Bocas Del Tour-O!!

Well, my friends, finally a moment of calm and peace here in Central America. Although, if you keep up with Roman's blog you already know most of what I will tell you. However, if you continue reading anyways, I can promise more colorful and exciting sidebars than you can shake a stick at... at least I'll try...

It is no secret to any regular reader that I have been struggling with my life here in Central America since our unfortunate attack a month ago in our old Barrio back in Limon. Once violated, the sense of security- even naivete- that we have over the place where we live is nearly impossible to reestablish. You spend alot of your time wondering who will attack you, and when it will occur. It's just the nature of things. How fortunate, then, that my Visa renewal would come up just at the exact moment when my paranoia would reach it's peak.

September 28th found Roman and myself on a small charter bus at 5 in the morning, traveling the incredible distance between Limon and San Jose with our sisters from Faith Moravian Church. This was the annual trip to Bible Antorcha- a quiz game designed by the Sunday School Board to encourage biblical scholarship through friendly competition within the Province. Roman and I had both been asked to judge the competition, so we made the decision to make our trip to San Jose the first part of an extended vacation to pick up and renew our Visas.

The night of the 27th had been quite rainy, and as we prepared to leave the house, or as most of you have heard from Roman,"The Hatch," it was still drizzling and generally looking dismal. I assumed this to be an omen of sorts- any who know me can attest to my affinity for Old Wive's Tales and superstitious beliefs...yes, I do read my horoscope everyday... anyhow, I wasn't feeling very confident about the trip. I should've known, however, that God would come through- less than an hour later we were cruising along the Jungle Highway under the brilliant arc of a double rainbow- the ultimate sign of His care and compassion for his children.

Antorcha proved to be exciting, and it definitely gave me some ideas about things to try when we return home. The idea of a biblical competition had me intrigued from the begining, but seeing it in action proved to me that it was a very useful tool for teaching and learning key points of the bible. I think the Baptists are on to something with this "Bible Bowl" idea.

After a delicious lunch together, we parted from our Limonense family and checked into our hotel- the very nice and reasonably priced Dunn Inn. If you're ever in San Jose, stay there. I can't recommend it enough! We spent the next few days in San Jose, where we finally got to feel like we were home with the cool autumn temperatures and crisp breezes blowing against us as we jetted from Embassy to Bank to bookstore, stocking up on English language materials that are so hard to find back in Limon. Finally, at the end of our trip we received word from CREN- the Costa Rica Exoticas Naturales travel agency- that our trip to Panama was solidly booked and ready to go... great news for travelweary gringos needing a break and new visas.

Our trip to Panama has been fantastic from start to finish. The bus ride from San Jose to Sixaola, on the Panamanian border, was long but peaceful. While on the bus we met three fellows from the states, one of which was also a missionary/musician who had been in San Jose for a year. Believe or not, they too had been robbed at gunpoint just a few days prior. This is becoming something we encounter more and more here... Americans are easy targets, and almost all that we meet have the same story to tell. There is comfort in knowing that we're not the only ones, but it's sad at the same time.

These three men would prove to be with us every step of our journey, although we never planned any part of our trip with them. After crossing the border into Panama, which I have written about previously from my first trip here, we were whisked away by a taxi to Almirante. Almirante is an hour from the border, and all of us (Roman, myself, the three men from the bus, and four German women...there are LOTS of Germans here!) were wondering just where the heck we were headed. When we finally arrived at the boat dock, we had to wait another hour to board what would turn out to be an incredibly tightly packed boat to Isla Colon. Fortunately for us, the boat ride from Almirante was only 30 minutes instead of the hour from Changuinola...which we're actually waiting to take right now!

We wasted no time after leaving the boat finding our hotel, which proved to be quite a nice place. One of the many perks of our travel package through CREN was that every detail was provided- the tours, the hotel, breakfast at a local restaurant...all of it was hassle-free and highly enjoyable. We spent our first evening watching the Dow rebound from Monday's market crash, and napping peacefully (or not so peacefully... my headcold making normal breathing nigh upon impossible).

The first tour we took was a boat tour of the many islands that make up Bocas Del Toro. We spent half an hour or more chasing dolphins as they porpoised across the crystalline blue sea in groups of four or more. It was amazing to see them playing so cheerfully. Trust me, I got some good pictures of that. Afterwards the boat parked out in the middle of the sea for some snorkeling. I LOVE snorkeling. I think it's just about the coolest thing to do in water. However, I don't love being parked in the middle of the Caribbean sea and jumping into water of unknown depth with animals that are far more dangerous than the small reef dwellers I usually observe. That said, I decided to sit out on this part of the expedition, instead choosing to read and have a nice conversation with our driver. When the rest of the tour returned (yes, including the three guys from the bus) they expressed their surprise at the lack of fish. I knew then that I had made the right decision for myself- I would've been supremely disappointed if I had gone through that trouble and hadn't even seen any fish!

From Cayo Corale, we ventured to Bastimentos Island for a few hours at Red Frog Beach. Beaches aren't really Roman's scene, so I gave him my camera to take whatever photos he pleased while I swam in the mild ocean. It was great fun. Believe me, we have lots of pictures to prove it!

After a few hours at Red Frog, the driver surprised us with a final stop at Playa de Ladrones... the Beach of the Thieves, on Hospital Island. This was a real treat. The beach was secluded, and the snorkeling was very nice. I saw lots of jellyfish and sylphs, as well as a variety of beautiful fish and corals. I was especially pleased with sighting a MASSIVE sea urchin. It was cool. When we returned, we flipped on CNN and got ready to go out for dinner. We dined on Peruvian food. It was good. Go get you some!

Yesterday, we spent the whole day on Bocas del Drago, a secluded beach on the far end of Isla Colon. When we first arrived, we were the first people in the area, and I must admit that we had no idea what to do to stay entertained. Before long, however, boats of snorkelers began to arrive and we were able to borrow masks and explore the bay. It was not the best snorkeling ever, but it was still very cool and gave us our only view of a sting ray on the entire trip. By the time our taxi arrived to bring us back to Bocas city, we had decided that Drago was our favorite stop on the whole trip.

Finally, to cap off our trip, we spent last night absorbed in the Vice Presidential debates. We are both in a unique position because neither of us are voting this time around, so we were able to enjoy the debate without any political commitment. I was impressed with Palin, especially since all we see of her in Costa Rica is the Tina Fey comedy routine making fun of her. She held her own quite well, although Biden was equally as impressive. What excellent candidates we have this time around, and what a shame that they have to inherit this gargantuan mess. We don't envy you guys right now. We just pray that when we return home, there will still be a home to return to!