Panama Border August 3
Our last morning in Cahuita-we got up
early and posted some postcards as we were about to leave Costa Rica
and they had Costa Rican stamps. The PO was down a sandy side road
and right next to the police station. The coppers were there-chatting
and laughing and not looking at all concerned about potential crime
in Cahuita! We went searching for the sloths again but they had moved
on-alas no sign of a raccoon either. Oh well-after a breakfast of
muesli and long life milk we set off. First a 10 minute walk to the
bus station. We had just bought our ticket -$US3.50-to Sixaola the
border town when the bus appeared. Bags in the side-DIY again no
driver or sidekick assistance-and onto the crowded bus-luckily we got
seats. The bus took us down the coast road to Puerta Viejo which
looks a great place to stay-lovely beaches and lots of bars and
restaurants. We headed inland and uphill and stopped at BriBri where
a lot of people got off but even more got on! The bus got hotter and
the windows steamed up as we wound our way through the hills. It
looked as if people had been shopping at the markets and we dropped
them off every few hundred metres along the way. As we got closer to
Sixaola there were huge banana plantations with irrigation channels
running through them and blue plastic bags over many of the bunches
of bananas. There was a cable system a couple of metres off the
ground along the length of the plantations where a man sitting in a
seat suspended from the cable propelled himself along using a long
stick-saves his legs I guess- although it is used to transport the
bunches of bananas to the packing sheds where the bananas are washed
and dried before being loaded into huge containers for transport.
The bus stopped in a dirty street just
parallel to the highway-full of shops and people -and we walked up a
slight incline to the approach to a bridge, built in 1908 by the
banana growing United Fruit Company, which crosses the Rio Sixaola
forming the border between Costa Rica and Panama. At this end of the
bridge behind a barrier was a small office where we had to fill in a
form and have our passport stamped with an exit stamp-all very
straightforward and reasonably fast. Now we were in No Mans
Land-heading onto a large,high,long metal bridge with a railway line
running down the middle and uneven planks at either side for
pedestrians. The planks were hanging on with nails in places-not at
all in others-there were broken planks, cracked planks and in some
places no plank at all! just a good view of the river metres below!
And there was a car coming! Its wheels on our planks! Walking over
this bridge fully laden with a backpack and a day pack- in front
blocking the view of our feet -sweating with the high humidity and
heat-was no easy task! There was only a waist high wire mesh fence
down the sides of the bridge-the only barrier between us and the long
drop into the water below! We did make it though- only to find
ourselves at the end of a long stationary queue-we weren't going
anywhere fast. It took an hour and a half to get to the little office
where ONE man was checking passports, taking details and stamping
them! It could have been worse-we had read that the office closes for
lunch and as we had arrived at 11.30 we thought we were going to be
caught. But Panama came through and soldiered on-lucky us! As we were
waiting a huge truck came across the bridge-glad we weren't
crossing-although there were little bays at intervals across the
bridge to stand in and allow traffic past there wouldn't be much room
to spare.
Now we were in Panama at Guabito-we
were ushered into a minivan taxi by some Panama tourist guides for
the trip to Changuinola, an hour away, where we had to catch a water
taxi to get to Isla Colon. We had time to change our calones to
$US-the currency of Panama- in the supermarket run by Spanish
Chinese- then it was all aboard-all 13 of us at $US10 a pop! We could
have caught a chicken bus for 40c but we took the soft option. So
packed in like sardines-with knees touching- we set off-luckily the
van was air conditioned! We all sat there-trying not to look at each
other and touch each other too much-very awkward and uncomfortable!
We got to the water
taxi depot , bought a ticket for $US4 and got onto a small speedboat.
We were a large enough group to fill the boat but two tourists
didn't have seats as there were two local schoolgirls on board. A
tourist guide tried to convince them to get off and allow the
tourists on but they refused. We couldn't squeeze them in as there
are limits to people numbers and luggage weight which are enforced
here-anywhere else in Central America it wouldn't be a problem! After
some persuasion in Spanish the girls did get off and allow the
tourists on-they didn't look too happy about it and who can blame
them. It was a short trip-life jackets compulsory-only about 20
minutes across to Bocus Del Toro although a bit wet down in the back
seat with sea spray coming in! When we got off there were guys all
touting for business offering to carry bags or offers of
accomodation. We told them we had reservations-a lie- and set off up
the street. Luckily the hostel we had in mind was just up the street
on the next corner so we looked like we knew where we were going!
Hansis had been recommended to us by Lea-an American we had met at
Gaudys in San Jose – and it was great. Clean, fresh, and modern
with a great kitchen and a lovely black cat sunning himself at the
entrance. Unfortunately they didn't have any double rooms-we were
just deciding what to do next when they came through-they had one
single room with shared bathroom for $US11 and a dorm bed with
ensuite for $US10 per night-sold! After settling into our rooms we
wandered about the place-only one main street -at least five
supermarkets ( all Spanish-Chinese owned and operated) souvenir
shops, bakeries, fruteria y legumbreria (fruit and vege) shops with
not overly fresh stock, and plenty of little tour operators offering
trips to the surrounding islands. Needless to say there are a large
number of bars and restaurants offering everything from Carribean
style fish to pizza. We settled for fish n chips! In a lovely little
place over the water-sitting out on the small deck in the warm
night air-cooked by a French cook and served in a newspaper cone with
vinegar and horseradish mayo-very nice!
On the way back to
Hansis we stopped in at the souvenir shop on the corner-the shop
keeper was enjoying a beer and a chat with his mates out on the
footpath-I think he may have been enjoying something else as well as
he seemed very mellow when he came into the shop-all giggles and
smiles! They partied on for quite some time-we could see them and
hear the loud reggae from the hostel. Life on a tropical island!
