In Transit

Both today and yesterday were spent mostly in transit. But alas, Buck and I have arrived in Bocas Town on Isla Colon in Panama. We begin with a 5AM cab yesterday, followed shortly by doughnuts and significant downpour. This leg of the trip was to San Jose, the land of overpriced cabs, what seemed like millions of shoe stores, and a man selling rubic's cubes to drivers sitting at a busy intersection. We weren't huge fans, honestly. But we stayed a little out of San Jose in San Pedro - actually at Hotel Milvia once again. I really enjoyed our walk around the UCR campus and of course, seeing Harry Potter at the San Pedro Mall! Even with the fun, yesterday served to prove that I am not a city-person.

So this morning we were at it again with another 5AM cab. This time, to catch a bus to the border. The ride was about 5 hours, followed by 20ish minutes of shenanigans at the border. Once in Sixaola, you fill out your paperwork then walk across this terrible bridge to get into Panama. Buck and I were recognized as gringos, and were therefor approached by many people offering to "help" us. Ignoring everyone else, we hailed a cab to Almirante, where we would catch our water taxi to Bocas.

All this is boring, so I'll skip ahead to our arrival in Bocas Town. Here, I instantly recognized this as a place full of much friendlier people, much cleaner streets, and a fair amount of tourists. The main advantage, to me, of being in a somewhat touristy town is the availability of diverse foods that we missed in Costa Rica. One other advantage is the look of the place. It is BEAUTIFUL since the island is quite small, and therefor not crowded with many cars or tall buildings. The majority of establishments in Bocas Town are actually on the water, which will certainly make for some beautiful meal-times and more over the next week.

We have very few plans for this week, but I know this:
I want to sleep in past 7:30. I want to eat indian food. And I want to take a boat around the other islands of Bocas del Toro. Maybe even see some red frogs on Isla Basimientos!

I'll write later about some of my final thoughts on Costa Rica in the days before all this travel (they were very fond FYI), but for now, I'm falling asleep as I type.

Buenas