Boquete is the place where I have worked for the past two and a half months. Las Lajas and Bocas del Toro are the places where I spent my vacations. And Puerto Viejo is the place where I will work for the next 3 months.
Sonntag, 8. November 2009
Location, Location, Location
I've just realized that most of you probably don't know where exactly in Panama I am or where I'll be living in Costa Rica. So, that's why I stole a map from Googlemaps and highlighted a few places.
Boquete is the place where I have worked for the past two and a half months. Las Lajas and Bocas del Toro are the places where I spent my vacations. And Puerto Viejo is the place where I will work for the next 3 months.
Boquete is the place where I have worked for the past two and a half months. Las Lajas and Bocas del Toro are the places where I spent my vacations. And Puerto Viejo is the place where I will work for the next 3 months.
Samstag, 7. November 2009
Time to Go!
A break-in at one of the hotel apartments, floodings in Boquete and partly of our house and continuuous rain: time to leave Panama and go to Costa Rica!
Well, those are, of course, not the reasons for me to leave. The real reasons are having to do with
- my boss with whom I live together and I don't have a good relationship with
- the fact that the house I live in is the hotel reception at the same time and I have the feeling that I can never relax
- not having my own room
- having too many rules in that house....
I simply feel too restricted. I like the work here, but I just don't feel comfortable here and I can't be myself.
I have lived together with many people and families and so far I've never had problems. But I know that some people just can't get along well and if there's no chemistry, then I think it's the best to change location.
Of course, not everything is bad. Boquete is small, but you always have somewhere to go to on weekends. I love the two dogs and the cat. And I found out that the Rottweiler is just like me: we both can be very dramatic! :-P
I'll be going to a super expensive hotel close to Puerto Viejo and close to a beach. I'm excited to see who and what is awaiting me there!
Well, those are, of course, not the reasons for me to leave. The real reasons are having to do with
- my boss with whom I live together and I don't have a good relationship with
- the fact that the house I live in is the hotel reception at the same time and I have the feeling that I can never relax
- not having my own room
- having too many rules in that house....
I simply feel too restricted. I like the work here, but I just don't feel comfortable here and I can't be myself.
I have lived together with many people and families and so far I've never had problems. But I know that some people just can't get along well and if there's no chemistry, then I think it's the best to change location.
Of course, not everything is bad. Boquete is small, but you always have somewhere to go to on weekends. I love the two dogs and the cat. And I found out that the Rottweiler is just like me: we both can be very dramatic! :-P
I'll be going to a super expensive hotel close to Puerto Viejo and close to a beach. I'm excited to see who and what is awaiting me there!
Our own Coffee
Richard, a friend and neighbor of Isla Verde, invited us to his coffee tour. And his tours are special because you can roast your own coffee. I still don't know much about coffee although it was my second tour already, but I can tell you that much: If you barely roast your coffee, it will taste a bit more like lemon. If you roast your coffee really dark, it mostly just tastes bitter. So, we decided to do a medium roast and Ina, my sister, did the roasting. That and what I already wrote in my older blog entry about coffee is about as much as I know, so enjoy the pictures! :-P
Surrounded by Water
After Las Lajas we went to Bocas del Toro; probably the most touristy place in Panama. It consists of several islands in the Atlantik.
Although it's only about 200 km away from Boquete, it took us forever to get there. To get to the other side you have to take a bus that goes over some very high mountains and for only $7 you get 5 hours of excitement because the bus doesn't slow down because of tight curves. It was like a rollercoaster ride without the safety precautions.
However, the fun was not over after the bus ride. To get to the islands, you have to take a speed boat from Almirante. My sister really wasn't a fan of it, but I loved it! :-P By the way, Almirante (the town where the boats leave from) is the ugliest town I've seen in Panama so far.
When we arrived on Isla Colon during the early evening hours, we were a bit surprised to see Bocas Town so empty: we even saw vultures. However, we later found out that Bocas is a party town and before 9 pm at night nobody is out on the streets.
The hotel room we had booked surprised us in a positive way though. My boss had said that found it too sterile. But to be honest, if I have my own computer, a fridge, a flatscreen-TV with English channels, hot showers with good water pressure (Have I told you that so far I haven't had a hot shower at the hotel where I work? On good days, the water is luke warm. But of course, our guests always have hot water. :-/), and airconditioning in a room, it can be as tasteless as cardboard and I will still enjoy it. Especially when it's as cheap as this room was.
In general I really liked Bocas although it's very hot and humid, pretty run down in some parts and everything is even slower than in Boquete. There was just one big downside: There are no good beaches close to Bocas Town. You always have to take a bus or water taxi to the beaches and they charge very high prices for tourists. (That was the one beach that was close to Bocas Town, ugly and full of garbage. But wait: The nice beaches will come.)
On our first day we decided to take a water taxi to the small island of Carenero. It's the closest to the island of Colon and we were hoping to find a good beach there. Although the taxi driver of the boat told us in which direction the beach is, I prefered to at first look around the island. However, it turned out that this island is only pretty on one side. On the other side you are walking through slums where the huts don't have a sewage system. But some of them had electricity and an antenna for TV on the roof. But once you've crossed the slums, you came to very rich houses built by an US-American firm and very beautiful places. We found out that you can't walk all around the island. So we had to go back through the slums to find the beach. I like walking and discovering new and sometimes not so pretty places, but I think that my sister didn't really like our little trip into the slums and the jungle! :-P
On our third day we went on a snorkeling trip. And surprise, surprise: There was a really cute Panamanian snorkeling guide with us! :-P At first we went to Dolphin Bay and were looking for some dolphins. We even saw some, but it turns out: taking pictures of fast-moving animals is not easy. I think I got one picture where you can see a tiny bit of a fin! Snorkeling was fun though. They still have really nice reefs...and some dead ones already. Unfortunately, the first snorkeling ground was full of jellyfish and although most of them didn't sting, it was still a bit of a pain to avoid them. The next place where we snorkeled was without jellyfish and also very pretty. There was just one thing that bothered me: Right after I had jumped into the water, something really big passed by me. Since I can't wear my glasses in water and had forgotten to take my contacts with me, I couldn't see what it was. But it might have been a shark; one of the not dangerous ones though. Nethertheless, t did unnerve me a bit! And one of the stops on that tour was at a very pretty beach. But there was a downside of it, too: sandflies...ouch!!! Unfortunately, I don't have an underwater camera, so no pictures from pretty fish! :-(
Later that day we decided to go out. There are always bars on the island that have ladies night. And at the first bar which was built over a sunken ship, we met the cute snorkeling guide. It turns out that he is from Boquete, has lived in Germany (Berlin) before and will go back there in August. He confinced us to go to another bar on another island which also had ladies night. The water taxi right in the dark and in a way too full boat was more adventurous and safe. The other bar was full of US-American marines and the snorkeling guide felt kinda out of place. However, I fixed my sister up with some of the marines and went somewhere else with the cute guide! :-P
The next day my sister was so hung over that on the ride to Boca del Drago, a beach on Isla Colon, she got sick. I was doing fine though! :-P Boca del Drago is full of starfish...really cool!
Our last day we finally spent at the beach of Isla Carenero which was a very good choice because it barely had any sandflies.
All in all, it was a very nice trip with lots of mosquito bites. On our adventurous bus ride back we had a flat tire, but Panamanians are so used to it that it was exchanged quickly.
Although it's only about 200 km away from Boquete, it took us forever to get there. To get to the other side you have to take a bus that goes over some very high mountains and for only $7 you get 5 hours of excitement because the bus doesn't slow down because of tight curves. It was like a rollercoaster ride without the safety precautions.
However, the fun was not over after the bus ride. To get to the islands, you have to take a speed boat from Almirante. My sister really wasn't a fan of it, but I loved it! :-P By the way, Almirante (the town where the boats leave from) is the ugliest town I've seen in Panama so far.
When we arrived on Isla Colon during the early evening hours, we were a bit surprised to see Bocas Town so empty: we even saw vultures. However, we later found out that Bocas is a party town and before 9 pm at night nobody is out on the streets.
The hotel room we had booked surprised us in a positive way though. My boss had said that found it too sterile. But to be honest, if I have my own computer, a fridge, a flatscreen-TV with English channels, hot showers with good water pressure (Have I told you that so far I haven't had a hot shower at the hotel where I work? On good days, the water is luke warm. But of course, our guests always have hot water. :-/), and airconditioning in a room, it can be as tasteless as cardboard and I will still enjoy it. Especially when it's as cheap as this room was.
In general I really liked Bocas although it's very hot and humid, pretty run down in some parts and everything is even slower than in Boquete. There was just one big downside: There are no good beaches close to Bocas Town. You always have to take a bus or water taxi to the beaches and they charge very high prices for tourists. (That was the one beach that was close to Bocas Town, ugly and full of garbage. But wait: The nice beaches will come.)
On our first day we decided to take a water taxi to the small island of Carenero. It's the closest to the island of Colon and we were hoping to find a good beach there. Although the taxi driver of the boat told us in which direction the beach is, I prefered to at first look around the island. However, it turned out that this island is only pretty on one side. On the other side you are walking through slums where the huts don't have a sewage system. But some of them had electricity and an antenna for TV on the roof. But once you've crossed the slums, you came to very rich houses built by an US-American firm and very beautiful places. We found out that you can't walk all around the island. So we had to go back through the slums to find the beach. I like walking and discovering new and sometimes not so pretty places, but I think that my sister didn't really like our little trip into the slums and the jungle! :-P
On our third day we went on a snorkeling trip. And surprise, surprise: There was a really cute Panamanian snorkeling guide with us! :-P At first we went to Dolphin Bay and were looking for some dolphins. We even saw some, but it turns out: taking pictures of fast-moving animals is not easy. I think I got one picture where you can see a tiny bit of a fin! Snorkeling was fun though. They still have really nice reefs...and some dead ones already. Unfortunately, the first snorkeling ground was full of jellyfish and although most of them didn't sting, it was still a bit of a pain to avoid them. The next place where we snorkeled was without jellyfish and also very pretty. There was just one thing that bothered me: Right after I had jumped into the water, something really big passed by me. Since I can't wear my glasses in water and had forgotten to take my contacts with me, I couldn't see what it was. But it might have been a shark; one of the not dangerous ones though. Nethertheless, t did unnerve me a bit! And one of the stops on that tour was at a very pretty beach. But there was a downside of it, too: sandflies...ouch!!! Unfortunately, I don't have an underwater camera, so no pictures from pretty fish! :-(
Later that day we decided to go out. There are always bars on the island that have ladies night. And at the first bar which was built over a sunken ship, we met the cute snorkeling guide. It turns out that he is from Boquete, has lived in Germany (Berlin) before and will go back there in August. He confinced us to go to another bar on another island which also had ladies night. The water taxi right in the dark and in a way too full boat was more adventurous and safe. The other bar was full of US-American marines and the snorkeling guide felt kinda out of place. However, I fixed my sister up with some of the marines and went somewhere else with the cute guide! :-P
The next day my sister was so hung over that on the ride to Boca del Drago, a beach on Isla Colon, she got sick. I was doing fine though! :-P Boca del Drago is full of starfish...really cool!
Our last day we finally spent at the beach of Isla Carenero which was a very good choice because it barely had any sandflies.
All in all, it was a very nice trip with lots of mosquito bites. On our adventurous bus ride back we had a flat tire, but Panamanians are so used to it that it was exchanged quickly.
Mittwoch, 4. November 2009
Windows are Good!
My sister came to visit me in Panama. And our first stop was Las Lajas, a 13 km long beach on the Pacific side.
Eva, my boss, recommended that we stay with a German couple that has a bar at the beach. The rooms are very cheap, only 5$ per night per person. And since I didn't want to spent much money, I liked the idea. However, when we arrived we were a bit confused about the definition of "a room". It was on top of the bar and it didn't have any windows. I didn't mind that it only had a mattress and otherwise very simple furniture. But with the location being directly at the beach, the "room" was incredibly sandy. The sand was just everywhere: in the bed, in our bags, on our skin.... The owners of the bar also didn't have any windows in their room. I mean, it was kinda fun to live so close to the nature and beach for 2 nights, but I doubt that I would like to live like that for 2 years.
Well, the view was georgeous though, the Pacific warm and the beach empty. So far I haven't seen a crowded beach in Panama.
During the weekend we were there, the German couple had organized a Oktoberfest with tyical music and food. The food was absolutely delicious, especially after not having had German food for nearly 2 months! And since my sister lives in Munich and has been to the Oktoberfest many times, she taught me the funny dances to the typical music: the dances are so easy because you also have to be able to do them after 4 litres of beer. However, the Panamanian guests of the bar were quite shocked when they saw us dance. I guess, they don't know what fun is.
Eva, my boss, recommended that we stay with a German couple that has a bar at the beach. The rooms are very cheap, only 5$ per night per person. And since I didn't want to spent much money, I liked the idea. However, when we arrived we were a bit confused about the definition of "a room". It was on top of the bar and it didn't have any windows. I didn't mind that it only had a mattress and otherwise very simple furniture. But with the location being directly at the beach, the "room" was incredibly sandy. The sand was just everywhere: in the bed, in our bags, on our skin.... The owners of the bar also didn't have any windows in their room. I mean, it was kinda fun to live so close to the nature and beach for 2 nights, but I doubt that I would like to live like that for 2 years.
Well, the view was georgeous though, the Pacific warm and the beach empty. So far I haven't seen a crowded beach in Panama.
During the weekend we were there, the German couple had organized a Oktoberfest with tyical music and food. The food was absolutely delicious, especially after not having had German food for nearly 2 months! And since my sister lives in Munich and has been to the Oktoberfest many times, she taught me the funny dances to the typical music: the dances are so easy because you also have to be able to do them after 4 litres of beer. However, the Panamanian guests of the bar were quite shocked when they saw us dance. I guess, they don't know what fun is.
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