At the end of the Panama Leg

surfing at Playa Estero at sunset.

Well it is time to move on, i have decided to Fly out to Belize From San Jose, Costa Rica instead of heading south again to Panama City to fly out. This saves time for Ian Who needs to head North any way, and also lets me explore a bit more of Costa Rica (the flights are cheaper also).

Playa Estero

I had a spectacular night, last night, surfing by myself at sunset, my choice of waves, left or right, no other surfer out, a sky on fire, off shore breeze, and a warm embracing sea, a sweet sweet way to leave Santa Catalina. I want more i want to stay there are more people to meet, and more challenging surf breaks i want to conquer.

I tried surfing La Punta in Santa Catalina ( a reef point break) i got a three OK rides, though mostly ate it in a big green lip that proceeded to send me through a spin cycle. I never touched the reef however and getting back out through the waves on the inside wasn't too challenging, all and all a forgiving point break to get your fitness and steal honed on for bigger days or tougher breaks. however not just the surf is addictive, the sheer beauty and accessibility to remote wonders in this land calls you to stay.

The Point on an average day. La Punta, Santa Catalina, Panama.

I don't want to leave, i want to stay in panama, to buy a little house, become a fisherman or some other Romantic notion of a simple life profession. I desire to surf the waves and kayak the islands, climb the trees and journey the rivers of this wonderful land called Panama, it hits a chord some where deep in me, a primordial calling drawing me into its beauty and wildness, all my senses are excited yet also at ease.

I must concede to the reality that I will have to thankfully return again to panama, and see more of what I have not seen and enjoy again some of what I have, this land has earned a spot in my soul and I hope it doesn't change to quickly that it loses the magic that has captured, despite the fact I have seen only a portion of what it has to offer.


Playa Estero
For those of you looking for the gaps in the story so far, I will post it all ASAP now that again I have easy access to the net.

Thanks for your enjoyment J.



Note: thanks to other surfers and tourists for the shots with no watermarks.

Reminiscing Coiba

Golden Sand, Blue Crystal waters, Turtles, Mantas, Monkeys and Sharks. this Is a Lost World of wonder Hardly explored and full of beauty. I feel privileged to have visited Isla Coiba.

we spent nights under the star filled skies watching the waxing moon build to its climax over the nights. the crescendo was our final night paddling back to the cabins at the ranger station where the sunset the sky on fire, as well as the moon that simultaneously rose out of the east. it was large and red and framed by the silhouettes of the Islets covered in jungle, we lingered and watched it rise to its milky white heights and felt humbled to be in such a serene place.

during the days we often walked into the shade of the Forest, where monkeys played and birds sang and the sun dappled green Leaves like glowing green jewels, hid the source of many a strange cry of beauty. however now and then little white faced monkey troops privileged us with lengthy sightings of there clan as they rummaged through the trees or along the coastal shores.

Our kayaks where our transport and the rolling warm pacific seas our medium to travel upon. below us the depths called, you could see the fish swimming below and in the shallows the bright colours of the coral reefs beckoned for us to snorkel at every moment. tall trees reached high from the rocky shores to the sky promising cool shade from the hot sun, though the water won out more often than not.

the waters where warm yet cooling and full of fish that danced and swirled and encompassed you if you chose to plunge into the depths. Giant pacific green turtles would rise from the reef to get a better look at us if we floated as still as could be, while Hawks billed turtles would swim around you close enough to be touched when you dove down to visit them. Coral Gardens stretched out in continuous or sporadic areas of action.

above the water and on the sand hermit crabs are kings. They scamper all about and climb everything they can, searching for all that is edible and cleaning the areas of all things that may become foul. there extra terrestrial presence created a constant memory that the greatest fascinations and wonders that need to be protected are found right here on earth.

this is a land of wonder. Viva Isla Coiba
J.

Nicaragua

in nicaragua, got a bit of surf in this morning, heading to costa rica today.

hope to find time to get posts up. no time for computers at the moment.

Truck fixin day

The part for the truck came into Belize City the other night, but did not clear customs, so we headed to Belizecustoms and then get to fixing the truck.
City to sort out the

The part cost about $900.00 US to buy and get sent here, at customs they wanted to charge us a further $250.00US to get it out, we explained that the part wouldn’t be staying in the country and the truck was leaving as soon as we could fix it. We where then sent to the senior officer, Mr Tillet to resolve the issue, without a second glance Mr Tillet signed it off and at a administration fee of $30.00 Belize ($15.00 US) we were out the door.

We had a nice drive back to Dangriga along the Coastal RD; however we damaged a part on the Suspension when we hit a large rut a bit too fast. On arriving back in Dangriga we headed to the great mechanic around the corner from the house where we were staying, this guy let us use his property and his tools (just the ones we didn't have) so Ian could Replace the throttle body and fix the Airbag in the suspension. We worked well into the dark; though there wasn't much I could do Ian new his truck and the parts. At about 7.30pm we were done and the truck was running great.

Well all things well we will be deep into Guatemala by the end of tomorrow

J

Ian is in town

today Ian and his dog Buddy (shogun) the Shiba Inu, rolled into Dangriga Belize. they had just driven from Wyoming over the last couple of months via Baja. they where tired and sick of driving when they arrived and had some good story's of adventures and mis-adventures in Mexico.

the truck had some issues, its throttle body ;which controls the air intake for the injectors; was stuffed and the truck wouldn't run properly, but got Ian and buddy here to Belize, just.

now we need to fix it before i can join them on the mission to Panama of the next 10 days.

Garifuna Settlement Day Nov 19

this day or should i say the day before it, is an excuse for an entire town and alot of the rest of the country to party. though with dangriga being the main settlement of the Garunagu people it is a big thing here.

Back to Belize with a boat.

So I am back to Belize again for another northern winter in the tropics.
This time around, I have finally decided to bring a white water kayak with me, and old Riot Disco that I picked up in Arizona. The boat will probably end up living down in Belize for people passing through down here to use.

There is only one good river to boat on down in Belize in the dry season (the Moho River) but there may be many more in the wet season (good reason to come back in Sept, October). I get to boat on the Moho allot over the last 5 years and have always wanted to take a hard shell instead off the inflatable’s we usually use. Finally I have got motivated to do it.

I checked my baggage restrictions for my flight and I was allowed to bring a pack kayak at 50 lbs with no set restrictions, and luckily due to my booking date I was allowed one piece of check in at 70lbs and my usual carry on.
I might just get away with this.
I had my Lendal paddles (one ocean and one river) that dismantle into four pieces each, all my guiding equipment, my helmet, guitar and camera gear. I was carrying too much stuff but was going to try it.

I got to check in station with help from Nina Lewis, the attendant looked at me in a strange way. “Is that a kayak?” I was asked in a surprisingly calm voice. I put the boat up on the scales and tried to think of possible solutions to problems that may be about to occur. The boat in its boat bag came in at 49lbs, and when they looked for size restrictions and found none the boat was good to go (big sigh of relief from me). my next check in was overweight at 75lbs, and my carryon bag was too big, due to the line behind me I had to take everything, boat and all, out of the way and re pack. It was a great chance to shove new stuff in with the boat and hope they didn't re-weigh it. Paddles, helmet, throw bag some books went inside the kayak, and Guitar stayed behind in the USA with Nina.

back at check in they took my bag it weighed 71lbs now and they let it through, the boat, now much heavier, went through without a second glimpse, but my carry on looked to big still, though I was allowed to continue at my own risk. I hugged Nina goodbye and off I went. Once I removed my laptop from my carry on the bag it was more than small enough and on a plane to Belize I successfully was.

Arriving in Belize I had missed the last plane to Dangriga, though they told me at the office the kayak wouldn’t have fit anyway, so now I was off to the bus station.
The taxi drivers tried to tell me that there were no more buses to Dangriga that night and I should check into a hotel. I don’t think so “I have been here before many times, There IS a Bus!!" I stated. So we loaded the kayak in the trunk of the car and off we went to the station, with the driver asking “was I sure I didn’t want a hotel?” the whole way. On arrival there was a bus due to leave in 30 minutes, I paid the taxi driver after he helped me move my big bag and boat into the terminal and there I waited for my lovely bus ride of two hours to the town of Dangriga where I will live for the next 5 months off and on.



It was a simple process of waiting on the bus as it wound through the dark jungle roads heading south until I arrived in the little sleepy town of Dangriga. Not much quaint about this place though it is a great central and affordable location for accessing the rest of the country and outlying countries from. I was met by Andrew who took me to the Staff house that was to be home for the season, I was the first to arrive of all of us who work for Island Expeditions.