TAN BRONZEADOS (SOOO TANNED)

As the title to this entry suggets, we´ve been having a blast in the Panamanian sunshine for the past few days.

Since our last entry...We spent one more day in Boquete so we could enjoy some of the natural beauty in the surrounding mountains. Boquete is known as the land of rainbows, so we figured we´d try our chances at catching one. Success! The combination of strong sun and frequent drizzling rain is perfect for rainbows. From our hotel, we hiked up the road to a trail called Bajo Mono, which we translated as Short Monkey, for no apparent reason (we found no monkeys, and the trail was NOT short). It does, however, make a good nickname for Tori. There were interesting rock formations on the various cliffs overlooking a valley filled with trees, coffee plantations, gardens, and a rushing river. Further along, we came to a waterfall, too. If we had continued we would have come to a castle, but our guide book didn´t make it seem worth it and we had already walked a long ways. Plus, we really watned to go eat at one of the several strawberry themed restaurants we had passed along the way.

The owner of our hotel, Maky, arranged for us to go to San Blas Islands (an archipelago populated by the Kuna indians in the Carribbean between Panama and Colombia) the following morning, but we had to rush to get there in time. From Boquete (in the mountains of northern panama), we had to take a bus to david (1 hour), wait for a spot on a bus to Panama City (everyone was returning from the celebration for independence day) and eventually take an 8 hour over night ride. We arrived at 3 a.m. and waited until 6 a.m. for a guide to show up in his jeep. His jeep was overflowing and we were far from understanding, so we told him to eat it and got ourselves a bed instead. At that moment, neither of us were willing to go on a three hour ride through Panama´s backcontry jungles in makeshift seats in a Jeep´s trunk. It is hard to be patient after an overnight bus ride and the only sleep is what you get on the bus station floor. Plus, the driver was a jerk....we just weren´t having it.

After a day in Panama city, during which we saw pretty much everything we wanted to that wasn´t mysteriously closed, we were ready to try for San Blas again. This time, with a different travel agent, things worked much better. Instead of 8 people in a jeep, there were 4 in a super nice totally pimped out massive pickup truck. Score. Double score was that the only music the driver had were nineties hits (Britney, Destiny´s Child, etc) and Bob Marley. Stew was in heaven...anything is better than reggaeton. After the three hour truck ride through the wilderness, the pan american highway stops and one has to off road through Indian country, take a dug out canoe through another tribe´s territory, and eventually get into a larger dugout with an outboard motor that takes you way out into the sea.

Still, San Blas is more than worth whatever hassle is required to get there. One feels almost guilty witnessing such pristine and perfect beaches....we hope that hordes of tourists and resorts never discover these magical isalnds. Being that the Kuna indians restrict the number of people that visit each day, maybe they´ll remain pristine forever, but we´re hedging our bets.

There is no white whiter than the sand of San Blas. Even the ¨ugly¨ islands look like postcards. Most islands take less than 2-3 minutes to walk around, and only 90 of th 360 odd islands are inhabited by much more than palm trees. All the water is a perfect aqua marine with great visibility, coral reefs, sunken ships, and animal life. Turtles and lobsters can be caught (and released because turtles are only caught accidentally) right on the beach where we stayed. We stayed with a Kuna family that ran a teeny hotel of four rooms. Each rooms was an independent cabin with a thatched roof and planks laid above the sand beach. Apparantly, we chose the fancier hotel...most others in San Bas have only sand floors. The walls were made of a bamboo like grass and the windows were....just holes. Our cabin was decorated like Christmas. We also visited two Kuna villages and learned something of their history, though our guide was a bit of an idiot. He didn´t do much more than point out what different buildings were used for, so we had press him for more interesting

Typical cusine is fish, coconut rice, crab, lobster, pineapple, watermelon, and salads. Our last we had a huge feast and gorged ourselves on the abudance of the sea. Imagine -- a mountain of Caribbean lobster and crab, carrots and yucca, delicious salad, pineapple, watermelon...and a challenge from your hosts to eat it all. It seemed like the perfect way to encapsulate San Blas. The people there are so generous and so kind; the bounty of nature is overwhelming. It was definitely the place we found most difficult to leave.

Today we saw the Panama Canal. Stew was bored again...watching water move from one side to the other STILL isn´t interested. Tori was bored, too, but felt like it was necessary to see the canal. When people return from Panama, everyone tends to ask ¨how was the canal?¨without realizing that it is the least interesting thing in Panama. There are so many great things to do and see here...we´re sad to be leaving this country and all of Central America, but the time has come to move on to Ecuador, where we will meet up with Tori´s family! Whippee!