We woke up late this morning. For whatever reason we didn't hear the alarm - or respond to it. It might have been because we had Pascal adjust the air condition settings from "arctic" to "normal" that we slept well. Anyway, a bit of panic since we knew the buses for Santa Catalina only leaves a few times during the day. And even though it is a relatively short distance we had at least one connection.
So we left for the bus station two hours later than planned, got a taxi and arrived at Albrook bus terminal and realised that the bus-gods were working for us today. Next bus leaving was in 20 minutes and it was a direct connection all the way to Sona which meant only one connection. We also had another "to-do" at the bus station - trying to get at ticket from San Jose to Nicaragua but the woman at the Tica-bus counter kept saying "5 minutes". So we didn't manage to get the tickets. Instead we left on time and had almost 4½ hours of bus trip ahead of us until we made it to Sona a little bit excited to see if there was a but heading for Santa Catalina.
The bus terminal at Sona is like a small garage which means it is pretty easy to spot the buses there - also ours which was loaded with luggage on the roof including surf boards. Good indication that it was our bus. We managed to cram into the bus and get the two last seats. Then some 10 extra persons crammed in as well, the music started and we headed out for the last 62 kilometres going on small roads through the pretty countryside. We didn't know that Panama could be this pretty and green.
The last woman to leave the bus before Santa Catalina city limits left with a box full of newly hatched chickens - judging from the sound coming from the box in her hand. The bus drivers assistant helped her offload her luggage from the roof which included a bag of 25 kilos of grain - and a horse back saddle. Then you kind of know that you are in the countryside.
We continued down the road for 10 more minutes and spotted our hostel just opposite the next bus stop. So we jumped out, got our stuff, checked into the hostel and took a walk around town which in Santa Catalina means walking up and down "the road" - there is one road in town.
We made it to the end of the road - to the beach and spotted the office of the company where we have our kayak trip booked. There was a guy sitting outside the office so we said hello and had a long chat with him. Adam just needed a couple of cue words - then he kept the talk going with all the information about places in and around the town. Being a bit hungry from not having anything served for lunch we headed out to find early dinner, but most places in town seemed to be closed until 6 PM, however a woman at this small restaurant we walked by told us to sit down, we had fruit juices and ordered prawn spaghetti and a pizza and waited forever. More than an hour. A few other people arrived including a Swiss couple and we ended up having dinner with them sharing travelling experiences. The food took a long time to arrive but it was so good - not only taste but for once the dinner that Malene got actually looked like the picture on the menu including the neatly sliced quarter of a whole pineapple.
Back to the hostel and get some sleep after a long day of travelling. And positively no plans for tomorrow.
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| Leaving our nice dorm in Panama City |
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| Crossing the river - and the Panama canal in the horizon |
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| Crowded local bus |
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| Our hostel - nice place to hang out |
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