Bocas del Toro

Written by Nadine Zangerle on 16 May 2014. Posted in Panama

So we crossed an old, deserted railway bridge to cross the river to Panama. You really had to check where you were going since some boards where missing. But we managed to get another stamp in our passport.

After another long and exhausting trip to Bocas del Toro we arrived the ugly Bocas Town of Colon Island. I don’t know what investors think when they create areas like this. One building next to each other, no beach or plants. Well we stay only for two nights and continue on to Panama City.

When we arrived by boat to the island an African local showed us a cheap place to stay. Funny wise he spoke fluently German. Bocas del Toro, especially Colon Island, is a party place and the walls in our hostel where paper thin. We had a lot of young people enjoying the night life and not really respecting other guests. So the nights were noisy and short.

We met Benjamin, a guy from Meran, which is close to my uncle’s place in Italy. He showed us a bit around and we went to the small island of Carenero. If you want to go to Bocas del Toro stay on a small island to experience their beauty. But for us with not much time left we wanted to have the quick and easy way back to the mainland.

Here in Caranero the beaches and houses where way nicer then on Colon Island but somehow the people here from Panama are not the friendliest and warmest. Most of them seem so serious and don’t really greet back. The kids don’t smile at you, we never experienced this in another country.

Also in the hostels and restaurants where you would expect to be reasonable with their guests but it was a strange atmosphere. Benjamin, fluently in Spanish, said the same and he didn’t want to spend too long in Panama. For us it will be only Panama City with its Canal and then we are off to Colombia. But let’s see maybe the people are a bit different somewhere else.

In the evening we found a fantastic restaurant with great Thai food and friendly locals. Just have to mention the Maracuja Restaurant since this was the best food since months. We had a great evening and probably will see Benjamin in Colombia again.

The next morning, at 7 am we took the boat, taxi and bus to Panama City and arrived after 12 hours. We are excited about the Panama Canal. Let’s see.

Accommodation: Hostel Coconut, Bocas Town, Colon Island

Price: US $ 25 double room, shared bath, kitchen, WiFi, incl. breakfast

Comment: one of the cheaper places in town but the walls are paper thin and the kids are here for
party. You don’t get a lot of sleep.

Puerto Viejo and Cahuita

Written by Nadine Zangerle on 14 May 2014. Posted in Costa Rica

On the way to San Jose we decided spontaneously to continue to the Caribbean Sea. Unfortunately the long distance buses in Central America do not have only one terminal so we had to change the bus station. The taxi dropped us off at the Caribbean Terminal just to find out that the buses to Puerto Viejo and Cahuita have a new bus terminal since 3 weeks.

Limon is only a 2 hours bus ride from our destination so we decided to hop on and take the chance to get a bus or a minibus from there. But somehow in Costa Rica they are not so fond of the minibuses and since it was Sunday the frequency of the buses wasn’t that great either.

The best thing was, when the direct bus from San Jose to Puerto Viejo stopped at the station to make a 15 minute break and we were not allowed to board the bus since it is a direct bus. We didn’t see the logic in this since the bus was the same bus company, only half full and was having a break anyway. So we had to wait for 2 ½ hours to get the bus south.

Arriving late and tiered the hostel we were looking for was booked out already. But there are plenty of options in Puerto Viejo and we found one for a reasonable price and own bathroom. It is interesting to see the difference between the Caribbean and the Pacific side. Latest everything is very open and relaxed whereas the Caribbean hostels are locked like prisons.

Also the houses and fabrics seem shadier. Economically the Pacific side seems to be stronger and everything is more developed. Then for sure the people are different. Every time on the Caribbean side we got asked if we want Marihuana or Cocaine. Mainly African people linger in the streets and ask you. You don’t have this at the Pacific side.

Alright, time to explore. The small town itself is all about tourists with its hostels, bars and restaurants and for sure we bumped into some people we have met before. Once in a while you have to go out as well and so we enjoyed a few beers, good talk and played some pool billiard while we had a quick and strong earthquake.

The next morning we explored the Cahuita National Park and followed the 8 km track along the coast. Here we could find a lot of monkeys especially with babies. On one side the beautiful beaches had black sand and on the other side white.

Hot and humid, followed by mosquitos we had to hurry up a bit since the park closes at 4pm and the bus leaves at the same time. But on the way we met two people who offered us a ride back to Puerto Viejo and we had a funny conversation. He is from Argentina, she is from Madrid and they work and live in Stuttgart, Germany since years. Funny wise they have met there.

When the time came to leave the owner accused us of not paying for the third night. Well, if you cannot remember me bringing the money up to your porch than you should start giving out receipts. After a few discussions they let us go since they locked the gate during the discussion and didn’t have the balls to face us. The whole discussion was via speaker phone.

This made our day and a bit sad we left Puerto Viejo.

Accommodation: Hostel Lika, Puerto Viejo

Price: US $ 10 per person, private room (1 double, 1 bunk bed), private bath, kitchen, WiFi

Comment: good located, clean but ask for a receipt when you pay for an extra night since the owner
magically forgets about it

Monteverde - cloud forrest

Written by Nadine Zangerle on 11 May 2014. Posted in Costa Rica

We reached Monteverde late evening after a spectacular ride. Early next morning we went with Freddy bird watching and we saw really interesting species. What nature created was just fantastic. Unfortunately we had not only a hard time remembering the names, it was also impossible to capture them on a picture.

A great way to explore the area and this beautiful cloud forest is to fly over it – on a steel cable. It’s called Ziplining and really popular. In Monteverde there are 5 companies and two more getting developed. So you see it’s damn popular.

We had the longest cable with 1.4 km and a total of 14 cables and 21 platforms. The fun took place in between 75 – 150 m with a total distance of 2.8 km. Abseilen from 30 m and the Tarzan-swing where another highlight but at the end the Superman was fun. They attach your harness on the back to the steel cable and you fly through the jungle like Superman. Or in my case like Superchica, haha. The fun was worth its US $40.

Surely we couldn’t just come to Monteverde without going into the Reserve so we did a long hike and took a lot of pictures. In the beginning it took us hours to cover only 500 m because we found so much cool stuff.

Luckily we were well prepared when the rain drops started. It didn’t stay with drops, well it is called cloud forest for a reason.

And then it was time to move on but not without mentioning that Monteverde was just awesome.

Hotel: Hotel Tukan, Monteverde

Price: 20 $ ,double room, shared bathroom, kitchen, WiFi

Comment: situated in the heart of Santa Elena/Monteverde, the staff organizes tours and they are extremely helpful and super friendly, walls are paper thin (so earplugs come handy)

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