Escape from San Jose

Day 179

Well, after I minor delay I got all of the gear I needed from home. It arrived a day late at the DHL which was annoying, but alls well that ends well. I now have a very nice backpack that I am going to use to carry my gear. I got an Arc'tryx Bora 80 backpack, designed for back woods multi-day treks. I have pictures of my new gear but I cant upload any pictures onto this computer. I will try to do so tomorrow.

I got an early morning bus out of San Jose today and decided to go to David, Panama instead of Panama City. I want to see some of the islands on the Atlantic side of the coast and then head down to the Pacific side to chill out on some of the deserted beaches reported to be down there and do some jungle trekking. I also want to do some hiking and white water rafting in the mountains. I figured there is no rush to get into Colombia as I can now cover ground so much faster as I am taking conventional modes of trasportation as oppossed to the bike. I can now cover a lot more gound and see more than I was capable of seeing before.

Panama is great. What I have seen so far is very modern compared to a lot of Central America and MUCH cheaper than Costa Rica. The people I have met have all been very nice and happy to assist me in getting around. I am loving it so far and honestly am just glad to be out of that little cell, er, I mean hotel room in San Jose. That city isnt bad really, its just not cool. Its smoggy and kind of dirty. It felt good to see wild countryside again as I rode along in the bus after two and half weeks in the city.

So, tomorrow I am heading north and will spend about a week hanging out on the islands in Boca Del Torro. Supposedly you can hop in a kayak and paddle out to deserted islands. I am excited to check it out and see what I can dig up.

I will post pictures as soon as I am able.