Homeless in a Cloud Forest

The end of July snuck up on us and just like that we were homeless. We were set to re-locate to a new lodging for the 2nd half of our stay, but there was a couple days in-between where we had no place to stay...........so we decided to skip town.

The first stop was a practical mission to David where everyone had their teeth cleaned by our wonderful dentist. Ohh, nothing compares to fresh, clean feeling of professionally cleaned teeth! Alisa was especially thrilled, because she hasn't been able to clean her teeth the way she would like while wearing braces.

From there we jumped on the local yellow school bus(literally) up to the mountain town of Boquete. Alisa had again found us some comfy lodging for a couple of evenings. The girls were thrilled that they offered Netflix so spent some quality time on their individual sofa beds in from of the tube. Xiara was hosting some mysterious tropical organism that was wreaking havoc on her belly and bowels so needed some downtime....near the bathroom!

Backyard

Boquete is a quaint little mountain town that sits in a small valley. The cool weather was a refreshing change to the hot, humid days on the island. The vibe, on the other hand, was not nearly as friendly and laidback as la isla. Boquete is dominated by foreigners: permanent ones and passers-by. In Bocas we greet and are greeted by everyone we pass in the street. In Boquete it was hard to even get eye contact with people. And the few times I thought a connection was made and threw out a greeting....there was no response. I think the locals are over it.....just a theory! I'm actually a little concerned that this might happen in Bocas in years to come.

Still, we had a couple fun meals. We went to a neat cafe where the owner was very friendly. Alisa got to sample the most expensive coffee on the market: Geisha. Word is that it got its name from the Japanese who love it. It averages at $200/pound, but had recently sold for $600/pound. Alisa gave it a thumbs up!

Last time we were in Boquete we went ziplining. It was an excellent thrill ride. At the same time we felt a bit of loss as we whizzed through this amazing cloud forest(part of only 2.6% of the world forests) without being able to take some time to appreciate the magnificence. Soooo, this time we decided to do the Hanging Bridges tour through the same cloud forest.

It was a 2-hour hike with a knowledgeable guide through the mountainous forest and crossing 7 100-meter plus hanging bridges. Xiara had recovered enough just in time to make the journey.

What's the big deal?

Xiara is always looking for ways to take the adventure to the next level!

It's hard to see, but this is a large & gorgeous & DANGEROUS catepillar. One stroke of its back and the unlucky soul will be laid out with fever for 3-days!

Another lovely, fuzzy UNTOUCHABLE catepillar.

River crab that had ran up the mountain to high ground. This is a sign that rain is coming!

Rare cloud forest gnome.

The journey back to da island...

Malea's eye behind the lense.

Daughter smashed under a pile of beanbags, of course!

Oh, and befriending an island hound!

THE BOATS

Living on the water again in Panama! Last time we were in a cove which was light on the boat traffic. This time we are in town where we get to witness the parade of varied water craft throughout the day. If we ever lived here permanently a boat would be a mandatory family toy!

This is the transport ferry that brings all of the vehicles to the island. Delivery trucks, gas trucks and tourist cars all ride this ferry that comes 2 or 3 times per day. Individuals can enjoy the 1.5 hour ride for about $1.50. We've never done it. 

The Lancha. This is the primary pedestrian ferry to and from the island. They take off from the mainland town of Almirante and make the 30-minute crossing every day from at 6am until 6pm. About 24 riders will fit and an amazing amount of luggage and/or miscellaneous gear(surfboards, bikes, 50 kilo bags of rice, tv's). 

The kids love to ride near the front so they can feel the maximum bounce as we manuever the choppy sea.....and boat wakes. One cool experience we had on the lancha was when it picked up a couple passengers in the middle of the open water. Sitting right in the line of the lancha sat a small cayuco with a young local family. They had tied up to one of the buoys. The waved down the lancha who pulled up next to them. The Mother and Baby then climbed aboard and we were off.

These are some Cayucos. They're basically big canoes used by the indigenous people for all types of water transport. The bigger ones have outboard motors and there are plenty of small ones that can be seen crossing the bay by paddle power only.

Local fisherman will take small cayucos a mile or two out to sea, drop anchor and fish for 48-hours....Rain or shine! To keep the elements off they wrap themselves completely so that only their eyes can be seen. Fishing is done by hand-line.....simply dropping the line over the side and then pullin it in with bare hands. One of these fisherman is a friend and he used to show me his hands after the journey.....swollen and scarred. He said they survived on aspirin.

There are local divers who use the cayucos as well. They load up on aspirin to thin their blood and will routinely dive 30-40 meters for minutes at time while holding their breath spearfishing and harvesting lobsters. There are lots of stories of empty cayucos found anchored deep at sea. If not taken by the inherent dangers of the deep dives they may have run into the Tiger Sharks that are attracted by the blood of their catch.

Another basic model.

Cayuco with a sail.

Water taxi. This is the basic mode of transport for inter-island travel: tourist missions, school bus, grocery shopping, everything.

Tourist catamaran.

What happens when your watercraft breaks down? TOW!