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A Zanzibar Christmas Carol

Wednesday, December 24th, 2008

Day 268

Waking up under a mosquito net in a bed wet with my sweat from the heat of the night isn’t exactly the way most Christmas eve’s begin.  Outside Jordana and I sat down for our big fruit and eggs breakfast.  Overlooking the swaying palms and the indian ocean, this is a far departure from our usual Christmas eve routine.

After Breakfast we walked to Paje, into the centre of town.  Which isn’t much of a centre but a strip of conrete and tatch structures strung along the main sandy road.  We found a well kept shop run by a Zanzibarian who lived in Switzerland for8 years.  We bought water and $30 worth of airtime for our phone to call home in the morning.  We talked with the shop keeper about missing Christmas and how even he missed not being in Switzerland at this time of year.

The rest of the day we lazed on the beach, wading into the water to cool off.  Although this did little to refresh us since the water is so warm here.  It’s so nice to have finally reached a place where we can just chill out without having to worry about catching an early bus.  We hung out on the beach till sunset and walked back towards our hotel.  Yet again another incredible African sunset behind the swaying palms.  Fire red, I’m not sure why but the sunsets all over Africa have been the most amazing sunsets I’ve ever seen in the world.  For dinner the guesthouse did a fabulous seafood bbq.  I stuffed myself silly on the all you can eat seafood.  After dinner wasn’t traditional Christmas carols but some traditional Zanzibar music.  It sure didn’t feel anything like Christmas but it was a great night of food and music.

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Mega Hits Panama

Sunday, January 27th, 2008

Day 83

We left San Jose early morning, on the 7:30am bus to David, Panama. Our final destination was the hill country town of Boquete. We have to be in Panama city to meet Jordana’s parents on the 31st and we will return to Boquete with them. So this will give us a chance to check out the town and do some white water rafting, something I don’t think the inlaws are down with.

As our bus pulled out of San Jose and climbed the lush green mountains rain started to fall and the temperature drop. It was bloody freezing in the bus, something I didn’t expect. Both Jordana and I tried to keep warm with the little clothing we brought for the ride. I don’t think Jonathan fared any better as he wore shorts. We passed through the central valley and over the highest pass in the country. The scenery was beautiful, its true Costa Rica is gorgeous. As we moved further south we descended to the lowlands and the temperature rose sharply, the landscape became very tropical and the Panamericana highway passed through sugarcane and pineapple fields. Eventually we reached the border at Paso Canoas.

We exited the bus and made our way to the customs booth. Jordana and I were given a form to fill out and told we had to go to another booth and pay $5 each for a tourist card. Jonathan is a British citizen and apparently exempt from the fee so he was free. So we filled out the form, paid our money and waited. After about 10 minutes the form was returned and we were told to go back to the original booth we were at. The man stamped our passports and we turned to board the bus again. No wait a lady says, we have to pay $1 as a tax to the local town. I thought to myself, great start here in Panama. Glad they see tourists as ATM machines. We paid that, then had our bags searched and finally boarded the bus. Ah you gotta love the red tape at border crossings, the word efficient doesn’t exist at places such as these. Back on the bus we were ready to finally cross the bridge into Panama. Oddly our bus had to drive through a disinfectant that sprayed the entire bus. Something about a fungus and other dirty things from Costa Rica.

We arrived late afternoon in the hot and humid air of David, Panama. Or as I like to call it, Dave. The bus station was a proper bus station, with signs and information. Something you just don’t see anywhere else in Central America. It was a nice change. The three of us quickly found a bus that was about to depart for Boquete. This was one of those moments in travel where things just work out right on time, very rare indeed. The bus was packed however, Jordana found a decent seat but Jonathan and I were sitting three to a seat on the old school bus. Boquete is 1800 meters high, so as soon as we left David, which is near sea level, we constantly climbed for the hour bus trip. About half way up the humidity disappeared and the cool air rushed through the bus. It felt good, it felt like a late summer night back in Canada. I had a flashback to being in high school and driving through Caledon with the windows wide open, the cool night air blowing through and heading to a summer ending party. Then I was quickly shaken from my flashback when the ridiculously loud radio on the bus screamed, “MEGA HITS RADIO!!” Oh if you could only have heard how annoying this station was. Words cannot describe the random horns, sirens and of course “MEGA HITS RADIO!!” All this in thrown into the middle of a song, well not sure if you could call these songs but you get the idea.

The bus deposited us at Boquete’s main square. The sun was just setting so we set out to find a room. First place we checked was Hostal Boquete. It was recommended by the Lonely Planet and its setting right on the river was fantastic. However the rude gringo staff and overpriced room turned us off. We walked out and Jonathan noticed a place next door called, “Dream by the River”. The lady who runs it was about to drive off when we saw her. This place was great, a rustic 2 bedroom cottage with a kitchen, living room and a great back porch right next to the river. She was friendly and only wanted $19/night from us and $12 from Jonathan. A great deal. After a dinner of rice and beans we finished the night with beer and wine back at the cottage. It was a good start to Panama and we had a great place to stay.

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