Leaving Panama today after 3 fantastic weeks. It's been great here. Panama meant beach time and we got to see and stay on some fantastic beaches. 5 days in San Blas on our almost private island where there were more coconuts than people. The chilled surfer town Santa Catalina and the amazing Isla Coiba where we snorkled and tried a Discover dive - white sand beaches and beautiful underwater scenery. And now we're saying goodbye to Bocas del toro and our lovely Bambuda lodge where we've relaxed and enjoyed the scenery the last couple of days.
Long day ahead today hopefully we'll be in San Jose, Costa Rica not too late in the evening. We did our best to stay quiet walking around the dorm at the hostel this morning. Trying not to wake up any of the other 9 guys sleeping. Once done with last bits and pieces in the back packs we headed down to the pier, waited for a water taxi and were on the other side with time to spare. We took a short walk in town and had some bread at the bakery for breakfast before boarding the boat to the mainland.
30 minutes later at we arrived on the small harbour on the mainland and had our luggage secured on the roof of the minibus that was going to take us - well, only to the border. Once there we realised that it was busy this morning. Like really busy with long lines for those who wanted to exit Panama. Our driver showed us to the right line which luckily was the short one and then it took 30 minutes to get the "bye bye"-stamp in the passports. Then we had to find another small office, wait in line for another 20 minutes to pay the tourist tax and then drag our luggage over the bridge crossing the river.
And then another line - this one longer than before but who cares. We had great company. Bridie and Claire from the hostel were also in the line so they could entertain us a bit. 1½ hours later and we had paid entry fees and got our official stamp in the passports and were now in the next shuttle bus. This one taking us - well, not all the way to San Jose, but to Puerto Viejo where we were many years ago.
We were dropped off at a small hotel and had lunch in the garden and waited for shuttle bus number three to arrive. We left for San Jose at around 2 PM the drive supposed to be four hours or so. On the way passing by a few of the places we also passed by on our last visit barely recognising them. Some things have happened since our last visit. On the way to San Jose we also realised that our driver thought we had to be dropped off at the airport. Some kind of missing link with us and his office so they hadn't gotten the information about us staying in a hostel in San Jose. He was nice though and dropped us off in front of the hostel, we had the key to our room and headed out for some dinner next to our hostel. On the way back we picked up a bit of the snacks and drinks for our early morning tomorrow.
One more day on the road awaiting us with another border crossing. 12 hours on the road today seemed like a long day. Taxi pick up is at 6 AM tomorrow.
Long day ahead today hopefully we'll be in San Jose, Costa Rica not too late in the evening. We did our best to stay quiet walking around the dorm at the hostel this morning. Trying not to wake up any of the other 9 guys sleeping. Once done with last bits and pieces in the back packs we headed down to the pier, waited for a water taxi and were on the other side with time to spare. We took a short walk in town and had some bread at the bakery for breakfast before boarding the boat to the mainland.
30 minutes later at we arrived on the small harbour on the mainland and had our luggage secured on the roof of the minibus that was going to take us - well, only to the border. Once there we realised that it was busy this morning. Like really busy with long lines for those who wanted to exit Panama. Our driver showed us to the right line which luckily was the short one and then it took 30 minutes to get the "bye bye"-stamp in the passports. Then we had to find another small office, wait in line for another 20 minutes to pay the tourist tax and then drag our luggage over the bridge crossing the river.
And then another line - this one longer than before but who cares. We had great company. Bridie and Claire from the hostel were also in the line so they could entertain us a bit. 1½ hours later and we had paid entry fees and got our official stamp in the passports and were now in the next shuttle bus. This one taking us - well, not all the way to San Jose, but to Puerto Viejo where we were many years ago.
We were dropped off at a small hotel and had lunch in the garden and waited for shuttle bus number three to arrive. We left for San Jose at around 2 PM the drive supposed to be four hours or so. On the way passing by a few of the places we also passed by on our last visit barely recognising them. Some things have happened since our last visit. On the way to San Jose we also realised that our driver thought we had to be dropped off at the airport. Some kind of missing link with us and his office so they hadn't gotten the information about us staying in a hostel in San Jose. He was nice though and dropped us off in front of the hostel, we had the key to our room and headed out for some dinner next to our hostel. On the way back we picked up a bit of the snacks and drinks for our early morning tomorrow.
One more day on the road awaiting us with another border crossing. 12 hours on the road today seemed like a long day. Taxi pick up is at 6 AM tomorrow.
 |
| 6 AM - all packed and ready to go |
 |
| Waiting for the taxi boat |
 |
| First boat - to Bocas |
 |
| Next boat - to the mainland |
 |
| Loading the minibus - next leg to the border |
 |
| Loooong queue at the border - to exit Panama |
 |
| Must find the right line |
 |
| The line to enter Costa Rica - about 1½ hours of waiting in direct sunshine - or rain |
 |
| Shade - hurrah |
 |
| Next minibus - heading for San Jose |
 |
| Finally at the hostel - after 11 hours of travelling |
 |
| Yes, we know we are in Costa Rica |
Ingen kommentarer:
Send en kommentar