Only a week since our last blog but lots to write about. We spent 2 nights in Punto Sirain in the Bahia Azul near Bocas del Toro in Panama with our friend Mel the Peace Corps Volunteer. It was amazing. Her village is very small with only about 300 people and very isolated from any other communities. You have to take a speed boat to get to any major city or a canoe to get anywhere in the bay. We pretty much just hung, washed clothes in the creek, talked with the local children, and watched a few baseball games between nearby villages. They row over as a team to play on the field at Punto Sirain and they take baseball very seriously. It was fun to watch.


On monday we went down to the docks to head towards bocas del toro but that boat didn´t come so we took the boat back to Chiriqui Grande and made our way to Costa Rica. The border crossing was painless at Sixaola/Guabito but interesting because it was our first land crossing between foreign countries. You could just freely walk through if you wanted, no one would stop you until you reached a checkpoint. We made it to Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean Coast in a day and spent the night at a hammock hotel. The town had kind of a US Spring Break vibe but it was fun anyway and absolutely gorgeous. We spent the second night in our own room at a little quiter place. We hitched a ride from a Canadian lady and her Tico driver down to a beach called Punta Uva and it was just stunning. On the way back we saw howler monkeys before hitching another ride back to the city from a rasta man. Back in town we ran into a friend of Jessa´s from Hillcrest, Jaime, who used to live in a town about 20 minutes away called Manzanillo and she was back visiting. She invited us to dinner with her and then to stay a night in Manzanillo the next day. We got there without hithching this time and it was stunning. The road ends here and trails continue back to Panama. We took a long walk to some deserted beaches and then came back to town to join the locals for a little black sand volleyball. It was a ton a fun.


On thursday we caught the 7:00 am bus on our way to La Fortuna. It took us 9 hours but we made it in one day. La Fortuna sits next to Volan Arenal and its stunning. We did a hike yesterday up Cerro Chato and just about died of exhaustion, then we woke up this morning and had a 3 horseback trip that was free but took tips if we enjoyed it. We definitely did. It was across fields, up rivers, through mud, over hills. We ran with the horses as much as we wanted and are now exhausted.

That´s all for now though. Tomorrow we are off to Nicaragua and Isla de Ometepe. Should get more and more adventurous.

Ciao,

Blake

We officialy left Guyana at 2:00 AM Monday, July 16th. After a tough goodbye with our wonderful friends we set off for our Central American tour. We started off in Curacao, a Caribbean island that is a Dutch commonwealth. It is a charming town where they speak a strange mixture of Spanish and Dutch. We managed to eek by with our limited Spanish vocabulary and some strange looks. This stop was merely a layover through Columbia and then finally into Panama City. We arrived safely with no hassles and met up with our Peace Corp friend Melissa who was kind enough to take us under her wing and show us around. We saw the Panama Canal, old Panama City, the president´s house and basically unwound a bit.

We are now en route to Melissa´s site village on the Boca´s Peninsula where we will spend a few relaxing nights. After that it is off to Costa Rica. We are going to do our best to keep you updated on what we are seeing, doing and where we are headed next. Talk to you soon!

7 days and counting! We are trying to travel around and see as much of Guyana as possible before we take our leave on the 16th. Last weekend we travelled with 4 friends to Region 1, an area of the country located in the far North of Guyana and stayed in a small Amerindian village called Santa Rosa Mission. We had a contact named Johnny, a boat driver who had taken previous VSO's out to the region. Blake gave him a call and told him we would like to make a trip out his way. He quoted his price of 5,000 Guyana dollars ($25 US) each way of the 2 hour boat journey to the mission. It may sound pretty reasonable, but when you are living on a tiny budget it's not just chump change! Blake asked if there was a special price he could give us for volunteers. Johnny said he couldn't budge on the boat price, due to the price of gas and all, but to save some money we could "stay by him" rather than paying for a guest house. So, at 6:00 AM Saturday morning, we began our journey to Region One. It begins with a 45 minute mini-bus ride to Parika (see Blake's previous description of what it is to experience a mini bus). From there it is an hour speedboat ride to Supernaam. Then an hour long taxi ride to Charity to meet up with Johnny. From there we get to the last leg of the journey, a 2 hour speedboat ride into Santa Mission. This last boat ride itself was worth the entire journey. We had never been to Region One before and we were amazed! The scenery was stunning; Simple houses could be seen intermittently on both sides of the river, People rowing their boats to get from one place to another. Then we shot out of the river out into the Atlantic Ocean! We stuck to the coastline, but it was amazing feeling to be in the middle of the ocean in a tiny speedboat. Then the boat shot through a tiny opening in the foliage and we began the most amazing high speed ride through a 12 foot canal forged through rice fields and trees.The speedboat driver steered more through memory than sight. What a wild ride!

Once we arrived in the village we hung up our hammocks underneath Johnny's house and met his wife who led us to meet the village captain. All visitors must report to the captain if they are staying in the village. After that we explored, read, napped, met some locals, and enjoyed seeing another amazing part of Guyana. We spent most of our time at a bar that looked out onto the intricate canals that the villagers use to get around the village. Everybody has small row boats that they use like we use cars.It was really amazing to take it all in.

After some very unsual nights sleep, with just us and a few of Johnny's closest friends who kept multiplying under the house, it was time to head back to Georgetown. We got our 4:00 AM wakeup call that the boat was leaving, so off we went. Just as our first boat ride began, the rain began to fall and didn't stop until we reached home. See above for how much of the trip is in boats! When we reached Supernaam for our 1 hour boat ride back to Parika it was pouring! One brave soul offered to dirve us back and we thought that was a better idea than trying to wait it out, so again, off we went! When you ride in the speed boats they give you a complimentary heavy plastic sheet to help shield yourself from the wet, which would be great except for the hundreds of holes throughout the sheet. Needlesss to say, we were far from dry. Our captain spent the ride laughing and singing various ballads at the top of his lungs; If Tomorrow never comes, I will survive, etc. We made it home safe and sounds with many more wonderful memories and stories to bring home with us when we leave this surprising and beautiful country.