Friday, January 22, 2010

Well it took us over 2 weeks of our trip to Panama to find the destination we came here for. As we had to be out of our hotel by 10:30 am, I frantically searched for a VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner) to spend the next three days. We searched through at least 20 possible properties and narrowed it down to two. Our first choice was close to Bocas Island, about 5 minutes water taxi away. Luckily, we had no response from the owner and made arrangements for a home on the far side of Bastimentos Island, about 45 minutes boat ride from Bocas. We agreed to meet up around 12 at a local restaurant. In the meantime we spent the morning swimming at the hotel pool and then at their beachside pool. I got some breakfast at a small restaurant consisting of Coco bread, bacon, eggs, steak, and some scones. The eggs and bacon were delicious and the rest was not.

We took a taxi with our entire family fitting into the back seat of a Toyota pickup truck. I was surprised at how easily we did it too considering there are 6 of us! We did some extensive shopping for food and basics as we were on our way to a home that sits alone with just 8 other homes on the far side of a large island in the middle of the ocean. When Michael Garcia showed up, he took me around to 5 different stores for the best prices and quality of food. We found meat and other items of far superior quality than anything we’ve seen in Panama yet. I bought two racks of ribs, two pork loins, hamburger, and a rotisserie chicken. We had the ribs for dinner tonight, roasted in the dark on the BBQ. They were absolutely delicious and perhaps one of the best meals we’ve had yet if I do say so myself.

As I mentioned earlier, the house we rented sits alone on the south east side of Bastimentos Island inside the National Park of Archipeligo Bocas del Toro. There is no commerce or roads or cars for that matter on the large island. There is a small tribe of Bogle Gnobe Indians with about 300 members just a few kilometers from the house, but that is the largest group of people inhabiting the island. They survive much like Indians in the US, with their own lands and governing their own people. To get the house, we were in the property manager’s small boat for about 45 minutes. We passed miles of mangroves that are protected and illegal to touch by humans. We were able to get close enough to see the details of the roots and the hordes of fish swimming in them. The coral reefs were also amazing as we passed over them. The water becomes so clear that you can see down at least 20 feet. We are excited to snorkel!

As we rounded the southern tip of the island we saw our beach. The sand is the whitest we’ve ever seen and the palm trees form a perfect row for at least 2 miles to the north. The water is almost still with just a perfect gentle roll onto the fine white sands. The home is approx 2000 sq ft on two levels with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The décor is simple but very tasteful and well crafted, which is rare in this country. What makes the home very unique is that it is ‘off the grid’ with it’s own solar power, rainwater, and sewage recycle systems. The walkways around the house are lined with Conch shells indicating how much sea life is at our doorstep. The backyard is reclaimed swamp land that has been formed into a small pond of constant moving water. The pond is home to thousands of crabs, fish and caiman crocs up to 4’ in length from what we’ve been told. I hope we get to see them! Despite no Air Conditioning, we are plenty cool now in the late evening and excited for a good nights rest on quality mattresses as the hotels from the night before would offend a homeless person.

The ribs I bought were two full racks for just $18 so I decided to grill them all up at once. With so much surplus, we invited Michael over to partake. Moriah offered our prayer and after some short discussion we found out Michael is a Jehovah’s Witness. He had even traveled to Orem Utah to preach the gospel. He spoke very highly of Orem and the people he met there back in the late 80’s. He was very impressed with how clean the towns were and how kind and friendly the Mormons had been. We had a great discussion around the table and hope that we were able to continue the good impression he has had of ‘the mormons’. After dinner he asked the kids if they wanted to light some fireworks. He came out and proceeded to set off at least 10 huge rockets lighting up the night sky above the palm tress and the bay. The kids loved it, and so did I. It’s no surprise that this has been a tough trip in many ways. Toting around the four kids in this 3rd world country has been very taxing, primarily for Liz. She’s been trying so hard to keep her spirits up and not give in to stress of it all, but the last week has almost broken her. Finally she seems excited again and loves this house, the beach, and seems very upbeat about the next few days. We both agree that to do it over again, we would likely come directly here and spend at least 2 weeks if not the entire time. It’s just too amazingly pretty and so peaceful here. This is the place we all dreamed of when planning our trip to Panama!

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Sleeping in this Caribbean Paradise was great our first night here. We even had to turn the ceiling fans off as it was quite cool. I don’t think anyone stirred until this morning which is unusual and wonderful. We arose just as it was getting light outside. Moriah ran out with the camera to take a picture of the sunrise but missed it as the clouds rolled in and gave us a cool morning. We had Grandpa Harell’s famous French pancakes for breakfast with PB and Nutella, two delicacies down here at over $5 each for a small bottle.

Moriah and I took the Kayaks out for a long ride this morning. We rode down around the near point into the Mangroves and found our way up some winding corridors into some very dark and creepy forests. The water was just a foot or two deep but very dark in the shade of the thick trees over head. The roots of the trees are above the water level and reach down through the salt water to the soils below. As we paddled up the narrow straits hundred of small crabs would zip up the roots of the trees like little soldiers. We were seeking out some sloths that had been seen earlier, but had no luck. There are supposedly caimans in the area as well but we’ve yet to see them either. We decided to try our luck snorkeling and so we paddled about a mile out to sea to the reef. The bay is just 5-8 feet deep all the way out to the reefs where the corals grows up to just inches below the water. Moriah stayed in the Kayak while I got out and snorkeled around the reef spotting a few dozen fish from 2 inches to about 12 inches in length. Nothing spectacular, but fun and exciting nonetheless. Moriah went next and had a ball swimming around the reef. The waves picked up temporarily and I had to right the Kayak so as not to get rolled. A few came over the bow and a little got inside the dry chamber wetting the camera case, but not the camera luckily. Moriah slipped into a panic and started yelling that she wanted back into the Kayak, but soon calmed, swam out of the waves and was out of the danger of the sharp reef. Throughout the day we collected half a dozen large starfish, 2 huge conch shells, and an assortment of urchins.

As we didn’t plan for enough diapers to last the four days here miles from civilization, Elijah is back on potty training. He’s done pretty good today as long as we keep reminding him. Changing two kids diapers is a non stop thing nowadays and it’s high time he learned. He’s been adorable this trip and his language if finally coming along. He’s got an incredible vocabulary suddenly even though his pronunciation is still course. The family joke is that Kennedy will talk before he will. She’s uttering what resemble about 5 different words right now the most interesting is her excited expletive that resembles “Oh Shi_”. She’s been great the last few days. Seems like everything about our trip has improved this week. Kennedy is at the point of walking but just wont take the steps alone. She goes to standing positing and can balance easily, but still drops to the crawl to get around. I keep hoping she’ll walk in Panama so she can brag to all her friends later on. Her hair is blonder than ever and her eyes are bluer as well. She has the lightest complexion of all the kids but has a great color and hasn’t burned yet. She is also proudly sporting the Collings Mullet now and if she follows suit, wont have much hair on top until about 2.

For dinner I made hamburgers from the ground beef we brought along. They were surprisingly tasty and everyone enjoyed them. We’ve had no shortage of good food here and everyone has eaten more than their share except Liz who has the most self control in the fam.

Moriah had an open juice box in her backpack which was left all day on her bed. It leaked through the pack onto the bed sheet which incited an Ant festival on her bed. She will likely sleep in another bed tonight. Dresden is as hooked on Super Mario Bros as I was when I was a kid. We have the Nintendo DS along which she dominates and will play every chance she gets and until I make her turn it off. She’s a super fun kid to have along. She’s very helpful and a good sister although she suffers a bit from Younger Sister Syndrome. She always wants what Moriah has or to do what Moriah is doing etc. Moriah is a super tease which only makes the situation more tough, but for the most part they get along very well and enjoy being around each other.

I met a local from the GnÖbe tribe who offered to take us on a tour of the fruit bat caves nearby. He taught me a few words in GnÖbe which they still speak in their community. I may take Moriah and Dresden on the adventure where he claims we’ll see hundreds of roosted fruit bats hanging in the recently discovered cave.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
I woke Moriah up at about 6 am to go for a sunrise Kayak trip. We went south again towards the mangroves and looked for some more inlets but ended up going up the same one from the day before. This time we went up the right fork until we reached the Indian village of the Gnobe tribe. We didn’t go beyond the first few houses and docked boats but what we saw was quite intriguing. It was a nice overcast morning and a fun ride back to the beach house. We had a great breakfast of French toast and greasy eggs that were tasty. Liz likes the eggs here less than at home, but I think they have more flavor. She says they have a more ‘fowl’ flavor…

At noon, our new friend from the tribe showed up to take us on our exploration hike to the village and the bat caves. The village is just a 5 minute walk along muddy paths strewn with old timbers, coconuts and other items to keep you up off the mud. It was fun for Dresden to practice her balance on the miscellaneous items. About half way there we saw a male 3 toed sloth about 15 feet up in a tree slowly climbing upward. In the village there is just a 3 foot wide concrete sidewalk up to the field they use for sports in the center of the pueblo. The houses are mostly traditional in style with thatch roofs and about 4 feet up off the ground. There was no rhyme or reason to the layout of the village but there were quite a few huts that we passed and we’re told there were many more than 300 members of ‘the community’ as they call it. From town we had another 40 minute walk up and down hills, through dense jungle and hot sunny fields. We crossed 2 barb wire fences and a few deep creeks till we entered the Bastimentos National Park. The trail became very dense jungle with the expected sounds filling the air from various birds, frogs, and who knows what else. The island is famous for the poisonous red frogs that live here. Smaller than a quarter in size, they supposedly excrete enough venom that a dipped arrow could be used up to 7 times to kill, including humans.

We saw 3 caves at our destination. The first was small but fun. Covered with Stalagtites/stalagmites of a very grey color and hosting about 30 quite small fruit bats. The second cave we opted not to climb into as it was very slippery and quite treacherous. It was said to host white bats. The third was the feature attraction. Apparently the caves were just discovered a year ago which is very suprising as this village has been here for more than 60 years and the island is not all that large. Anyway, the entrance to this cave was long and narrow and you had to crouch through a Dresden sized hole to get into the big room. Once inside, our guide had an old LED headlamp that was low on batteries making it not all that fun to see, but the camera luckily landed some good shots of the host of bats inside. These bats were said to be of a variety of species including the vampire bats that have been known to drink blood of cows and horses and even humans. The girls forgot their misery from a long, slippery, HOT, and tiring hike and were fascinated by the bats. The walk back was better luckily and I only had to carry Dresden ¼ the way. We also saw numerous birds including the Oretunda(s) de Montezuma and two red headed wood peckers that put on a show. Alfredo told us there were Boa Constrictors on the island that get up to 25 feet in length, Caimans, and even Large Crocodiles in the bay where Moriah and I had Kayaked 2 times now, yikes.

Back at the house we gifted some food items to our guide and ran to the refreshing Ocean water to cool off. After a rest Liz made us a Pineapple smoothie and she and I took Lijah and the 2 kayaks out to the reef where I snorkeled about for a good 30 minutes. The water was very clear and I saw at least 200 fish and endless coral and other sea life. We even found Patrick Star (from Spongebob) which Elijah had to keep till we got to shore. As we made our way in, he was insisting that he bring the Starfish in the house but was afraid to pick it up in the shallow water of the beach. I told him he could pick it up and bring it in after he whined long enough. As I had just walked up the stairs and into the front doors of the house we heard screaming and Moriah spotted Lijah floundering in the water and screaming between mouthfuls of it. He had on his Lifejacket which may have saved him, but also may have been his demise as I floated him just high enough his toes couldn’t contact the sand which is only about 18 inches deep. Liz screamed and we all took off out the front door. I all but dropped Kennedy on the floor and flew past Moriah down the stairs hurdling the plants and sprinting across the beach front. Had Moriah not seen him and yelled, it could have been a different ending. Luckily he was fine and although terrified, he calmed down soon enough. Daddy was reminded to pay better attention to his little babies!

For dinner we had some delicious and huge Pork Chops we bought in Bocas. Liz made some spaghetti to go along and it was truly yet another feast. By 8 pm we are all winding down and working our way to bed. Moriah says she never wants to leave Panama, but I also hear small comments here and there about how she’s excited to get back to friend and family to tell them about our trip. She’s especially looking forward to doing a special presentation to her Spanish Immersion class on her adventures here as is Dresden.








I love you daddy nice job ! (comments by Moriah who has taken an interest in reading my Journal at night)

Monday, January 25, 2010

Today may well have been the best day of our vacation. We hired Michael Garcia, the house property manager, to take us to the Zapatilla Islands. The two islands are uninhabited and are now part of a National Park. They lie northeast of Isla Bastimentos and about 25 minutes in boat. We packed a nice lunch thanks to Liz, as well as our snorkel gear and headed out to sea around Noon. On the way we saw almost a dozen porpoises breaching for air. We got some good video of them before they dove again apparently on a hunting trip to the deep.
We soon arrived at the most beautiful and scenic Island beach any of us had ever seen. The water was amazing clear and warm. The small Island is surrounded completely by white sands and blue green waters of the Caribbean. We immediately found 2 Conch shells and each of us saw hundreds of good side fish swimming around the corals just 30 feet off shore. Liz saw a somewhat rare Lion Fish and I saw a Morey Eel with just his head protruding from his hole in the coral. It was small, but was a little creepy nonetheless. Further out, I swam into dozens of different beautiful fish which I can’t really identify, but in one spot I came into at least 100 football size fish all in a large school and just feet away from me. The corals were beautiful and endless. We decided to walk through the heart of the island on a nice pathway through the jungle and meet Michael on the far side. We saw some beautiful vegetation, but Moriah was most impressed with “the tree that refuses to die” as translated from Spanish. The tree’s trunk rose about 3 feet out of the ground where it split into two trunks, one going vertical the other horizontal. After about 30 feet it had the same 90 degree split one into the ground the other rising vertically. It was the most odd tree I’ve ever seen. The trunks were at least 24 inches thick. Along the horizontal trunk, there were another 3 trees shooting up vertically again. It was a two trunked 5 part tree.

On the far side we swam for a while in the gorgeous waters and then took the boat towards Zapatilla 1. On the way we threw out the fishing pole lines, but had no luck unfortunately. On Zapatilla 1 we found a beach surpassing the last one. The water was gorgeous and the sand went out a good hundred feet. It was fun to learn that one of the last Survivor episodes was shot on the beach just up the way from where we are living, which gives credit to my claims of these being perhaps some of the most amazing beaches in the world. After some great swimming, spotting a stingray, finding a 5 winged sand dollar, and goofed off in the surf with Michael and the kids, we headed home happy as clams.

At the house, the water pump was not coming on so I went to fool around with it. I finally figured it out and we got water on, but not before I got the shock of a lifetime form the wiring. Maybe because I was standing there wet in my swimsuit and in a small puddle of water it seemed so intense, but my finger was numb for minutes after and I felt the shock all the way to my toes!

Tonight we ate leftover pork loin and rice and made up some scones for dessert. This was a perfect day for everyone of us and we can now work our way home content and grateful for a wonderful dream vacation in Paradise.