Larissa's "when she feels like writing stuff" page

I flew into Ft. Lauderdale at 530pm with a 6 hr layover. I couldn’t see myself spending the long duration in the airport, so immediately searched for something to do. The beach was within a skip and jump away, so decided to find a nice restaurant/bar to enjoy. I hopped in a taxi with Spazio's as the destination. The restaurant, as described in Yelp, was a Mediterranean restaurant with a live band and good food. Apparently Yelp didn’t understand the difference between Italian and Mediterranean, because, well, Calzone was high on the menu and what my stomach decided on. I had a beer, enjoyed a 12” pie of Calzone while spectating the locals and tourists strolling the beach. The most interesting character was a late middle age man dressed in a thong, hiking boots and a purple sweater. Yes, that’s it. He was undeniably striving for attention, which he definitely received. He enjoyed the gawking and shook his nalgas in enjoyment. Not the most pleasant scene.

After a quick dinner and beer, I headed over to another bar… that had a large number of beers on tap. The bar was an outdoor , quant place of moderate interest. I chatted with the bar tender and a fellow from Connecticut; the second person I’ve ever met from Connecticut. I had a couple beers and decided I should grab a cab and head back to the not so awesome airport to ensure I made it to Panama…apparently my Mother was worried I’d wander and get ‘drunk’ :P. Of course I arrived too early and had to consume the rest of my waiting time with a couple more beers…at the sorry, don’t’ understand the purpose of chairs bar. 1130… I’m on my way to Panama.

Highlight of the day-> Limos to the airport or totally NOT a bad idea! $115 for home pickup and drop off in SFO. I totally need this for any flights leaving prior to 12pm.

Panama

I arrived in Panama City around 2am, grabbed my bags, went through immigration and met Anson outside. They had a hotel room at the nearby Marriott. I went into the room, snuck a quick “howdy” to Sarah, but unfortunately wasn’t able to see or greet Catalina and Koda. Bed it was…off for adventures in the morning.

Day 2:

This day consisted mostly of driving, driving and, um, waiting around. Once we got out of the hotel room we were off to return the car which reeked of rotten milk and pickup a new car. Apparently Anson’s milk had spilled in the car a few days earlier and the car seeped out fumes of spoiled milk nastiness. Koda wasn’t feeling too hot so we went on a search to find Tylenol and a thermometer. Hanging out in the humid and hot Super 99 and El Rey parking lots… finally items were found and we were off to…. McDonalds? Yes, babies need food and they love ‘dippies’ (McDonalds’ French toast)…feed kids, adults get café con leche. Panama has great café and my first café in the country is from McDonalds J

New car picked up, lengthy transaction, of course. Old car picked up… another lengthy transaction….there’s a theme… Once we’re packed into the new car (Yaris- 3 adults, 2 car seats- 5 bags), we head to Casco Antiguo. Casco Antiguo is the ‘old Panama city’; a beautiful, small village off the water. We grab some food. My first meal in Costa Rica is a Mediterranean salad… J

We walk around the small village, take a few pics and walk through a small market. I picked up a some type of wind instrument for a souvenir. I’ve recently started picking up musical instruments during my travels. In the past I’ve collected knives/swords, sorees and masks; musical instruments are a new addition. After the brief village stroll, we begin our long trek to Boguete.

David

The trip was estimated at ~2.5 hrs, but ended up taking about 6 hrs. We drove in the rain on a sketchy road for a decent way. We decided to stay in David and drive up to Boguete in the morning since it was another ~45 min in the night and in the rain. We went to TGIF for dinner and Wifi (Wifi hot spots are an important part of our travels). Second meal in Panama? TGIF! J Eat some food, find a hotel, drive off to check-in to the hotel. Sarah had gone into book the room and only specified 2 adults and 2 kids, the hotel employee confirmed- 2 adults, 2 kids, so Larissa had to ‘disguise or hide’ herself. Getting in the hotel was fine as we went from the garage. However, one of the employees came up to the room to setup a crib… not a pack and play, but a full on crib. I hid in the bathroom for about 30 minutes while the guy put together the crib. Not sure if you’ve tried it recently, but hanging out in the bathroom for 30 minutes isn’t the best of times. Anson and I finished the evening with a Jack and Coke and a Tican Mojito (Rum, lime juice and sugar cane water). Upon walking through the lobby to the bar (I was ‘playing Sarah’ to ensure our cover wasn’t pulled), Anson saw the employee at the front desk watching porn on the large flat screen affixed in the lobby. Was it Costa Rican porn? No idea :P

Highlight of the day-> Sarah getting pulled over for speeding. We acted like we didn't know any Spanish and after about 25 min, the cop gave up. Anson (who knows and speaks the best out of all of us) said in what sounded like an American- LA guy's voice ' No ENTIEEENNDDDO' and 'Discopa, discopa, discopa....' Hilarious!

Day 3:

Yah for Panamanian breakfast! I had some type of breakfast bread, meatballs and an egg dish. Café con leche, claro, y muy bueno! We finished breakfast, packed up shop and headed out on our ~45 minute journey to Boquete… to rainy, cold Boquete.

Boquete

Boquete is a beautiful town nestled in the mountains. There are only a few blocks of the city, with a river running through it. We found a very cute apartment to stay in. The facility had a very nice restaurant, bar and outdoor fire places in an eating area and lounge area. The place was right on the river.

There are many activities to do in Boquete: rock climbing, river rafting, ziplining, rappelling, hiking…. Unfortunately it was raining so much that the clan was not able to enjoy any of these activities. Anson and I ran off to hop in some hot springs for a bit, but that was the highlight of the day.

The hot springs are called Caldera and consist of ‘puddles’ and a ‘pool’. We had to drive to the hot springs, but weren’t able to drive the entire way due to the rain and the limitations of our 2wd little Yaris. We hiked a bit in ~ 35 min, to the entry point for the puddles and pools. The pool was 7 km away. With the rain, Sarah being in the apt watching the babies and time, we decided to head to the puddles which were about a 15 min walk away. The scenery was amazing! Beautiful views of various creeks, running water, the river and land. So green and lush with a gorgeous hazy mountain back drop.

The puddles were located on a local’s farm. We were charged $2 to enjoy the hot spring. The farm had an interesting mix of animals: chickens, dogs, donkeys, peacocks, ducks and a monkey. The monkey (which had some weird growth hanging from his nalgas) was hanging out with some folks who were enjoying the hot spring. The monkey was crawling around the people, being nosey and curious. The monkey took and drank a cup of coffee from one of the guys. This was a first. Anson and I enjoyed the other ‘puddle’, which had lukewarm water.. .there were hot spots as well as cold spots. This may have been due to the rain or it was a lowsy hot spring?

Anson and I had put our passports and wallet in a bag and set it aside us while we were in the hot spring. As my back was turned, the monkey started to get into the bag. Fortunately, Anson saw and I was able to grab the bag in time. Really? Sarah and I would have been stuck in Costa Rica and Anson broke because we were robbed by a lipstick showing monkey.

We headed back and grabbed dinner at the restaurant. I had some delicious red bell pepper and basil soup, a recipe I’m going to have to re-create.

Highlight of the day-> The Vodka and Ice Tea at the end of the night