Paradise beaches and mysterious mountains

"Imagine a turquoise tropical archipelago with one island for every day of the year.  With white sand and waving palms, these Caribbean islands cheat no one's version of paradise." 

This is what Lonely Planet says about the islands in the San Blas archipelago and my goodness me is it true!!  We took an extremely windy and hilly 4x4 transfer from Panama City to Carti, basically a hut along the side of a river with locals selling soda and snacks while the tourists wait for boats to the islands.  We had asked at the hostel and been recommended three islands to go to.  We picked one and told the little man with the note book where we wanted to go.  Well, several boats came and went and we didn't get called.  Several more came and went and still we sat and waited.  After asking various different people, we discovered that we were supposed to be going to a different island than what we thought as our transfer driver had booked it for us.  We finally got on a boat 3 hours after arriving at the river side.

The boat trip was fast and extremely wet.  Peeking a glimpse of the tropical islands proved difficult as the salt water battered our faces and stung our eyes as the boat sped along.  However, the drenching and stinging eyes were well worth it when we finally arrived and glimpsed the first views of our idyllic, perfect, tiny tropical island.

The islands in the San Blas archipelago are all owned and inhabited by the Kuna Yala people.  'Senidup' island is run by an exceptionally friendly guy  named Tony.  He welcomed us, showed us around and then it was time to chill and relax.

Our little island couldn't have been more than 75 metres across so it was easy to walk around.  We spent three days on the islands soaking up the sun, bathing in the tropical waters of the Caribbean and dining on fresh fish.  We took a boat trip one day to some of the other islands, went snorkelling around a ship wreck and strolled along the pristine beaches.  It really was paradise.


The only disturbance that we had in paradise was a midnight intruder into our little hut.  One other girl in the dorm hut started screaming at 1.45am and woke us all up with a terrible fright.  Somebody was in the hut!!  We were all totally freaked out and then couldn't sleep for the rest of the night.  Morning brought lots of discussion about it and eventually, after a few far fetched ideas we settled on the fact that somebody came into the wrong hut, thought it was his bag and bed but ran as soon as we started screaming and he realised that he was in the wrong hut.  All very scary but amusing now that we can look back on it.

Enjoying a stroll around the island.

Up close with a starfish!

The beautiful island of Senidup.

We said goodbye to Tony after three amazing days and took a much slower boat ride back through the many many islands to the main land.  Our driver was there to greet us and this time he had more people in the car so we were squashed in like sardines in a tin for the two and a half hour drive back to the city.


Our only afternoon in Panama was spent visiting the spectacular Panama Canal.  They say that it is a master piece of engineering and they are not kidding.  We arrived just in time to see a HUGE boat going through the Miraflores Locks.  I've never seen a boat as big.  It was slowly lowered in the lock and then gradually edged it's way through the narrow lock out to the other side and continued on it's journey to the Pacific Ocean.  The ships take about 8 hours to go through the whole canal from side to side.  There was a very interesting presentation and museum.  The whole thing was fascinating and quite unbelievable.

The ships get pulled along through the locks.

Slowly the lock doors open to allow the 
ship through.

Leaving Panama City behind we took the long bus ride to David.  I'm not a fan of this bus ride as it takes about 11 hours in total from Panama to Boquete and I have already done it twice.  Three times was definitely enough!

It was lovely to be back in Boquete though with the cooler climate and mysterious cloud shrouded mountains.  Two days here were filled with walking, admiring views of the area from ideal vantage points, drinking tea and enjoying meals out.  As last time we were hear Amy and I were staying with a local family, it was very refreshing to sample some of the local restaurants and be able to choose what it was that we wanted to eat!!  We also took Jo to visit 'My garden is your garden' as it is so beautiful.  Two private houses have these amazing grounds and let the pubic stroll through and enjoy it as well.  

We took a trip to the natural hot springs in Caldera one afternoon.  Three extremely warm pools surrounded by cute stone walls are located on a farm in the middle of nowhere!  The owners allow the tourists to visit for a minimal fee.  The addition of the cool river to freshen up if the pools get too hot is a major bonus!  The farm has a pet monkey who we were warned was very cheeky.  We found this out only too quickly when he stole Jo's t-shirt and decided to put it on.  What followed was an hilarious display of acrobatics and daring manoeuvres while he tried to get the t-shirt on.  We watched and laughed!!  Needless to say we were then hunting out rocks to pin our stuff down with!

Boquete.

Enjoying the heat of the hot springs.

The cheeky money with Jo's t-shirt!

The picturesque 'My garden is your garden'.

Tomorrow we are leaving the cool mountains of Boquete and heading back up to the Caribbean Sea to the archipelago of Bocas del Torro.  It looks like another paradise with tropical waters and white sandy beaches. Lets wait and see!

A fortnight of Spanish lessons

After what seemed like forever, what with long flights and long stopovers I arrived in Panama City feeling extremely jetlagged and very tired.  However, I was delighted to see my friend Amy once I got to the hostel and she kept me awake with chatting and planning out trip until 10pm that first night!  I was stil wide awake at 4.30am the next morning as my poor body had no idea what time it should be on!!

We headed straight to Boquete which is heading towards the Costa Rican border and in the mountains of western Panama.  Much cooler than Panama City and surrounded by cloud forest, Boquete proved an idyllic location to spends two weeks.

Views across the mountains above 
Boquete town.

A view of the town from the bridge.

We stayed with a friendly Panamanian family in the small suburb of Los Naranjos, about a 30 minute walk outside of the town. We were extremely well fed by the grandmother and enjoyed chatting and laughing with the daughter and grandson as well.

The family we stayed with in Boquete.

We attended school in the town 5 afternoons each week and were very studious, studying in the cafes in the morning as well as doing more homework at night.  I was lucky enough to end up with private lessons on the first week.  This really helped me to progress and learn a lot.  I can now read and write quite confidently the basic things, but speaking is proving infinitely more difficult.  It takes me a long time to translate what I want to say in my head and then even more time to speak it in Spanish. My aim now is to get more confident at speaking the things that I have learnt over the last two weeks.

Spending the morning studying in one 
of the many cafes.

We made use of the weekend that we had between our two weeks of study with an exhilarating trip along 12 zip lines through the tree canopy of the cloud forest.  I was initially rather terrified, but after the first one, was whizzing along at speed and addingg sound effects as I flew along!  We strolled through country lanes, alongside coffee farms and took in pretty views of the surrounding areas.  The Pipeline trail was a pretty walk and gave us the chance to see the beautiful, brightly coloured Quetzale bird.  Having a guide on the walk proved essential as otherwise we never would have spotted the birds hiding among the high branches in the thick forest.

Getting ready to whizz along the line!

Up close with a coffee bean fruit!

The beautiful Quetzal bird.

Learning some salsa moves at the school 
on Saturday morning.

It has been a really good two weeks in Boquete learning Spanish, experiencing the Panamanian hospitality and exploring the local area.  I'm now back in Panama City and our other friend Jo has just arrived so now the real travel can begin!!  We are heading out to the Caribbean Sea tomorrow to the archipelago called San Blas.

The last parts of New Zealand

This was my third visit to New Zealand and I cannot explain or describe how much I love it there.  It is such a beautiful, diverse country with an amazing amount of things to do.  Needless to say with the planning mentality that I have, I already have the next two visits here in my mind!

Christmas in New Zealand is always odd for me.  When the sun is shining, the sky is a brilliant blue and the temperature is about 28 degrees, it is simply not Christmas!  I had time off from work so I went back to Queenstown and decided to do another 6 day walk.  I enjoyed the others that I had done so much and this particular one had been highly recommended for its diverse scenery and amazing views.  I was not in the slightest disappointed as the walk know as the ‘Grand Traverse’ was by far the most spectacular out of all the walks that I did.  It is a combination of 2 trails – The Greenstone Track and the Routeburn Track.  We were blessed with 6 days of glorious sunshine so the strenuous climbs were rewarded with stunning views across the valleys and out to the Tasman Sea.  The sense of achievement was extremely high, especially the scramble to the top of Conical Hill.

Views down to Lake Howden.

The beautiful Mount Cook Lily.

Views from the top of Conical Hill.

On my return to Queenstown, feeling elated after such an amazing 6 days, I went in search of more adrenaline pumping action in the form of white water rafting and river boarding.  I’m a bit of a white water rafting addict and take every opportunity that arises to do it.  However, I was rather disappointed with the whole thing because the rapids were small and there weren’t actually that many in total. 

Luckily, my spirits were quickly lifted with my first escapade at ‘River Boarding’.  A basic definition of this is that you travel down the river for 7 kms on a boogie board, through rapids classed as grade 2 and 3 (which is the middle as the most you can raft when white water rafting is 5).  It was absolutely fabulous fun and I smiled the whole way down the river, even when I was submerged by a rapid!!  At the end of the 5km of rapids, the guides got the jet ski and whizzed us down the flat 2km of the river to the company ‘shack’.  Before we finished, we took turns on the super fun water slide and equally enjoyable swing.  After initial nerves, I was flying down the slide on my board and skidding into the middle of the river.  The swing proved to be rather more scary and I never quite mastered letting go of the rope and landing properly in the water because I was scared of the freefall.  My landings frequently consisted of a body flop, splat or head plant on the water!!  Certainly nothing graceful!

Rapids approaching, hang on!!

Skidding of the slide into the river!

I enjoyed a lovely few days with my parents and I tagged along as they travelled south down the coast from the top of the South Island. We spent a lovely two days in Wanaka, walking, jet boating and enjoying lovely food. However, the highlight for me was speeding down the luge, racing my mother!!

Going over the hill and mother 
is in the lead!!

Enjoying the views over Queenstown 
from the Skyline Gondola.

After finishing work, I headed up to Bay of Islands for my last few days in this spectacular country.  An area that I had not previously visited, it is at the very top of the north island and renowned for stunning beaches and beautiful bays. 

A day trip to the very tip of the island, Cape Reinga was well worth it to learn a little about the Maori legends and to see the meeting of the Tasman and Pacific oceans.  The tough climb up the pristine sand dunes gave good 360 degree views and was worth all the panting and sore calf muscles!  The pacific ocean lapped along the shores of the extremely long ’90 mile beach’ and delicate cloud formations allowed for some seriously fantastic photos.

Having fun on 90 mile beach.

It was then farewell to one of my favourite places in the world and time to head off to pastures new, meet with friends and carry on this rollercoaster adventure in the previously unexplored area of Central America.

Exciting times lay ahead!!