Bocas del Toro

Me, Ana, and 8 other boys (body guards!.. ?) traveled to Panama together, and needless to say it was quite an adventure! First of all, I would like to say I felt like Wendy with the lost boys. They were crazy at times, but in the end I am so happy I did this! Panama is very different from Costa Rica. The part that we drove through to get to our beautiful place was very poor and didn't look very pretty. Crossing the border was an experience in itself; after driving since 7 that morning (san jose --> puerto limon --> border of panama / CR) we got out of the bus and WALKED across the border. Of course we needed to do the standard visa stamps, etc, but it was very unofficial. We simply needed proof / evidence that we were leaving bocas (which we purchased with a $12 bus ride ticket back to san jose). Then we were approached by various people on the other side of the border where we found a bus ride to bocas town. To get to Bocas bound resort/ hostel we had to take a 30 minute boat ride. The place we stayed was awesome! We had private sections in our room and the lounge was very nice and clean with beautiful hammocks ( i bought 2 $13 each!). Delicious food for very reasonable prices and it was around $10 a night! We had the beach all to ourselves (this place is not very well known at all). So, we spent all day on the beach. This beach was possibly the most beautiful beach i have ever been to. Firstly, the sand was white. The water was so clear that you could always see your feet, you could see through the waves and during our night swims you could still see through it! We went snorkeling and I saw fish that were black with piercing blue spots (glowing like). There were starfish, and many others as well. I have been snorkeling in great barrier reef, and I do not remember seeing such interesting fish The boys thought it would be a good idea to see if we could do 3 people chicken fights in the ocean (3 people stacked on top of eachother's shoulders). When we accomplished this, we tried 4 ppl! It was crazy, but it almost worked. I was always on the very top and it was really fun! We also did a human pyramid in the ocean (this is what happens when boys get bored lol). Most nights we cooked our own food aka pasta or rice. By the end, I was about to die from pasta/ rice /oatmeal overload. Crazy!!
We ended our stay with a night on the town. We went to a bar called aqualounge for halloween. There were swings that literally swung above the water. A giant hole in the dock was a swimming pool (which I jumped into to swim in the ocean).

White water rafting and isla tortuga

last weekend was one of the most exciting weekends here yet! on friday and saturday, we woke up at around 5 am to catch the bus for our adventures. Friday began with a drive to the rapids. We saw the indegenous people, they had wire cables in the sky above us they used to transport stuff. It was very strange. The day began with breakfast at this cool place that had straw hut type roofs with delicious food; rice & beans, granola & yogurt, eggs, pineapple, papaya. Then later, me and my team headed out to class 3 ish rapids. We had to synchronize our rowing to move effectively. The scariest part was that when the rapids were strongest we had to lift our paddles out of the water and just let the river take us! Our guide was pretty cool (no where near as cute as the turkish white water raft guy though :( ). He did let us jump into the water a lot. There was not much sun out and so it was freezing! (but awesome). I felt so strong!, I was very happy that day. We were surrounded by gorgeous mountains and the area was not very disturbed by humans ; pristine! y muy tranquilo (peaceful), We stopped midway on the river and had lunch under straw huts. Very cool as well. A path led to the bathrooms but also to a gazebo type wooden structure (cool) On the way home, like many times while driving in Costa Rica, there was a massive accident in front of the underground tunnel (it is under a mountain) and we ended up waiting a good 2~3 hours!.

isla tortuga!- took a wonderful cruise ship to the island! 1st delicious cr breakfast at the gift shop. I tried some coffee liquor that I wanted to buy but I do not think i would be able to get it past customs back to the US! It was a very touristy day and the things here were the classic Costa Rican artesanias that people buy. Once we arrived to our cruise ship, there was a tiny pool on it, giant nets that we could sit on and look below at the ocean!, an open bar too! I got a pina colada, and i felt like I was in paradise! On the cruise ship I danced some salsa dancing (all those lessons at CRLA had to pay off sometime yea?)  with my costa rican friend Joao. Once we arrived to the white beach with torquoise water we went snorkeling and saw rainbow fish and a great assortment of others as well. Later i went banana boating and one friend attempted to climb to the front from the back and we all fell off haha. Again we had a cool lunch under straw huts and played some volleyball on the beach. : D
 ^.^