PowerCycle

09/25 Just hanging out here on the island. The food, especially at a place called Roots, is delicious. The hostel is a cool place to lounge around and the owner has been really helpful with local happenings. The only negative is that they are building a new house on the water a couple buildings over so a chainsaw buzzes fairly constantly during the day. It could be worse though; it’s right next to the first place I wanted to stay that was full. The plumbing is kind of crazy. Both the shower and the sink drain straight down into the water. I’m glad I’m using natural soap/shampoo but it makes me wonder where the toilet ends up going and if it goes to a treatment facility why everything couldn’t drain there. The water on this side of the island, where most of the people live, looks clean enough but I think I’d pass on jumping it.

The girls staying here left this morning but not before a German couple arrived last night. It’s fine hanging out with a bunch of crazy backpackers in their early twenties but it would be nice to run into a solo female adventurer a little closer to my age bracket. The resident drug dealers on the island have been good company for my walks around town (no, I haven’t been a good customer but my nickname is “Miami”).

Everyone else that lives here kind of just does their thing and doesn’t pay too much attention to the gringos wandering around. Aside from the people that work in the tourist sector, everyone else makes their living by farming or fishing, which is to say that they have very little money. Hopefully things don’t get out of hand with tourism like it did in Costa Rica and ruin their culture (and environment). Foreign companies love to come in to places like this so they can take advantage of the economic situation. That’s already happening with a huge, and very controversial, beach club they are building on the other side of the island.

The famous palm-fringed wilderness beaches can be reached by following a narrow path for about a mile through the jungle. Yesterday I walked over to Wizard Beach and went for a swim. It’s a popular surf spot and swimming is mostly just bobbing up and down while the waves break over you. Rip tides are pretty common so you can’t stray out too far.

Tomorrow I’ll take off again and start riding over to the Pacific side of Panama and then heading south to Panama City where I fly out to Columbia. There’s a range of mountains in the middle which I’m looking forward to.

09/23 Well, I’ve had crazy days before but this one takes the cake. Things ended well and that’s all that matters. The sun has set and I’m laying outside on a hammock with a cold Panama beer, the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea are lapping gently at the pillars of the rustic little hostel where I’m staying and three awesome German girls are in the hammocks next to me.

I was wrong about Costa Rica being an island. It is. That’s the only explanation for it being so profoundly different from everywhere else in Central America. To be fair, I’ve only been in Panama for one day but I love it here already and none of the things I disliked about CR seem to exist here. Drivers waved and honked, if I waved at someone on a bike or sitting outside they waved back and if I said good afternoon they actually responded. It was kind of amazing. The road from Bribri to the border ended up being (mostly) paved which was unexpected. No shoulder but traffic was very light. Of course as soon as I crossed into Panama the road was nicely paved and I had a shoulder all day.

Now for the border crossing. Of course I had no entry stamp into Costa Rica so I was freaking out a little when I pulled up to the immigration building. Sure enough they spotted the missing stamp. My plan to play the no habla Spanish card was foiled by an English speaking customs agent. He quickly launched into how serious it was that I didn’t have a stamp and that I’d probably have to go back to where I entered and get one. That made no sense and I could kind of tell where this was going so I drew first blood. I asked if there was a fine or something I could pay to resolve this. He went back inside to talk to his “boss” and then came back out with a little piece of paper. All it said was $50. That was more than what I had in my bribe budget so I countered with $20. His went back in to check with his boss. $20 did the trick and he came back out with my passport stamped. The next part was awesome. I had to go inside and leave the money in the bathroom. With the drop point established I went in with the $20 folded neatly in my passport and left it for him on top of the toilet (that was symbolic on my part). Walking out I did a casual head nod to confirm the transaction and I was off. Entry through Panama customs was no problem. I showed the agent my fake aitine ticket but I didn’t need it anyway.

The flat terrain I was enjoying ended soon after entering Panama but not before I had to ride around for half an hour figuring out how to get to the islands of Bocas del Toro. The Lonely Planet guide said there was a ferry that leaves from Changuinola every 45 minutes from some marine shop but I rode the 5km out of town and didn’t see it. My map showed another ferry crossing out of Almirante so off I went. After riding up and down 10 Guatemala-class hills (yes, I counted) I arrived in Almirante and headed to the docks.

A guy on a bike immediately rode up and said he worked for a water taxi company and I should follow him. Now this guy looked kind of thuggy and he asked a few times about my GPS and my necklace so when he turned down a side road I balked and told him I wanted to go check out the ferry situation myself. He was kind of pissed but whatever. Turns out he was right. No ferry until tomorrow morning. I went back to the turnoff and he was there waiting.

For $6 I secured passage on a boat and donned a life jacket. The ride over was fine but I wanted to go to another island that’s supposed to be more laidback so I went off in search of another water taxi. This one got me to my home for the next couple nights for $7 (I was the only one on it so I had to pay more).

The islands of Boca del Toro are pretty cool. There are 6 of them: the main island where the first boat landed was Bocas del Toro on Isla Colon. I opted for the village of Old Bank on Isla Bastimentos. There are no roads here, just a wide footpath that winds through brightly colored wooden houses. The 1500 people here are of West Indian descent and the place has a strong Caribbean feel to it. The place I’m staying is called The Jaguar. All the rooms sit over water so I can look down between the floorboards and see fish. I’m planning on staying 2 nights but that could change.

Broke 15,000 miles today.

If I write a book it’s going to be called The Gold Necklace and I’ll use the picture of me in Alaska for the cover.

Happy birthday to my little sister Stephanie and my cousin Zach.

[osm_map lat="9.73" long="-82.695" zoom="6" width="400" height="250" gpx_file="http://www.powercycle.net/maps/leg2/092310.gpx"]

09/22 Had it not been for the constant near-death experiences (traffic) riding today was pretty nice. The last time I even saw the Caribbean Sea was all the way back up in Mexico near Tulum. I rode along beside it for many miles passing a couple quiet little villages but mostly it was just long stretches of undeveloped land. In Costa Rica I don’t think they let you buy property within 50 meters of the high tide mark which is nice because it leaves the beach area in a natural state. After the coastal riding the road turned west and I was in banana plantation country.

My plans to stop early and camp at Parque Nacional Cahuita were foiled. I was so looking forward to a nice swim too. According to the ranger they closed up the camping areas a couple years ago. Getting in still cost $10. Locals pay $2. Yet another rip-off. She said I could enter the park back up the highway at the town of Cahuita for a “donation”. Well let me tell you about donations in Central America. When they ask for one it’s not an optional thing. There’s a set fee and you either pay it or you don’t get in.

After riding a bit more I saw a sloth sanctuary that looked pretty cool so I rode inside the gate and then promptly turned around and kept riding. They wanted $25 to get in. Freaking zoos are cheaper than that.

Tomorrow Panama and boy am I glad.

[osm_map lat="9.73" long="-82.695" zoom="6" width="400" height="250" gpx_file="http://www.powercycle.net/maps/leg2/092210.gpx"]

09/21 Not to worry anyone but this is supposedly the 2nd most dangerous city outside the capital. Honestly I don’t know what all the fuss is about. I rode around with my flashy gold necklace looking for a hotel for about an hour and I didn’t see a single hoodlum. That’s not to say I’m going to go bar hopping tonight– it is a major port town and I’m sure things get a little crazy after dark. I do know another touring rider that was robbed in the area a month ago so I’ll keep my guard up for a while.

The place I’m staying is Hotel Acon. Little pricey at $37 but one place was more ($56–Park Hotel) and 2 other hotel wouldn’t let me bring my bike in the room (Hotels American and whatever the one is across the street). The city itself is surprisingly clean for having a decent-sized port and I was riding around all over the place. Even the the area along the water looked nice.

Nothing exciting on the road today. Just more ranch/farmland. It’s hard to believe this country used to be completely covered by trees. Traffic sucked even more than yesterday. Maybe it’ll be better tomorrow. At a roadside bakery I was talking to the owner and he said the same thing that I’ve been noticing, people here have less respect for tourists than the other Central American countries. No surprises there but it’s a shame because, handled correctly, tourism doesn’t have to be a disaster like it is here.

Found an internet cafe with a printer so now I have proof that I’m leaving Panama on the off chance that they ask. I just went to American Airlines and found a flight from Panama City to Bogota (via Miami for $636?!). They let you put it on hold so I didn’t pay anything. Hopefully that works and I don’t get busted for being here illegally. I’ll book the flight for real when I get a little closer.

[osm_map lat="9.73" long="-82.695" zoom="6" width="400" height="250" gpx_file="http://www.powercycle.net/maps/leg2/092110.gpx"]