing I wanted to climb in the glass. Tom shows up and drives right by us, not recognizing Chris at all. It was the hair. Even when Chris went to the drivers side window of his car he couldn’t believe it was actually him. Seeing his face light up when he finally recognized him was priceless.
Tom drove us and a few of his friends, including his girlfriend Carolina to his favorite watering hole, La Rana. The beers were cold and welcome in the heat as we listened as Chris and Tom recounted old times and got to know one another.
Back on the road to La Valle, the twilight blanketed the lush jungle and receded into darkness, we almost ran into a sloth slowly making his
way across the road. I had never seen a sloth before so, of course, I grab my phone and jump out of the vehicle to get a picture or a video or anything to capture the moment. I didn’t need to rush, however, it wasn’t going anywhere in a hurry. I was in awe, not only of the slow, seemingly meticulous manner it moved but the absolutely adorable way it made it’s way across the road, stretching out his long furry arms as if he were in slow motion. They are so rare, I never even counted it among the creatures I would be capturing on camera.
Due to the darkness I wasn’t able to get a good photo of this one but he paved the way for many more sightings in the jungles of South and Central America.
Our Journey ended in utter darkness at a large lodge in the mountains just outside of La Valle. We were all exhausted but still had our eyes open enough to have a toast to old and new friends before we hit the sheets.
From the villa in La Valle we ventured out nearly every day for food and activities. I ate my first octopus, which I doubt I will repeat and you can see a mud mask on Chris, which I never in my life thought I would see. He loved it.
We drank a lot of rum and watch movies on a big white sheet hanging on the wall outside under the covered patio. It was a wonderful reprieve from the rush of Panama City.
I did promise, the Good, The Bad and the Honesty.
The boys and their sausage!
I survived on eggs and mangos in La Valle, not attempting the uber spicy sausages the guys ate everyday. On the last day I was shamed into having a half a sausage with my eggs.
Tom helped us secure a hotel room back in Panama City for a couple nights as our flight to the island of Bocas Del Toro wasn’t for three more days.
That first night I was awakened violently by my ever picky digestive system. My body purged everything, EVERYTHING from both ends, at the same time. I counted myself lucky as the tub was right next to the commode. Miserable is a walk in the park compared to my bodies reaction to a seemingly harmless sausage. The misery didn’t stop the following morning day so Chris had to take me to a hospital where I was given pills that wouldn’t stay down and told to drink pedialite. On the plus side, the visit only cost $30.
The affects of the sausage from hell lasted for a week although after the first 3 or 4 nights it was manageable, I just couldn’t eat a whole lot. Not a weight loss system I would try again.
Casco Viejo, Panama
A little Victorian Town on the outskirts of Panama City, lost to the whims of teenagers and their spray cans, Casco Viejo could have been, and from what Chris told me, was, a beautiful sight to behold with its still laced curtains, intricate doors, windows and gates. It was hard for me to find the finery once displayed but there is often times beauty in the broken.