KS- Saturday/Sunday
Tonight, We're somewhere in Panama, having rolled into the only hotel we could find as the rain was starting to fall, and the daylight was quickly fading. Backing up the story more days than usual, and not just because I like to put off writing the blog when its my turn. In the town on Squirres was the base of the rafting company we had booked a 2 day trip with on the Pacuare River. As we rode to the base in the morning, we stopped by a local market for last minute items for the trip. Sitting on the bikes getting ready to leave, I got to witness a footrace, between the store owner, and a customer. They were both wearing flip flops, and still reached amazing speeds, one was fueled by fear, and the other by anger was my guess. The customer won, and continued down the street as we rode off in the other direction.
After all the typical rafting paperwork we were loaded up and headed to the river. Theres just something really cool about rafting through the jungle, especially when you're so used to desert environments for rafting. After a couple side hikes to waterfalls and some more rapids, we ended up at a remote riverside jungle lodge in the afternoon. Our guides cooked us a great lunch, followed by another waterfall hike, and then an even greater dinner that evening. I forgot to mention that Chip and I were the only two customers on this trip. After one of the most peaceful nights sleep of the trip, with the sound of the river and various jungle critters being the only sounds, we were fed another huge meal for breakfast and then it was time to hit the river again. The first day was the easy one,, nothing bigger than class III rapids, but still made for a really fun ride. Today was time for the class IV water, where steep canyon walls pinch down the river into roaring stretches of waves, rocks, and nasty hydraulic obstacles. Mid morning, we teemed up with the day trip rafters for safety in numbers, and all had a successful run through the rapids, except for one raft that was pushed sideways up against a rock wall, dumping out all the passengers, except for the guide. From what we were told later, the guide told everyone to high side left, and they all decided to high side away from the left, and were promptly rewarded with a swim. After collecting all the swimmers, and enjoying a river side lunch, we paddled the last of the river down to the takeout. Our guide told us that he has taken people on duckies, small inflatable canoe like boats, from the takeout to the ocean in 5 hours. We had a faster way.
We are trying to make it to Panama City a day early, to see if Chip can fix his passport situation at the embassy. We changed back into our riding gear while still dripping a bit and waited out a quick rainstorm before heading towards the coast. Riding through the large banana fields, and past some large buildings for Del Monte, took us to the shore, where we started heading south. The road kept running closer and closer to the beach until we were separated by only 30yards of open trees. Then it happened. My urge to ride on a beach got the best of me. We cut through the trees to the ocean, and I dropped out onto the soft open sand on the beach, twisting hard on the throttle as I did. Sliding around while making sweeping turns, leaving deep tracks in the sand, drifting back and forth across the beach. I was having a blast, not sure what the locals were thinking as they stood there watching, but I was enjoying my new favorite beach activity. After stopping for a couple quick pictures, we decided it best to hit the pavement and leave while we still could. We rolled into the town of Cauhita, a place I had been to about 18 years ago, to find out how things have changed. One thing I noticed most, was the decimal point in all pricing has moved about one slot to the right. We found a fair room for an ok price with all of our necessities, two beds, A/C, and a toilet seat. Sounds simple enough, but you would be amazed how that list can get butchered down this way. A quick walk around town to find the only ATM to be useless, we finished up the night with dinner and drinks and a walk back to our "hotel" . Looking forward to tomorrows ride into Panama, and being one country closer to seeing my wife, that's my way of counting things now.
And a couple pictures to finish things off.
Tonight, We're somewhere in Panama, having rolled into the only hotel we could find as the rain was starting to fall, and the daylight was quickly fading. Backing up the story more days than usual, and not just because I like to put off writing the blog when its my turn. In the town on Squirres was the base of the rafting company we had booked a 2 day trip with on the Pacuare River. As we rode to the base in the morning, we stopped by a local market for last minute items for the trip. Sitting on the bikes getting ready to leave, I got to witness a footrace, between the store owner, and a customer. They were both wearing flip flops, and still reached amazing speeds, one was fueled by fear, and the other by anger was my guess. The customer won, and continued down the street as we rode off in the other direction.
After all the typical rafting paperwork we were loaded up and headed to the river. Theres just something really cool about rafting through the jungle, especially when you're so used to desert environments for rafting. After a couple side hikes to waterfalls and some more rapids, we ended up at a remote riverside jungle lodge in the afternoon. Our guides cooked us a great lunch, followed by another waterfall hike, and then an even greater dinner that evening. I forgot to mention that Chip and I were the only two customers on this trip. After one of the most peaceful nights sleep of the trip, with the sound of the river and various jungle critters being the only sounds, we were fed another huge meal for breakfast and then it was time to hit the river again. The first day was the easy one,, nothing bigger than class III rapids, but still made for a really fun ride. Today was time for the class IV water, where steep canyon walls pinch down the river into roaring stretches of waves, rocks, and nasty hydraulic obstacles. Mid morning, we teemed up with the day trip rafters for safety in numbers, and all had a successful run through the rapids, except for one raft that was pushed sideways up against a rock wall, dumping out all the passengers, except for the guide. From what we were told later, the guide told everyone to high side left, and they all decided to high side away from the left, and were promptly rewarded with a swim. After collecting all the swimmers, and enjoying a river side lunch, we paddled the last of the river down to the takeout. Our guide told us that he has taken people on duckies, small inflatable canoe like boats, from the takeout to the ocean in 5 hours. We had a faster way.
We are trying to make it to Panama City a day early, to see if Chip can fix his passport situation at the embassy. We changed back into our riding gear while still dripping a bit and waited out a quick rainstorm before heading towards the coast. Riding through the large banana fields, and past some large buildings for Del Monte, took us to the shore, where we started heading south. The road kept running closer and closer to the beach until we were separated by only 30yards of open trees. Then it happened. My urge to ride on a beach got the best of me. We cut through the trees to the ocean, and I dropped out onto the soft open sand on the beach, twisting hard on the throttle as I did. Sliding around while making sweeping turns, leaving deep tracks in the sand, drifting back and forth across the beach. I was having a blast, not sure what the locals were thinking as they stood there watching, but I was enjoying my new favorite beach activity. After stopping for a couple quick pictures, we decided it best to hit the pavement and leave while we still could. We rolled into the town of Cauhita, a place I had been to about 18 years ago, to find out how things have changed. One thing I noticed most, was the decimal point in all pricing has moved about one slot to the right. We found a fair room for an ok price with all of our necessities, two beds, A/C, and a toilet seat. Sounds simple enough, but you would be amazed how that list can get butchered down this way. A quick walk around town to find the only ATM to be useless, we finished up the night with dinner and drinks and a walk back to our "hotel" . Looking forward to tomorrows ride into Panama, and being one country closer to seeing my wife, that's my way of counting things now.
And a couple pictures to finish things off.
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| I have not seen any of these as roadkill yet. Was kinda hoping for a monkey though. |
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| One of the side hike jungle waterfalls along the Pacuare River |
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| What a great place for a river sleep! |
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| Caribbean ocean and motorcycle playground. |
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