Signs of Life

Hi guys,

Sorry for not updating for over a couple months now. GMAT has taken over my life during this time but I shall be freed again next week once the exam is over. I also will be re-united with my co-blogger, Sloane, in less than 2 weeks so we will pick up where we left off in the storytelling.

Hang in there :)

Getting to know the Kuna Yala...just don't try to snap any photos

Good morning, paradise. Wake up at 7 AM to have breakfast of champions. Scrambled eggs, sausage, pan, nescafe and tea. Take a 30 min boat ride to Isla de Perros (dog island). No dogs to be seen. We were told that we have to pay a fee of $1 per person to sit on the beach there. Turns out it was $2/person and we had to borrow from our friends since we only brought the necessities. We snorkeled around an old sunken ship. There were a ton of fish swimming around the beautiful coral. We kept getting roughed up when brushing up against the coral underwater. Luckily I'm traveling with a personal nurse in case first aid is necessary. Our boat AKA motorized canoe arrives filled with half-dead fish...lunch time baby.

Snooop!

We make it back to our island for more snorkeling, lunch, and a quick siesta. Idan buys an awesome bracelet from the Kuna woman. Will he ever be able to take it off? 3 months later and it's still on his wrist. Idan falls asleep for a couple hours in the hammock outside our hut and gets owned by the sun.

 Around 4 PM we go on a quick tour of the "authentic" Kuna Yala community. We get charged $1 person to visit the community and they even offered us a chance to see the indigenous dance for a measly extra $1 per person! Give me a break. Sloane smiles at one of the older Kuna women several times, hoping to make a new friend, only to be brushed off without showing any interest. Little children are running around yelling "hola hola hola" at us while torturing baby chickens. Everyone is trying to sell us "molas", the indigenous commodity that is basically a piece of fabric the women needlepoint and claim to use on their clothing. Feel free to take as many pictures as you want of the Kuna people, if you don't mind paying $1 per person in the picture. Whenever the Kuna decide to make it out to California for a visit, Idan told them it will cost them 2 bucks per picture.

The only picture we could take in the Kuna community without being charged.

The Kuna community including a bathroom with a seaside view

Back to the island where we learned a bit more about the Kuna people after having a chat with the hotel manager's daughter. The Kuna live mostly without running water or electricity, but apparently you can still find them on Facebook. Imagine that. We have some more lobster for dinner along with our favorite side dish, arroz con coco (coconut rice). While getting ready to call it a night, Idan acts as translator and deciphers some phone messages that were left on the owner's cell. The owner suggests that Idan stay for an extra month and work for him. He seriously considered the offer.

11-Hour Door-to-Door Adventure to San Blas Islands

4 AM - Wake up at our hotel in Panama City. Luckily our alarm clock works since our hotel wake-up call came 22 minutes late (a foreshadowing of the day's events).

4:45 AM - We arrive downstairs for coffee and juice and wait for Ricardo, the SUV driver that will take us to our boat, to arrive.

5:15 AM - After waiting 30 minutes and realizing that Ricardo is running late, we ask the lady at the front desk to call him and see where our driver is. We get charged a $1.20 fee for the two phone calls.

5:30 AM - Ricardo finally arrives. We lug our baggage into his trunk and get into the middle seat of the full SUV including Ricardo's wife AKA Big Bertha in the front seat.

7:45 AM - After almost 2 1/2 hours of driving in the dark through the jungle, we arrive at port Miramar. We are told that our boat is due to arrive at 9 AM and will take us to our island (playa Naranja/Narasgandup)

9:15 AM - Newsflash from Ricardo: our boat is now scheduled to arrive at 10 AM instead. We figure that chances of this happening are bleak.

10 AM - No sign of boat. Idan has a convo with Ricardo in broken Spanish regarding the payment for transport. They settle on $25 per person including both car & boat for one way and pay the rest upon return.

10:15 AM - Sloane falls asleep with her mouth wide open while sitting in a shack full of hundreds of cases of empty soda bottles.

10:45 AM - Idan wakes Sloane up as Ricardo points out our boat approaching the dock.

11:00 AM - After taking 15 min to unload its passengers and their cargo, our boat leaves the dock again to refuel somewhere.

11:30 AM - Boat returns to load our baggage and charge us $20 per person to ride. We cover our bags with trash bags. After giving out our passport info to some shady Panamanians for the 17th time, we board the dainty boat filled to capacity. Idan spots Sloane's stray shoe on the bow. Didn't even know it was missing. Sloane freaks out thinking her other shoe must be missing. Thoughts of hiking Costa Rica on one foot begin flooding her mind. Idan searches through piles of trash bags to find her other shoe and saves the day.

12:00 PM – Settle into our seats and throw on lifejackets. We are approached by a small Kuna Yala man who asks us for $40 to ride. Conversation in Spanish follows:

Boat man: aslkdf veinte dolares…

Idan: nosotros pagamos el guido de turistas y incluido caro y rancha tambien (points to a blank-faced Ricardo standing on the dock)

Passengers on boat: just pay the $20 like we all did (thanks, assholes)

*Ricardo & boatman have a pow-wow…

Ricardo: just pay the little man

12:15 PM – Boat takes off. I mean really takes off. Kuna Yala driver is flooring the gas, taking us straight into the waves of the Caribbean Sea. We hit wave after wave taking us 5 feet into the air, smashing down giving us major ass pain, all while clinging for dear life to our valuables.

1:30 PM - Much to our surprise, we did safely make it to the airstrip and immigration hut at El Porvenir. Pay $2 tourist tax successfully and receive immigration stamp on random piece of paper that means nothing. We wait 30 minutes on the dock for the rest of the passengers who decided to pay the tax while others simply chose to abstain.

2:00 PM – Dropped off the Jewish Kuna Yala woman wearing a Star of David necklace at the school (a shoddy yellow shack on the water).

2:30 PM – While dropping off some passengers at Isla Tony, a random Kuna Yala man with long hair sitting on the dock turns to Idan and says, “Ma koreh achi? (What’s up bro in Hebrew)” Idan is in shock and wonders how he even knew that we understand Hebrew.

2:50 PM – Arrive at our island after dropping everyone else off. Step off the boat onto what can only be described as paradise or gan eden. Six huts, two hammocks, one kitchen, two friendly dogs (one Snoop), white sand beach, palm trees, coconuts, semi-friendly Kuna Yala host family. We are greeted by the chef who says, “Comida? Cinco minutos.”

The lunch menu includes fried fish, fried plantains, salad, and fresh, delicious Pina. Beer? Free we hope. False, $2 a pop.

Our hut: two full-sized beds, malfunctioning light bulb, one difficult lock, and a door leading to the sea. Island mates arrive. They come from Amsterdam and Belgium. We begin to explore the island and of course we meet a group of Israelis on the other side of the 200-square foot island. We have lobster and fresh crab for dinner, which we saw being killed during lunch. We went off to bed before a 7 AM snorkeling and fishing adventure.

Day 1 - Arrive in Panama

 

Our trip begins in Panama City. We arrive at the airport and are greeted by a man in an orange shirt. He tells us to sit down at this waiting area as we assumed he went off to fetch others. We get into the van and take off. The driver is alternating between wearing a seat-belt and being ballsy. This goes back and forth about every 2 minutes for the entire ride. We drive past the slums of Panama City where it seems like every household, no matter how deep below the poverty line, still manages to affix a satellite dish to their roof.

We arrive at our first destination: Costa Inn Hotel. For those looking for travel recommendations, the hotel is located on Calle 39 and Peru. The room has a small shower, no TV remote to be found, and sports on TV all day long if you have no qualms with Spanish announcers. We wonder if Panamanians really enjoy watching college basketball? We decide it's time for a nap but we can't figure out how to work the A/C.

We decided to spend the first afternoon in Casco Viejo (the old city) and opted for the suggested 20-min walk to get there which turned out to be more like an hour across Ave Balboa. We see some nice views of the downtown skyline. Idan observes that Panamanians look like a mix between Mexicans and Caribbeans. We walk through some shady streets on the way there and decide that we will be taking a cab back for sure after nightfall. For a solid 30 minutes we were the only tourists to be seen in the "don't walk at night" part of town. We eventually reach the restored area of Casco Viejo and found a restaurant to sit at for dinner.  Overall, we really liked Casco Viejo. We read about a sandwich place that looked really delicious from outside but it was closed by the time we got there at 6 PM.





On the way home, we took a cab as planned. The driver asked us (in Spanish) how much we wanted to pay him. Either we misunderstood, or the cab fare is more negotiable than we expected. Cabs within Panama City should be no more than $2 (yes, the official currency there is the good ol' US Dollar).