I'm Off...
straight from the airport to the bus station, then out into the countryside
12 hours on a plane, 8 hours on a bus, arrived in santa catalina on the southwestern coast in a rain storm and had to hike a mile to the hotel.
the next morning
found a fisherman to take me out to Isla de Coiba, which they call the galapagos of central america
out over the water
Isla de Oro, little island i snorkelled around for hours - sharks, rays, seaturtles, and many fishes
Isla de Oro
from up the hill on Coiba. Coiba was a state penitentiary that was closed down and turned into a national park.
Some of the inmates stayed behind as park rangers. this is one of them, taking me on a hike through the jungle.
looking for crocs, didn't find any.
still looking, still none, they don't come out during mid-day...
me and my guide
back in the barracks, hanging my shirt out to dry
so macho
a domino
el capitan with his tower of dominos
a storm
me
damn iguanas were so fast I couldn't get any real good shots.
watching an amazing meteor shower from the beech after the generator had been turned off.
next morning
me....and. my. shaaaaa-dow...
croc warning
15 feet from my barracks
back on isla de oro, just saw a 10 ft black tip reef shark
back to the mainland, three buses and 8 hours later I'm in the western city of David.
David from my hotel window.
da plane.
me getting on da plane.
the view from the air as I approach Isla Colon and Bocas Del Toro over on the Caribbean side.
lots of little houses on stilts, including this one where Aron lived.
Dinner with Aron.
Aron getting funky.
fire jugglers.
fire juggling gone awry.
next morning, doing the tourist thang.
me in the water.
heading through the mangroves.
red frog beach.
aptly named, though they were not easy to find.
saw a huge watersnake snorkelling here.
sun's going down over Bastimentos, a little island near by that is still mostly african descent.
back in the hammock at Aron's.
two buddies I was hangin out with.
back to Bastimentos, hooked up my hammock and lounged for the sunset.
Bastimentos jungle hike.
with big-ass spiders.
next day, three hours on a bus, two hours on a boat, 1 hour in a car, then 2 more hours in a little boat, out into the wetlands.
sunset in the wetlands. I went out with one guy from the main governmental body for conservation and one guy from a citizen group. They were out to look for turtle egg poachers and check manatee numbers.
sunset in the wetlands.
got to camp around 8pm, where there was no electricity, but a nice little hut with a caretaker who made us a nice dinner
the hut.
sunrise over the beach. last night we went out to patrol the beach looking for seaturtle egg poachers. not sure what we were gonna do if we caught any, but we didn't.
then into the mangroves to look for manatees, of which we saw none. not a hugely successful trip as far as wildlife goes, but beautiful out in the wetlands.
then back to Bocas for some luxury.
and by that I mean reading in my trusty hammock.
and swimming off the dock watching sunset.
sunset.
next morning off to Isla de los Pajaros
la isla.
here's what it looks like on a nice day.
me.
my foot with a big-ass starfish.
more starfish.
i was snorkelling in 8 ft of water feeling al safe and everything when I turned around to see a 5 ft barracuda staring at me. i waited to see if he was doing anything but he just stared at me for a couple seconds so I tore back to the boat.
back in Bocas.
pack back on my back.
and into the air. that's Bastimentos down below.
more Bastimentos.
to Panama City and the entrance to the Panama Canal.
la cuidad.
Next morning, on a 5am flight out to the San Blas.
islitas down below.
pretty...
landed on a dirt airstrip, got picked up in a dugout canoe, headed to this little island where I'll spend three days.
la isla, no tiene nombre.
my hut.
coral raised out of the water by an earthquake 100 yrs ago.
in a dugout headed into the mangroves.
there were little crabs everywhere climbing the mangroves.
croc.
pulled up on a little island to lounge for the rest of the day.
damn I'm hot.
the boat was lounging too.
I spent many hours in that hammock reading Life of Pi.
the San Blas are home to the Kuna people who are not officially subject to panamanian rule.
kids practicing for an independance day ritual.
a Kuna woman.
this little boy totally latched onto me.
head back to my island.
sunset from the hammock.
my feet from the hammock.
sunrise peeking through the walls of my hut.
tropical paradise.
back on another island with the Kuna - they're famous for their molas, an artistic textile.
the island was raised in the earthquake, and there's coral all over the place.
coral.
the grass swallowed you up like the island in Life of Pi.
back in the hammock.
back with the Kuna.
um hmm.
me and the kids...
back on my island.
sunrise the next morning.
spent another day doing the same, then surnise again the next morning.
on a plane back to panama city.
panama city.
panama city. casa ghandi - furniture store.
they paint their buses.
a Kuna woman in panama city - funny juxtaposition.
hiking in a city park, caught in the rain.
then off to Isla Contadora on the Pacific side, which the colonizers used to count the money and pearls they were stealing.
Isla Contadora, found a fisherman to take me around.
a little island off the coast of Isla Contadora - I just had a tuna bigger than me swim right past me.
storm's coming in.
storm hit right as we were pushing off from this little island - it's gonna be a cold ride back to Contadora.
rain in the boat, got a little sketchy.
next day, out to ride around the island on a bike.
Isla Contadora
last day on Contadora, last few hours in fact. I was all packed and the airport was just up the hill from this beach.
back to Panama city, leaving first thing in the morning, lots-o-ships lined up waiting to get in.
