Puerto Viejo and Beyond.

Just to bring you folks up to speed…

Thursday was a good day. After shooting some surfers in the morning, I headed down the beach with my camera gear to explore. I walked half way to Panama. Not even joking. I would have kept going had it not started to rain. As I stood in the mangroves keeping myself somewhat dry, I was worried. I had my equipment with me, it was kind of cold, it was pouring rain, and it would be getting dark soon. I stood there contemplating what to do when it occurred to me. What was the worst that could happen? I put my gear in my waterproof bag and walked down the coast – the worst thing that could happen is that I would be a little chilly while walking up the Caribbean coast of a tropical country. Screw being worried, that’s not for me down here. I got back to the hostel with no problems.

Friday I rented bikes with Mike and we rode down to Manzanilla, a 45 minute ride south of Puerto Viejo. The bikes cost a cool $3 a day, and the ride was well worth it. Manzanilla is absolutely beautiful, and we met some really interesting people along the way. After cruising the beach, we stopped and hung out with our friend James, who was climbing a tree to grab some coconuts. We had some (sour) coconut milk and headed back into town. On the way we saw some monkeys in a tree and stopped at a tiny soda run out of a house, ate for $3 and embarrassed ourselves with our Spanish skills around some Argentinian girls.

Today we got up and jumped on the bus to Panama. I stood, uncomfortably for the first bit. I realized after I finally got a seat on the packed out bus that I enjoyed standing more – I got to connect with the Costa Rican people, if even in a small way, as we stood and bumped into each other around the curves.

On the way to Bocas del Toro in Panama, the following was notable:

• We saw a sloth on the side of the road. We got out and took photos, and it sprinted away from us at .03 miles an hour.
• The passport stamper was at lunch, so we waited an hour for her to return.
• A Panamanian boy, Alex, was hungry. I bought him some frozen Guavano.
• The boat ride was quite rough, and I thought we might sink.

Now I’m staying at Mondo Taitu, a hostel run by friends of my friend Naomi, who went to Emory in Atlanta together. They’re cool guys and the place is equally chill to the other places I’ve stayed. Thankfully quite a bit smaller. Tonight we ate Greek. I’ll be here a few days.

More photos…