INTO THE MOUNTAINS

Gastric complaints are very much part of normal life in Central America and the traveller, exposed to such a variety of sanitary arrangements and food preparation, is probably more prone than most.  I’d begun to think myself immune to such matters so when reality struck in the wee small hours I at least gave me time to do something about it.  Immodium is wonderful stuff and two tablets supplemented by a draught of vanilla extract administered by Luis our host, seemed to stem the flow.  Equipped with the back-up of a Lomotil tablet I was ready to face a day’s travel without embarrassment to myself or the rest of the group.  As has become the norm on travel days the sun shone without interference from cloud cover and the sea was mirror calm.  The boatman, the same man who brought us to Bastimentos had the good grace to apologise for the previous ride and promised a smoother transition back to Almirante.  Safely delivered our transport was waiting and we were quickly on the way to Boquete.

The road surfaces were excellent and we soon began to climb through what appeared to be virgin forest whilst the routeway was sufficiently open to allow extensive views. 

Given that the forest is such an important resource for the planet as a whole and the tourist industry in particular, Panama has done well to preserve so much of it.  Whether this is by accident or design I don’t know.  Eventually we were sufficiently high to see all the way to the Pacific Ocean. 

The final stretch into Boquete showed evidence of major road building so clearly there is an attempt being made to facilitate travel from Panama City into the more equable climate of the highlands.

Our hostel is basic but comfortable so I was glad to be able to retire to my room and deal with stomach cramps and nausea in private. 

I emerged mid-afternoon to find some coffee and attempt food to be accosted by a charming gentleman who tried to get me interested in buying property.  No tax for 20 years was the main carrot.  He did, however, lead me to an excellent coffee shop.  I’d imagined that good coffee would be a norm in this part of the world but this has not proved to be the case.  An empanadilla seemed like a good idea but proved difficult to digest so I headed back to bed and made use of the hostel’s excellent wi-fi service to download some music successfully.  Apparently the provision of wi-fi is something that has developed rapidly in the last year.  Certainly, only a few places have been without it but the quality of provision has varied wildly.  This was the best by a long way.

A long evening nursing my aches and pains was punctuated by a single visit to buy some coca cola and a bio yoghurt before it was necessary to fit ear plugs in order to get some sleep.  Hostels are generally pretty noisy and this was par for the course.

I rose the next day feeling decidedly frail but definitely over the worst.   A brief exploration of the town led to a cup of coffee but I postponed breakfast until a little later.  The town seems to function more widely than the tourist centres visited recently and, whilst tourism is still important, there are not that many cafés and bars but the range of shops and services is much broader.  A REAL town, in other words.  I had got used to women in traditional clothing in Nicaragua and Guatemala but this was not a feature of Costa Rica.  Here in Panama the costumes are worn by many although the ladies are no more willing to be photographed. 

Like everywhere else, preparations for Christmas are in full swing and I came upon fresh evidence of Christmas trees. 

In Bocas I spotted one through a window, still in its nylon wrapping and already turning brown at the edges. These looked OK but at those prices I wonder who actually buys the things. 

After the opulence of the churches witnessed elsewhere the buildings have seemed low key affairs recently and in Bocas ‘low’ church was definitely the order of the day.  Here, the Catholic church made a comeback but it was definitely a rather restrained affair although workmen were busy replacing all the marble tiles on the entrance steps.

The afternoon was given over to the pleasures of quad biking and I greatly enjoyed bombing around the tracks and minor roads of the area. 

As we got higher coffee plantations took over but it was surprising to see areas cleared for the cultivation of more temperate vegetables in small terraced plots.  The scenery was often dramatic and at one point we stopped to see where Jo, one of our number, had been rock climbing in the morning.  It looked like basalt except that the columns were horizontal. 

Apparently this is what happens when molten lava is cooled by contact with water.  I’ve seen plenty of basalt but this was a first for me.

After showering off the dust; ironic after all the rain we’ve seen recently, I opted for some food and managed to eat some of it before returning to pack my bag ready for an early start tomorrow.  Only two more journeys now!