Week 17, Costa Rica, Panama, Caribean sea
26/9
Slept bad. Too warm. Aircon not working well ... anway, rose at 8.30 or so... made pancakes in the hostels kitchen, published week 16 of my blog, did the media, getting some money now, then to the old part of Panama city. Long walk. Looking forward to that. Laterz...
Walked for ages. My phone broke down and i could not use the maps.me app. So, it took a while before i was back. Ate a bit at McDonalds, and walked further to the beginning of the canal. Well, not al the way, but could see the ships coming from the pacific. One of these days i'll do the full tour i guess.
Then ... trying to repair my phone ... back to factory settings, it helped, but.... all my apps, documents (that is hostel reservations, flying tickets, etc... down the drain). I have a big problem now. Made some copies on my yahoo acount, so.. lets hope i can install that app again... so mad at myself now! Grrr ... see!
When wifi is back i hope there are some automatic backups too... wish me luck.
Went to the bar across the street with Ken. We both needed good wifi. Did our administrations there and went back, sipped another beer, showered and off to bed. Slept like a baby.
27/9
Woke up at 8.00 or so. Managed to retrieve quit a bit of my previous phone data through my samsung cloud account (thx neighbour Erik for the tip).
At 10.00 i walked to the old part of town. Nice walk, along the pacific coast. Visited the old town. (While it took me an hour to get there i saw the complete place in 20 minutes or so). It's nice, but not that spectacular. Look for yourself ...
Ate fish at the fish market. Lovely!
Strolled back, cooled down in the mall over a cold soda, back to the hostel, where i napped for half an hour.
Had dinner with Norm in a local chinese restaurant, called Yee! Cheap, but good.
Sipped a beer at the pool here, updated my blog, chatted with Ken, getting some sleep now.
PS: lost my remaining episodes of Fringe... trying to download them now, over the hostels wifi network... will take ages im afraid... oh well...
28/9
Rose at 8.00. Said goodbye to Ken, at least, that was the idea, but he could not get a taxi. 2 Uber taxi drivers just did not show up and when he got a normal taxi, the car broke down. He was so stressed out, i thought he might have a heart attack. After an hour we managed to send him off to the airport. Time for a pancake and a coffee.
At 10. 00 i went to the new hostel, to inform them that we were still coming (tomorrow that is), but that i did not have the reservation email anymore. No prob, so...
In the afternoon i did a stroll through town. Made some nice pics ...
Sheltered for the rain in a bar, with too expensive beers, ...
... ate a bite in a McDonalds and went back to the hostel, to meet Luts and Lauretta (who had stayed behind in Costa Rica for some extra beachdays).
Here's a pic of the hostel ...
Napped for an hour.
Having a relaxing evening, updating blog and do the media now. Laterz...
29/9
Rose at 7.15, showered, breakfasted with the daily pancake, and waited till the rain stopped. Meanwhile did the media...
At 11.00(-ish) i moved my stuff to the other hostel. Checked in and payed for everybody. Also for the ones that decided to book another room. They have to pay me back though ...
Went for a walk ...
to return at 1.30 for a swim...
Its a nice hostel, with a good pool. Spend the rest of the afternoon there, cooling down, chat with Richard and facebooking.
Waiting now to go to the goodbye party of Laura, Marty and Karim in a local restaurant nearby. Laterz...
The goodbye party was very nice. Met Glynn again as well.
Nice chats an of course a bit of an emotional farewell to all, but especialy to Laura. I consider her a kind of special friend. I dont have kids, but if i had, it should be a daughter like her (that's Didi's quote, i know!)
Went home around 21.30 or so, together with Luts. Had a last beer here at the pool. Slept good.
Oh yeah, and watched a fringe episode (managed to re-download the last episodes, over the wifi netwerk of the hostel (don't tell anybody please)).
30/9
Woke up after 8.00. Room is really dark ... went down to score a coffee and the last pancake. Then finally the shower became available (and S isn't even here!).
Welcomed Bob and Linda in our dorm.
Went to the multicentro (a big mall) with Luts for a coffee and some chicked based pastry. Loved it, luts didn't, so i ate his as well.
Then a long, long walk to the Panama Canal. Stupid me ... i just put in the searchword panama canal in Maps.ME. Well it brought us there (after a 9 K walk). But there is not much to be seen.., so... this nice guy (we met at a petrol station) brought us to the main road, from where we took a cab to the locks of Miaflores. That was fu#%^king great. Big ships, going through the locks of the Canal. Engineering master piece. And already more then 100 years old. Absolutely loved it. Exhibition and a documentary about it too.
Look at this ...
Sipped a 5,- beer there too, then we took an Uber taxi back to the multicentro. (I had just installed the Uber app... man, it's really great, why dont we have that in Holland??)
Bought some last stuf for the sail trip to Columbia. Siting here at the pool of our hostel now, updating blog. Going to eat a big whopper soon. Finally found a Burger King, oh yeah!
19.30 ate a whopper, did the media, payed for the trip, last beer at the pool now. Tomorrow we sail to Cartagena, Columbia. See how that goes... Laterz...
1/10
Rose early, 4.30. We were picked up between 5.00 and 5.30 for a ride from the pacific coast to the carabean coast. First by jeep, than the last part by boat. Arrived at our sailboat at 11.00 (ish). Its quite small for a trip with 10 people (and 2 crew), so... let's see how it goes.
We had a decent breakfast first, then the rubberboat brought us to the nearby island for a swim and a stroll.
Back to the sailboat for lunch, then Richard and I swam to the other island (20 mins or so). Strolled around there, saw 2 stringrays, sipped a beer and back to the boat again. Changed clothes and updating blog now, surrounded by 10 others. Not much me-time for the next 4 days i guess... oh well.... Laterz.
We had dinner at the other island at 7.00 or so. Not just diner, but lobster. Can you believe it. No facilities at all, but lobster for dinner. At 9.00 back to the boat. I decided to slep outside for 2 reasons: i love sleeping outside (especially when its very warm inside) and i did not want to pass my cold through to the others.
I slept good in the beginning. Nice and cool. At 2.00 am it became cold though and when lightning started at 3.00, i tried to go in my cabin. Luts however had blocked the bed by sleeping in the width direction instead of the length of the boat. Could not wake him up, so... slept near the steering wheels (that's at least partly outside, and dry).
2/10
Rose at 6.30 or so and jumped overboard for a swim. Best shower ever. Coffee and breakfast. The food is really very good on board. Sonia (Germany, and gf of the (young) captain) is a very good cook.
At 10.00 we went to the next island. Just a short sail of an hour. We anchored, everybody went in the small boat to the island, just Leanne and I swam.
Relaxing hours up there. I even had a short sleep. We had lunch there too. Again fantastic food.
15.00 we went back (Leanne and I swam again, she's a really good swimmer). In the boat, changed, relaxed, updating blog and waiting for the storm ... look.... raining now.
We eat tonight on the other (bigger) island. 2 days of island hopping has been very nice so far.
The dinner was very nice again. We returned at 22.30 or so.
Despite the warmth i slept well in the cabin (it was too rainy to sleep outside).
Ok, excuse the late time for publishing, but wifi is not always available. In a few days the next episode. Bye for now!
Slept bad. Too warm. Aircon not working well ... anway, rose at 8.30 or so... made pancakes in the hostels kitchen, published week 16 of my blog, did the media, getting some money now, then to the old part of Panama city. Long walk. Looking forward to that. Laterz...
Walked for ages. My phone broke down and i could not use the maps.me app. So, it took a while before i was back. Ate a bit at McDonalds, and walked further to the beginning of the canal. Well, not al the way, but could see the ships coming from the pacific. One of these days i'll do the full tour i guess.
Then ... trying to repair my phone ... back to factory settings, it helped, but.... all my apps, documents (that is hostel reservations, flying tickets, etc... down the drain). I have a big problem now. Made some copies on my yahoo acount, so.. lets hope i can install that app again... so mad at myself now! Grrr ... see!
When wifi is back i hope there are some automatic backups too... wish me luck.
Went to the bar across the street with Ken. We both needed good wifi. Did our administrations there and went back, sipped another beer, showered and off to bed. Slept like a baby.
27/9
Woke up at 8.00 or so. Managed to retrieve quit a bit of my previous phone data through my samsung cloud account (thx neighbour Erik for the tip).
At 10.00 i walked to the old part of town. Nice walk, along the pacific coast. Visited the old town. (While it took me an hour to get there i saw the complete place in 20 minutes or so). It's nice, but not that spectacular. Look for yourself ...
Ate fish at the fish market. Lovely!
Strolled back, cooled down in the mall over a cold soda, back to the hostel, where i napped for half an hour.
Had dinner with Norm in a local chinese restaurant, called Yee! Cheap, but good.
Sipped a beer at the pool here, updated my blog, chatted with Ken, getting some sleep now.
PS: lost my remaining episodes of Fringe... trying to download them now, over the hostels wifi network... will take ages im afraid... oh well...
28/9
Rose at 8.00. Said goodbye to Ken, at least, that was the idea, but he could not get a taxi. 2 Uber taxi drivers just did not show up and when he got a normal taxi, the car broke down. He was so stressed out, i thought he might have a heart attack. After an hour we managed to send him off to the airport. Time for a pancake and a coffee.
At 10. 00 i went to the new hostel, to inform them that we were still coming (tomorrow that is), but that i did not have the reservation email anymore. No prob, so...
In the afternoon i did a stroll through town. Made some nice pics ...
Sheltered for the rain in a bar, with too expensive beers, ...
... ate a bite in a McDonalds and went back to the hostel, to meet Luts and Lauretta (who had stayed behind in Costa Rica for some extra beachdays).
Here's a pic of the hostel ...
Napped for an hour.
Having a relaxing evening, updating blog and do the media now. Laterz...
29/9
Rose at 7.15, showered, breakfasted with the daily pancake, and waited till the rain stopped. Meanwhile did the media...
At 11.00(-ish) i moved my stuff to the other hostel. Checked in and payed for everybody. Also for the ones that decided to book another room. They have to pay me back though ...
Went for a walk ...
to return at 1.30 for a swim...
Its a nice hostel, with a good pool. Spend the rest of the afternoon there, cooling down, chat with Richard and facebooking.
Waiting now to go to the goodbye party of Laura, Marty and Karim in a local restaurant nearby. Laterz...
The goodbye party was very nice. Met Glynn again as well.
Nice chats an of course a bit of an emotional farewell to all, but especialy to Laura. I consider her a kind of special friend. I dont have kids, but if i had, it should be a daughter like her (that's Didi's quote, i know!)
Went home around 21.30 or so, together with Luts. Had a last beer here at the pool. Slept good.
Oh yeah, and watched a fringe episode (managed to re-download the last episodes, over the wifi netwerk of the hostel (don't tell anybody please)).
30/9
Woke up after 8.00. Room is really dark ... went down to score a coffee and the last pancake. Then finally the shower became available (and S isn't even here!).
Welcomed Bob and Linda in our dorm.
Went to the multicentro (a big mall) with Luts for a coffee and some chicked based pastry. Loved it, luts didn't, so i ate his as well.
Then a long, long walk to the Panama Canal. Stupid me ... i just put in the searchword panama canal in Maps.ME. Well it brought us there (after a 9 K walk). But there is not much to be seen.., so... this nice guy (we met at a petrol station) brought us to the main road, from where we took a cab to the locks of Miaflores. That was fu#%^king great. Big ships, going through the locks of the Canal. Engineering master piece. And already more then 100 years old. Absolutely loved it. Exhibition and a documentary about it too.
Look at this ...
Sipped a 5,- beer there too, then we took an Uber taxi back to the multicentro. (I had just installed the Uber app... man, it's really great, why dont we have that in Holland??)
Bought some last stuf for the sail trip to Columbia. Siting here at the pool of our hostel now, updating blog. Going to eat a big whopper soon. Finally found a Burger King, oh yeah!
19.30 ate a whopper, did the media, payed for the trip, last beer at the pool now. Tomorrow we sail to Cartagena, Columbia. See how that goes... Laterz...
1/10
Rose early, 4.30. We were picked up between 5.00 and 5.30 for a ride from the pacific coast to the carabean coast. First by jeep, than the last part by boat. Arrived at our sailboat at 11.00 (ish). Its quite small for a trip with 10 people (and 2 crew), so... let's see how it goes.
We had a decent breakfast first, then the rubberboat brought us to the nearby island for a swim and a stroll.
Back to the sailboat for lunch, then Richard and I swam to the other island (20 mins or so). Strolled around there, saw 2 stringrays, sipped a beer and back to the boat again. Changed clothes and updating blog now, surrounded by 10 others. Not much me-time for the next 4 days i guess... oh well.... Laterz.
We had dinner at the other island at 7.00 or so. Not just diner, but lobster. Can you believe it. No facilities at all, but lobster for dinner. At 9.00 back to the boat. I decided to slep outside for 2 reasons: i love sleeping outside (especially when its very warm inside) and i did not want to pass my cold through to the others.
I slept good in the beginning. Nice and cool. At 2.00 am it became cold though and when lightning started at 3.00, i tried to go in my cabin. Luts however had blocked the bed by sleeping in the width direction instead of the length of the boat. Could not wake him up, so... slept near the steering wheels (that's at least partly outside, and dry).
2/10
Rose at 6.30 or so and jumped overboard for a swim. Best shower ever. Coffee and breakfast. The food is really very good on board. Sonia (Germany, and gf of the (young) captain) is a very good cook.
At 10.00 we went to the next island. Just a short sail of an hour. We anchored, everybody went in the small boat to the island, just Leanne and I swam.
Relaxing hours up there. I even had a short sleep. We had lunch there too. Again fantastic food.
15.00 we went back (Leanne and I swam again, she's a really good swimmer). In the boat, changed, relaxed, updating blog and waiting for the storm ... look.... raining now.
We eat tonight on the other (bigger) island. 2 days of island hopping has been very nice so far.
The dinner was very nice again. We returned at 22.30 or so.
Despite the warmth i slept well in the cabin (it was too rainy to sleep outside).
Ok, excuse the late time for publishing, but wifi is not always available. In a few days the next episode. Bye for now!
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