"Proud of our Firemen"
The parade was great. There were so many firemen and many bands as well. Later I found out that this was one of three groups that met in the middle for a huge parade.
The next day we explored Casco Antiguo, my favorite part of Panama City and we went to see Panama Viejo, or Old Panama, the original location of the city before Pirate Captain Henry Morgan came and attacked them, making them move the city. It turned out to be a day full of "old Panamas" and full of Panamanian history. We ended the day with dinner at the Casal's house which was a great time with my surrogate family here in Panama.
Chelsea was so happy to be out of the cold weather!
An old church in Casco Antiguo. The shallow arch was built to help with the acoustics of the choir.
We stopped in at Dodo for a nice cup of tea.
Dodo is a french tea cafe by the Ministry of Culture in Casco Antiguo.
Chelsea searching for sea glass. She found two pieces of blue sea glass in about 15 minutes of searching. What a lucky day!
The Cathedral in Casco Antiguo. I have always wanted to go inside and it turns out that this day the doors were open!
The church tower in Panama Viejo. They used to use this as a lookout to protect the city back in the 1500s. Too bad they didn't see Captain Henry Morgan coming.
An old well in Panama Viejo. It was filled in but in the 1500s this well was a part of the main market square. It always amazes me to see what people built without the technology of today.
That night we started our journey to Boquete by taking the night bus from Panama City to David. In David we took a traditional Panamanian Diablo Rojo to finish our trek to Boquete. In reality, our Diablo Rojo was not a real one- it was just a glorified school bus. No crazy paintings or flashy party lights.
Night Bus! Harry Potter anyone?
The bus from David to Boquete. I have not been in a school bus since high school orchestra trips!
We had planned on having a day to rest and ended up doing something spontaneous and making new friends. We went on a tour with a sister hostel to a really cool canyon in Caldera. After we went to some volcanic hot springs and discovered a really cool river with round boulders on the banks. It was a great time and we made some new friends.
A foreshadowing view of my task the next day.
Our room at the hostel Spanish By the River. It was really nice!!!
The volcanic hot springs with our new friends.
On the way to the river!
I have never seen a river bank like this before. It was so cool to see all of the huge boulders.
Some more boulders and my new friend JB soaking up some sun.
Chelsea managed to hop to the middle of the river but there was no way to go all the way across safely.
Right when we were about to leave, this herd of goats came and joined the party.
After a good dinner at Mike's Global Grill in Bajo Boquete, we went home and rested for a few hours. Then we woke up at midnight and started our trek up the mountain. The experience was a great challenge. Hiking 10 km in the dark up a volcano is not as easy as it sounds- and I don't really think it sounds that easy. But we made it to the top before sunrise and got lucky enough to see both the Caribbean and the Pacific from the summit. It was an amazing and liberating experience. Next time I hike it, I think I will definitely make sure to pack my ankle supporting hiking boots instead of trying to go up in my trail running shoes again. I had a great time and it was the experience of my entire vacation.
We made it to the top just in time!!!
It is hard to see, but this is actually a panoramic view that captures both oceans!
The final climb up to the summit!
A short video where you can experience the magic of the volcano.
By the grace of God we made it to the top on a cloudless morning. What a great adventure!
Watching the sunrise.
I was so excited that I ran over to this part of the summit. The path was small and the trek treacherous, but the journey was worth the danger.
Here is my tribute to Norway. I built this stone tower to tell all of the other Norwegians that I have been here. It is actually incredibly difficult to build a tower out of pumice stone in the wind at the top of the volcano. I wonder if it has survived.
Good morning Panama! and Costa Rica, and the Pacific and the Caribbean!
It was hard work but we made it to the top. It was a moment of victory that, after starting the trek down again, I realized we should have relished in longer. Little did we realize that we still had some up hill parts on the way back down.
It was an incredible experience to hike Volcan Baru. I am definitely a mountain girl over a beach girl!
Here is a dried lava pool or something. Super neat!
It was cool to see the shadow of the mountain so I took a picture. Then I realized that my shadow was also there! I am the little skinny line farthest to the right of all of the skinny lines coming out of the shadow. So cool!
This is just a special treat. Poor Chelsea was so afraid to be so high.
This is what the nicest part of the trail up and down the mountain looked like. It was a rocky, muddy mess and it made me pine for my hiking boots.
The next day we rested in the morning and then in the afternoon we went on a coffee tour with some of our new friends from the canyon and hot springs. Little did I know when I invited them that they are all tea drinkers. What was I thinking? I really enjoyed the tour and now I know so much more about coffee. I would almost consider myself a coffee snob.... It is really neat to know about the aromas in coffee. I wonder if this experience has educated my pallet to notice the subtleties in wine and beer now too...
This is a coffee tree. We want the red ones!
Once you take the berry off of the seeds it looks more like coffee. Really slimy, white coffee.
That box is what they use to measure the hand picked coffee. That white bag is about two and a half buckets.
This is a bag of some of the best coffee in the world. If my memory serves me right, it sells for about $350 per pound.
So much coffee! The smells!!!!
Left to right: light roast, medium roast, dark roast. Why is french roast not included? Because "french roast" is a nice way of saying "charcoal."
The old fireplace that roasted the coffee beans back before the really heavy machinery. Still in tact and it all still works!
After another night bus (and consequently another less than perfect night's sleep), we made it back to Panama City. Later that day I decided to live a little and I got my very first, and my very last tattoo! (I had actually been planning on getting a tattoo for a long time and had made an appointment for this months ago. It just sounds like I am the carefree 23 year old I am not when I put it this way.) My tattoo artist, Victor, was amazing and made my design exactly. I am really happy with the result. Getting the tattoo hurt like crazy and I will definitely not be getting another one. One is plenty enough for this girl, though I do really like what I got. I was lucky to have my best friend there to offer her hand for me to squeeze and to talk to me during the experience. You cannot say I have not lived now!
Wow, getting a tattoo really hurts. I am happy with mine but I do not want another one!
My artist, Victor, was really, really good! He worked fast but also paid really close attention to detail.
My design straight from my journal.
The final product. He managed to capture my handwriting exactly! Amazing!
Overall our vacation was a blast! We had such a great time enjoying the beautiful weather in Boquete and making new friends at our first ever hostel experience. Panama is truly a beautiful country and I am so happy I could share it and experience it with my best friend!
