PANAMA

Boca del Torro, Panama

Boca del Torro is a archipelago of islands on the Caribbean shores of Panama. I took a bus and then a boat through the national marine marine reserve to get to the main island but when i finally got there i wasn't that impressed. Just a lot of tourists. Not really my bag. I met these cool french guys on the way so we decided to get a hostel for the night and see. Next morning woke up and decided i wasn't gonna stay. They felt the same, so we ended up getting a boat to find a smaller more chilled island, which we did but not before i got my head shaved. I liked it. Anyway we landed this very cool place with rooms, hammocks, kitchen, decking out onto to sea and i just chilled with them for 3-4 days and had a good laugh before getting my sail boat to Colombia.

San Blas Islands, Panama

The San Blas islands are probably the purest collection of sea islands i have ever had the fortune to experience. There are some 350 islands in total, some being 3x3m with two trees others the size of a football pitch. Governed by the Kuna tribe of Panama, the islands have remained intact largely due to the Kuna tribe having 1 seat of the 7 at the Panamanian governing body that decides its fate. The Panama government would like to turn the islands into resorts and hotels, the Kuna tribe have stopped this until now. There are about 5000 inhabitants that live closely together on one main island and there are four smaller islands with four large huts spaced out on each island. Each family in turn spends three months in of the cabins, a sort of break from the main island. The picture below is of a typical sail boat they use for fishing. Our boat was just a little bigger.

I sailed from Colon in Panama through the islands to Cartegena with nine other really cool people and our crazy captain Guido, ze German. We set off at night and all took turns on night watch, looking out for electrical storms coming our way and cargo tankers. We all had to cook and wash up but other than that, of the five days we were at sea, we spent three of them on islands, swimming, relaxing and basically having a very hard life!

It was the first time i had ever experienced seeing dolphins in the wild. On the first night during my night watch i heard this splash in the quiet of the sea. Immediately i thought dolphins. I ran carefully to the front of the boat and in the moonlight there was this silver shiny dolphin swimming along. A second later, his mate was on the other side of the boat. Amazing. Just swimming in the wave of the boat. To top this however, during one of our days at sea, a family of seven dolphins came by the front wave of the boat. Jumping up and down, swimming, coming up for air. it was unbelievable. AND, i had my camera with me so i took a video - see below. Just beautiful.

COSTA RICA

Monteverde, Costa Rica

A couple of guys i traveled with in Isla Omepete in Nicaragua joined me to Costa Rica, Edward and Simon. It was a nightmare getting to the mountains of Monteverde purely because we missed our bus connections. We finally got there and it was very worth it. Very green verdant forest with sloths, macaws, butterflies and all sorts of insects. The first day we chilled but the second day we did a Canopy tour in the forest. We traversed 16+ zip lines through the rain forest. Some zip lines were 250metres long going across two valleys and some 150metres high. A lot of fun basically. You better get over a fear of heights! (i am still waiting for the pics).

The worst was the Tarzan swing. One guy didn't do it, stating "i got nothing to prove, i ain´t doing it". Basically he was shit scared, but trust me, we all were. I certainly wasn't mad about doing it, those who know me know i am not too keen on heights.

As i was standing at the top of this platform some 20metres in the air my heart was racing like hell. You had to jump free fall for 10metres until the rope took you out into the swing. I plucked up the courage and jumped. It was scary, the jump i mean. A free fall of 10m. The swing was just a lot of fun. You can see from the pics it was a right laugh. After that i wanted to do it a second time, ...but it wasn't possible.

San Luis Waterfall
Possibly the most magical waterfall i have experienced in my life. Ed, Simon and i took a taxi out of town towards this local waterfall. We got to the park, no one there, Sunday, so walked in for free. We walked through rain forest and along this river for about 45mins. Along the way we saw small waterfalls but we couldn't help thinking there was something bigger further ahead. We were so right. We came across larger and large pools of water when finally we saw this huge waterfall of some 50metres high and beyond that another large crevice hole from where the source was coming from. The reward was simple nature at its most beautiful. The water was pure, fresh ice cold, the sun baking hot, rainbows everywhere you looked. we lay there for hours that Sunday afternoon with no one else around us. Just us, Paradise and the moment. Check out the video below and tell me what you think.

I managed to take an awesome video (see below) and pics. I hope you like them. I hope you have a little day dream while at your office desk and think, this could be you too! ...because it could be!

Manuel Antonio, Pacific Coast
Finally i managed to get in some decent consistent surfing. Its the off season, no one around, a kilometer wide bay of golden sand (no rocks!) with perfect surf. I had found paradise. ...well at least another form of paradise in natures vast array of spectacles.

Tim, this guy i traveled with and i managed to cut a deal for 5 days, two boards, $10 a day. Sorted. We found this cool hostel and just surfed ours arses off from morning until dark for 5 days constant. Catching small and then bigger unbroken waves. We both improved no end. That's not to say i am the demon surfer i want to become, all in good time, but i made some real progress that week. Just awesome. I love surfing and if its at all possible i would like to live near a beach that has consistently good surf. I am sure that can be arranged, hahaha!

Punta Mona, Caribbean Coast
It takes a day to travel from the Pacific to the Caribbean coast in Costa Rica and you always have to go via the capital San Jose. Well i made it to Peurto Veujo, party central of the Costa Rican Caribbean, however when i rolled up at Rocking J´s hostel, well i just wasn't in the mood. Packed with loads of people on a mission to get wasted.
I had heard about this self sustaining organic permiculture farm, further down the coast not far from the Panama border. That was where i decided to head to. I got the local bus to take me as far as he could then i found out the rest had to be made via boat. Having tried to negotiate a deal, price of petrol is high, i got a local fisherman to take me some 45mins down the coast to this farm. The farm was very chilled. They grew all sorts of fruit and veg. The food was surprisingly good even if it looked weird and tasted a bit funny. They had one of those toilets which compost, meaning you have to throw in wood carvings after each time. Ummmm.
I dont have anymore pics yet but this is Shanon and i enjoying some star shaped fruit. it was delicious.

NICARAGUA

Leon & Granada, Nicaragua

Leon and Granada are two beautiful old colonel towns dating back to the Spanish colonizers of 1524. Both are very vibrant, colorful towns, with a student feel to them. All the houses are painted with different colors on their walls and doors. They both have a lot of connections with the politics of Nicaragua and the uprising and independence of the country.

I took some Spanish classes in Leon and learned a little more about the local culture from my teacher. A lawyer who could not get any work and so she turned her hand to teaching. She told me that the average wage was still about $40dollars a month and that half the country is still unemployed, it was still uncommon for a man today to have not only have a wife but also 4-5 other lovers (hence her divorce).

In the towns you have all types of shops you would need white goods (fridges, tv´s etc), supermarkets, chemists etc. However as soon as you leave the town for the countryside you see mainly four walled huts made of clay mud and a corrugated roofs. The majority working as subsistence farmers. That is also the way it is Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Very poor but great fun loving people. i loved Nicaragua.

Volcano Boarding, Leon

This was one of the maddest experiences i have had to date. Sledging down a live volcano on stones and rocks on a plank of wood at 68kph for about a km or 2! SHIT! At the foot of the volcano we were given protective suits, goggles for our eyes and a wooden sledge with a piece of plastic attached to the bottom for maximum speed. (see video below).

We walked up the side of this volcano for about an hour and a half in the baking sun. As you will see from the pics the view at the top was amazing. We got to the edge of the volcano and Gemma our guide said, you see that huge steep slope down there where you will be going, and it was long and steep, well the next drop which you cant see is even steeper and i don't want to see anyone breaking. Oh My God! The girls went first and had no major wipe outs. The guys went second, with Gemma saying she didnt want to see any guys breaking. and one guy did really well, not breaking at all. I was the last but one to go. Cruising down the first slope at full speed, only breaking slightly then i got to the second slope and i just felt the speed increase. I thought OH SHIT. You know when you ski full speed down a slope, sometimes you go too fast and just lose it co;pletely. Well. I was hacking it down, at least 40km i guess, then i thought oh shit, this is getting out of hand, small rocks flying into my face and body (thank god for the goggles). I tried to break a little with my feet but at that speed it was realy not easy to keep it together. Finally at full speed i wiped out just before the end of the last slope. It hurt. I rolled and rolled, body all loose, stones and dust everywhere. Finally coming to a stand still 20metres further on i slowly got up. My left wrist was bleading badly. it´s now scarred for life. My legs were scratched badly but they healed. All in all i was ok but it was a heavy tumble, not like faling on soft snow.

The funny thing is you know, i wanted to do it again. I wanted to do it again, get some practice so i could do all the slope at full speed. Crazy! Next time maybe, but it was a truly awesome and unique experience. Volcano boarding, you gotta try it! Leon, Nicaragua. Brilliant.

Isla Omepete

When i arrived on this island, the largest fresh water lake in Central America (178km x 68km) i immediately felt the chilled vibe. There are two volcano's, Madera (1400m) and Constantine, that make up the volcanic island. I stayed near Madera volcano with some other travelers i met on the boat. One day we did the 8hour hike up Madera volcano. Bloody hardcore, that's all i can say. After the first 2-3 grueling hours were over the last hour going up was just magical. I will never forget it. Crawling on hands and knees through Primary rain forest, trees of 400yrs old plus that couldn't grow straight up due to the wind so they grew sideways down the volcano. We literally crawled over and under roots to get to the top, wiping water from the moss of the branches to freshen up my face. I just felt like an interpid explorer. I loved it. At the top we had a clear view of the crater lake and chilled out and ate lunch. I have added some pics i hope you are able to appreciate the beauty of it. Words don't justify the beauty. Put it this way, its the first real Primary rain forst i have experienced, ...and it wont be the last. All Costa Rica is Secondary. Thats how precious the primary rain forest is. (see video below).

I also met some very cool Americans, Adam and Alinthian in Leon and Todd, Arrone and Duane. we chilled out and surfed at Las Palintas. ALL GOOD.