Panama to Costa Rica : What a load of bananas!

El Valle De Anton

Around 4 hours north of Panama City is a community which is nestled in the mouth of a giant inactive volcano.  The small town is pretty spread out and there are a lot of Americans who live there in retirement.  I found a place to stay and called the owner called Juan when I was in Panama City, informing him that I will call him when I arrive there by bus, so that he could pick me up from the bus stop.  When I arrived, I called him from my Panama cellphone (I bought a cheap cellphone in every country that I visited).  This is how the conversation went....

Me..    Juan, I have arrived, can you please pick me up ?
Juan..  Yeah sure, where are you ?
Me.. I am at Yin supermarket (one of only 3 in the village, owned by a Chinese family)
Juan..  OK, that's good.
Me..  I will wait for you, how long will you be ?
Juan..  Where are you ?
Me..  I am at Yin supermarket, do you know it ?
Juan.. Yeah.
Me..  OK, I look forward to seeing you then.
Juan..  Are you still in Panama City ?
Me.. No, I just said, I am outside the Yin supermarket ?
Juan.. Oh ok. 
Me.. So when are you coming ?
Juan..  Are you in El Valle De Anton ?
Me (getting quite frustrated by now and finding it difficult to contain my calm)...Yes, I have mentioned a number of times that I am at Yin supermarket and you said you knew it.  YIN, do you know it ?
Juan.. No, I don¨t.
Me (trying to keep my sanity)... Y-I-N
Juan.. Oh, yes, I will be there in 10 minutes.
Me...What type of vehicle will you be using so that I can look out for it ?
Juan...a yellow 4x4
Me..Oh good (as I had my big backpack and small backpack which took a lot of space).

Ten minutes later, I see Juan (a tall, skinny guy, late 50s, with thick glasses and looking like a farmer who has just ploughed a field) there with a yellow quad bike (ATV).  I couldn't believe my eyes.  I don't know how I got to his house with my bags.  The helmet he gave me to wear was around 5 sizes too big so my head was banging around in it the whole time.  His house was like a farm, with all sorts of animals including a horse and loads of chickens who decided that the best place in the several acre garden to make a lot of noise was right outside my door.  So, it was my daily ritual to run after them so they scattered to the other end of the garden.  The garden was amazing, containing a cashew nut tree, mango trees, and lots of other fruit trees.

This area is known for its hiking and fresh air.  Visitors hike to the rim of the volcano so that they can see the crater.  There are many trails and waterfalls around.


Boquete

This place is very close to the Costa Rica border, near the town called David in Panama.  Boquete is a beautiful hilly town, with rivers and waterfalls surrounding it and lots of wildlife.  It is famous for being the coffee growing region of Panama.  There are thousands of American retirees there and the Panama currency is the US Dollar so at times I felt like I was in Napa Valley.  I went white water rafting on a grade 3 plus river with an American family based in the Bahamas.  In their group was a 75 year old grandmother and a 6 year old girl which was quite brave of them.  We had a picnic on the bank of the river, half way through the trip.

I developed a foot infection because I had picked some dead skin on the bottom of my foot which went deep and then I was walking around on the beach at San Blas.  By the time I got to Boquete, I could hardly walk.  I was trying to find a doctor in town to see it so I randomly walked into a store and saw a couple of American women and asked them if they knew any good doctors in town.  One of them said that she kept the town's medical database up to date and knew all the doctors.  She drove me to the best doctor in town and he was great.  I was put on a couple of courses of antibiotics which did the trick. 

I found a lovely room in a house with a fully equipped kitchen, a dining room, and bathroom with hot water.  The landlady was very nice to me and only charged 10 Dollars per night.

Alajuela, Costa Rica

I flew to Costa Rica from David, Panama.  The airport was very small and only had around 3 flights per day.  I was checking in for Air Panama and the guy checking me in was called Elvis.  He said that I had to pay around 25 Dollars for exit tax so I said I would pay it if he sang Blue Suede Shoes.  He said that he only sang in the bathroom so I paid up anyway.  Wasn't the last place they found Elvis in the bathroom back in 1977 ?

I went upstairs and sat down and had a cup of tea in the restaurant with a good view of the runway.  The owner of the restaurant was an Iranian guy who had lived in the UK and the US.  He could have written a book about his life, he had done so much.  Unfortunately, he had developed tongue cancer so most of his tongue had been cut out, which made it hard for him to speak properly.

Alajuela is a quaint small town, around 25 minutes away from the capital, San Jose, Costa Rica, which looks quite rough and unattractive.  Alajuela has colourful buildings and nice green squares, as well as traditional eateries and cafes.  It is a lot more expensive here than in Panama.  I stayed in this town for a few days and visited a nearby active volcano called Poás, which was quite awesome.  The local bus from Alajuela took around an hour to reach the Poás volcano.   The entrance was around US $10 for foreigners and around US $2 for locals.  This double pricing happens everywhere in Latin America. 

In the mid afternoons, it would suddenly rain cats and dogs, with thunder and lightning.  Rivers would be flowing down roads in a matter of minutes.  One day, I was trying to book my flight to Cuba in an internet shop and just as I was about to click on the pay button, having filled all the forms and info required, lightning struck and the computers went down......grrrrr

Arenal Volcano

I took a bus from Alajuela to Arenal Volcano.  It took around 6 hours, with a 20 minute stop somewhere.  The volcano is massive and is still active.  The last time it erupted was in the 1960s and is due to erupt again soon.  The locals are nervous about the prospect of it erupting again because last time many people died.  The lava has stopped flowing so that is a sign that something is about to happen.  The town at the foothills of this volcano is quite sleepy and doesn't really have much character.  There is a trail that goes to a nature reserve with a wonderful waterfall which is worth visiting.  The main square at night is nice as well.  It is best to stay a couple of nights and then to move on.

Bus-Boat-Bus to Monteverde

I took this combination transportation to get to Monteverde.  The intial bus ride was good in terms of being able to see Arenal Volcano from the other side.  The boat ride was quite nice as well, but the best part of the journey was the 2nd bus to Monteverde, which drove over mountains and through valleys, through lush green vegetation and beside streams.  A truly beautiful site, which I would recommend to everyone.

Monteverde

This place is a village that looks more like a ski resort and the nearby Monteverde Cloud Forest is truly breath-taking.  It has a circular trail that takes around 6 hours to complete.  I did the whole trail and was quite tired by the end of it but so exhilarated and happy.  The trees are so old and so huge, and the birds are beautiful.  It was like walking through Jurassic Park....so ancient!  I highly recommend it.  Take a pair of binoculars.  At one high up vista, on a good clear day, you are supposed to be able to see both oceans.  The coffee in this region is the best in Costa Rica.  It is exported to all corners of the world.