We are coming close to the end of our journey!
Two weeks ago we traversed the border into Panama. On the Costa Rican side there wasn’t a single police officer. When we crossed the bridge, walking I might add, there were several very strict looking soldiers that were wearing camo uniforms and holding ARs. After some confusion with Panamanian customs officials involving proof that we were not just going to stay in the country, we all piled into a van and were off again.
The drive to Boquete, our next destination, took over five hours. The house we stayed at was part of a golf course resort in a lush, long and skinny valley. The house was the first on this trip which was similar to an American-style house. Kylie and I did schoolwork most of the time we stayed there and Dad went golfing several times.
Two weeks ago we traversed the border into Panama. On the Costa Rican side there wasn’t a single police officer. When we crossed the bridge, walking I might add, there were several very strict looking soldiers that were wearing camo uniforms and holding ARs. After some confusion with Panamanian customs officials involving proof that we were not just going to stay in the country, we all piled into a van and were off again.
The drive to Boquete, our next destination, took over five hours. The house we stayed at was part of a golf course resort in a lush, long and skinny valley. The house was the first on this trip which was similar to an American-style house. Kylie and I did schoolwork most of the time we stayed there and Dad went golfing several times.
The next place we went to was only an hour away as the crow flies, but took us four. The first hour brought us to a river mouth, where we loaded all of our things into a tiny boat that we could barely squeeze into. As soon as we were off the dock, we were soaked by spray coming over the bow. Our driver tried his best to keep us dry, but he couldn’t make any progress without getting us wet. It wasn’t long that we stopped caring about getting wet ourselves, but keeping our luggage as dry as possible Our destination was an island that should have been a 45 min boat ride but, because of the wind and waves, it took 2 hours. The island only had one house on it which relied on solar for power. It was about fifty acres, and had many fruit trees and howler monkeys. There wasn’t anything to do but stay inside or get eaten alive by bugs outside so we choose to do a lot of schoolwork and have a bunch of family movie nights. The howlers were relentless early in the mornings and randomly during the day. The house itself was very neat because most of the walls were glass. Every night about thirty geckos would come out and attack the swarms of bugs on the outside of the glass that were attracted to the light. There were four separate areas that you had to go outside to access. Three bedrooms and a living room/kitchen. The one big surprise was that the wifi was really fast!
We spent almost a week on the island then moved on again. Another five hour drive south took us to Anton Valley, which seems to be the Beverly Hills of Panama. The houses are all huge and on several acre lots. The house we are staying in has an indoor pool open to the living room! There are also horses, chickens, and five dogs, which might even be as friendly as Noah. The dogs roam the property all they want and have been enjoying the company of dog-loving humans. The other day we went on an ATV-UTV tour up into the mountains to the most amazing free-fall waterfall that we have ever seen. Three more days and we will be in Panama City and three more days after that, home!