A Broad Abroad

Like I said, I had become quite attached to my binoculars (or, for you debbi-doodle, binocs) so I was a bit distracted during my travels to Puerto Jimenez. My journey from san vito to Puerto Jimenez required a long bus ride down to the coastal plain at Neilly, a switch to the bus to Golfito, then a boat ride across the golfo dulce to Puerto Jimenez. Btw – I’m sola again and feeling pretty good but I had no idea how long this would take, since it completely depends on how many stops the bus makes on the way.

That reminds me, at some point I need feedback on why people in Central America stand 15 yards away from each other waiting for the bus and don’t come together so that the bus only needs to stop once. Or if they are getting off the bus and the bus stops 15 yards before their stop to let someone else off, they still pull the cord 15 yards later to stop the bus again. To someone used to bus systems in the US, this is perplexing – an official bus stop is all you get and if you are not near it when the bus arrives, tough. The nice guys who manage all this getting on and off will also walk your large packages to the door of your house! I think that is lovely – but making the bus stop umpteen times in a single mile, I don’t know. Thoughts?

I thought if I got to golfito before 1:30 pm (for the last ferry) I might shop for binoculars (prismaticos en espanol ☺) before I headed to Puerto Jimenez. Apparently golfito is a tax-free shopping zone that is popular with the ticos. This zone was created after the pull-out of united banana co, an action that financially devastated various communities in central America and left behind an environmental legacy of DDT poisoning. Alas, I was so exhausted when I got to golfito at noon (only NOON!) that I grabbed a water taxi to PJ instead. This was $6 as opposed to $2 for the ferry and the water taxis take about 45 minutes as opposed to 1.5 hrs. I justified this by telling myself that the time without my binoculars would be a chance to see the forest, not the trees (where my beloved birds are perched). Yes, justification because after only 2 travel days I wanted nothing more than to find a cozy spot in puerto Jimenez and stay for several days.

So I landed in “the palms”, a hotel (really? hotel? I can’t think of a better word) between the public pier and town (really? town? ), and lonely planet is correct in this case. Puerto Jimenez is a dusty frontier town. A frontier town with a respectable soccer field that hosted a spirited game on Sunday, but I digress. I suggest if you stay here you choose a place near the water like the palms, cabinas Jimenez or agua luna. town doesn’t really have much appeal but it IS cheaper. Plus, the palms has wi-fi. Why try to break both my binocular and internet habit?

I will have spent 3 days here and tomorrow I move into the real jungle – a tent camp on the edge of corcovado national park. I had a lovely few days here exploring the edges of town, doing a mangrove and sunset kayak tour and a day (today) touring the gulfo dulce, including a visit to the osa wildlife rescue center that is only accessible via boat. I decided to move closer to the park, however, since I can’t possibly come here and not explore the heart of the jungle. Oh, to have access to the hongos that Margie did ☺.

I arranged many of my activities thru chris at cabinas Jimenez. He’s a certified captian who’s come here via Chicago/key west, he’s very knowledgeable and plugged into the local guide scene. This allows him to find out where the schools of dolphin are, etc, and he’s generally a helpful guy.

I found the palms acceptable and enjoyed their wi-fi (where many locals, including chris, come to do their internet business) but my shower was weak. The palms has great food, tho. You get breakfast-to-order here (included) and you don’t at cabinas Jimenez.

And just as if the birds were tailor-made for a girl with no binoculars, there are scarlet macaws and parrots who need no binoculars to announce their presence. Sure, I may not know what sub-species of parrot (and that’s ok, peggy) but the sheer number of parrots is what should be appreciated. Hundreds of them flock to a near-by tree at around 5:30 pm. It’s really impressive!

Into the jungle I go tomorrow. I head to carate on the 6am collectivo, where upon my arrival my bags are loaded onto a burro while I walk along the beach for a few kms to reach the tent lodge near la sireno ranger station. All my meals are included in the $65 per night price since we are literally in the middle of the jungle. Yay! I won’t need my binocs to spot frogs and spiders and snakes!!

here is a video of the kayaking

After a relaxing final day in Cerra Punta, i’m thinking about my crossing back into Costa Rica to start my northward journey. since i started planning this route i’ve had my eye on a little-used border crossing in Rio Sereno. It’s not used by foreigners much (according to lonely planet) but most accounts i’ve read indicate there is little hassle. this is appealing given that the biggest (and 2nd closest) border crossing at paso canoas is notoriously mobbed since it’s on the interamericana highway. Jake, another traveler staying at Los Quetzales was thinking the same thing so we may make a run for the border together tomorrow.

My next “big” destination is Puerto Jimenez on the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica, near Corcovado Park. apparently it’s the best place on the Osa to get budget accommodation on the fly – as Drake’s Bay (the other side of Corcovado) has more all-inclusive lodges and fewer options all-together. hope this works out :).

because the trip from here to there has a complete handful of bus transfers and a ferry that needs to be caught by 1:30 pm, i will need to stay overnight somewhere in between. i think that “somewhere” will be san vito, a town settled by italians that reportedly has the best italian food in CR. good wine and cheese? say no more.

so if all goes as planned this is my last post from panama. I keep thinking my internet access will be spotty in “the next town” but it’s proving to be pretty ubiquitous. I’ve got new photos uploaded so remember that use can use the links under “my links” to the right to get to my slideshows and FLICKR page. also – i updated my map so you can get a visual of the journey so far. cheers! from the amazing highlands of panama.