IMPORTANT< DO NOT BRING DOG!!

Yeah, there, I wrote it.  We should not have brought our dog.  She has cost more at the borders than for us to cross, crossings would go half again as fast for us without her, and when it is raining outside, she brings more wet in with her.  I'm glad that she is with us, but honestly, most people should be warned... no pets at border crossings!

Porrujas or Chitres

One thing all people coming to the caribe side of Costa Rica or Panama should be ready for is the porrujas (the name in Costa Rica) or the chitres(Panama's name), which is a biting no-see-'um, very small black horrible thing, which leaves a very itchy bump behind.  They are so small that they float through the screens, so there is no way to keep them out.  The Off! 40% Deet seems to keep them from landing on us.  I am using Hilands homeopathic tabs, for bee stings and insect bites for relieving the itching (worked in 15 min. for me) but did not work on the kids.  Our anti-histamine anti-itch cream worked a bit for Teresa and Leo, as did just plain old witch hazel.  Only problem is that you are constantly re-applying those creams or the lotion, whereas the homeopathy seemed to work for me up to several hours.

Be prepared.  We were, but not for all things, I guess.

more on Isla Colon

For those of you that might be following the blog for more practical purposes, like finding out about costs or restaurants... The ferry over was an hour and a half and cost our 3500 dodge ram $55 U.S. (panama uses U.S. currency as does Nicaragua) to cross.  

Our 1st night on Isla Colon, in Bocas Town, we went out to dinner at The Casbah.  Fantastic food!  We had 2 different appetizers, bacon wrapped shrimp and tuna carpaccio.  I ordered the penne and shrimp and John had the pork tenderloin in rosemary and white wine sauce.  Great food.  Kind of pricey but definitely worth it.

Last night we went to Pizza Libre, where all the dishes had humorous names like "Mother Teresa" (all I remember is that it had goat cheese on it) and the "Che Guevera" (3 cheeses, parmesan, mozzarella and bleu).  I ordered the "Obama", black olive and bacon.  I loved it!  Both for the taste and the humor.  John ordered the Garlic and Shrimp and might have been called the "Benazir Bhutto".  Nothing like a French chef's sense of humor, eh?  LOL

Isla Colon, Panama

Hey all,

  I am emailing from Isla Colon, Bocas del Torro town, Panama.  Its been raining since we left Costa Rica, off and on all day long and all night long.  Being in the camper has not been all that much fun what with the humidity, inability to be dry and lots and lots of rain, but little or no waves.  John not getting what he wants, and we are all tired of rain.  Tomorrow, we will take the ferry back to the mainland and go over to explore the Pacific side.  We think that since there is no "dry" season on the Caribbean side, but there is on the Pacific side, we should be a bit happier and drier.

The island is pretty cool with its mixed people from latin america and the caribbean island peoples, everyone who lives here speaks both Spanish and English (or patois).  With so much rain, should it surprise anyone that everything is so green here?  Lots of cool frogs, (including the one named after the noise it makes, the tink frog!), monkeys in the trees just cruising around.  The roads are just one big mud pit, so walking on them is almost impossible in flip flops, since they just suck off into the mud.  Lots of grey sky, and lots of humidity.  When the sun does come out, hello! it is fierce!

We met a cool family, Jed and Ruth, with Jayden, Cora and little Adia.  They are buying some land on another one of the nearby islands.  Thanks to them, we are showered and have the laundry done, but we are still not totally into all this rain.  Since they are from Northern Calif. they don't mind the rain and love that they are here until April.  Thank goodness they are as kind as they are!  We are baja rats at heart and are totally missing the desert clime....sigh.  Hopefully, Jed and Ruth get what they want, and when we return  back to where we will get what we want.  Waves, anyone??

pix

pix from the camper

Did we say that it was crowded in here?  this is the camper on a night where John was reading to us.   Nights are filled with reading, writing, playing scrabble, chess or quarto or card games.  Yes our little "Casita" on wheels is serving us well.

Back in San Cristobal

Here are the kids with one of the Mayan actors that performed in a play that we saw called "Palenque Rojo" and an image of a really elaborate-carved face of a church of San Cristobal's at night.

Photos from Palenque

It was very hot and humid here in Palenque, after being up in the mountains in San Cristobal.  We are right in the jungle, it grows up to all of the ruins.  There were underground tunnels, lots of lots of buildings to go up and down (my thighs remember well!) and it was a great experience!

pix from San Cristobal de la Casase!

Who says that Central America is colorful?   San Cristobal de la Casas around Christmas time-  The narrow streets with our camper dominating one, and one of the churches (yes, I know that it is sideways, I cannot figure out how to turn the image!!

pix from La Ticla

La Ticla was a great place to camp...beautiful, right on a river and here are some sunsets...

pix from earlier in Baja

John and our beautiful and very willing to have her tummy rubbed akita, Kit kat

More pix of Monte Alban

Here is one of Teresa

More pix of Monte Alban

 One of me chugging up the stairs of the North wall.  It was a very hot day and wearing the hat and the wrap over my arms was a good thing.

Teresa, my little pink thing, had no trouble running up and down those stairs.

Monte Alban

Here is a photo of the pyramids at Monte Alban and that would be Leo the wonder boy in the foreground.

Do I have to be sick??

OK, now I know I have been complaining just a bit too much, but really!  I am so sick of being sick!  My friend, Carol, has chastised me for traveling and being sick at the same time.  Well, I didn't plan that, I can tell you that much!  I do understand her concerns, as we are not coming home for another 6 mos. it seems at this point.

We are still coughing our way through the nights, but I think we are getting better every day.  If we get down to the beach, into some warm weather, I should think that we will get better faster.  At least I would hope so.

So next stop, El Salvador.  That is after my husband John and his sis get to watch their Chargers win or lose this Sunday.  John has found a spot that is close to the border between Guatemala and El Salvador, on a white sand beach that has a lagoon.  I think he is hoping to use the boat that we have lugged all the way from San Diego and used just a few times so far.  And I think he is hoping for some good fishing.  I could use some fish tacos and that is always a good thing to have fresh.

Although Guatemala City is not the safest place to be, it would seem that we have had an easy time of it.  We have visited some very high end malls here (something about a Donna Karan store, 2 Tommy hilfiger stores in the same mall, Guess, and a payless shoe source all next to each other seems strange to me!) and eaten at some cool eateries (ate a mexican restaurant called Frida Kahlo's) and we are ready to rough it again.

Keep healthy everyone reading this!

Guatemala City

Well, we made it into Guatemala a week ago Monday.  We managed to stay in one of the most dangerous cities in Guatemala that 1st night, Huehuetenango.  Guess there was a shoot out there 2 wks. ago, something like 9 people killed.  None of them tourists, I might add.  The next night we stayed on Lago Atitlan, where there are 3 volcanoes and it was very pretty there.  Lots of biting bugs.

From there we went to a beach called Sipacate, a mellow little beach area, and camped New Year's eve and day all the way through yesterday.  Black sand beaches, 80 degree weather, lots of humidity, and lots of cool people.  The army came out and checked us out (for our safety) on Fri. night at 11 PM with lots of flashlights and didn't even try to talk to us.  Lots of ash in the air there, though, and our coughs are still going strong, maybe due to that.

We got into Guatemala city on Monday in the afternoon.  Big city, lots of traffic.  Managed to get to the U.S. Embassy to look up my SIL and then waited for her so that we could follow her to her house.  Ate at another Taco Inn (last one was in Oaxaca City), and had the Alambre, shared it with Leo.  Trying to clean up all the ash that got into the camper, wash the dishes and clothes and then will manage to start cleaning the counters, stove, cushions and floor from the mess that it looks like right now.  That ash totally made everything grey.

We are planning on El Salvador from here on the Pacific side, not sure of the beach just yet, but we are discussing it and plan on making a decision soon.  Hope everyone is having a great New Year.

toni