In the highlands of Boquete

08.01.17 - 14.01.17

After some initial difficulties with Santa Catalina, I am now almost a bit sad to leave this place. It was really a nice time and I felt very comfortable in my hostel. The shuttle bus arrives 15 minutes late, but at least I don't have to walk anywhere in the midday heat with my backpack. The shuttle bus, eleven passengers, nine Germans, all couples except me. This pretty much sums up the situation in Catalina.

The journey to Boquete takes about four hours with stops. It goes through beautiful landscapes. It is hilly to mountainous. Everything is quite steep and pointed, but not at all rocky, and the hills and mountains are not completely overgrown with jungle, but covered with meadows on which individual trees and palm trees stand. Beautiful and very special. I have never seen anything like this anywhere else. Oh, how beautiful is Panama? Very beautiful! Unfortunately, I am so fascinated by the landscape that I don't take a photo.

On the journey, you naturally start a conversation with German travel junkies. It's nice to be able to speak German again and to exchange ideas with others about travel, countries, and places. Not going to San Blas was not my best decision. Everyone who has been there is totally enthusiastic. Well, that's history now, I won't go back, let's move forward, upward, northward.

The closer we get to Boquete, the cloudier it becomes. Then it starts to rain. When we get off the bus in Boquete, I'm glad I have my wind and rain jacket handy. After ten days of heat, it's kind of cool to feel a little chilly again. I am picked up here at the drop-off of the shuttle by the school. This week I have my first week of Spanish lessons. It's getting colder and windier, but after three-quarters of an hour, Charlie, a Frenchman who married a Panamanian woman, arrives. This Panamanian woman, Katherin, is also in the car and is also my teacher for the next week.

In school/hostel, I receive a brief introduction. Charlie speaks incredibly fast, a mixture of English and Spanish with a clear French accent, but I can somehow follow along. Since it is already half past eight, he takes me to my host family, as I have booked a homestay. The family's house is around the corner from the school, so it is within walking distance.

When I arrive there, I am greeted by Miriam, the host mother, and Amilcar, her son, in a friendly manner. As I find out, they are the entire host family. That's weird, and I had imagined it differently. So I always somehow sit in the spotlight and hold back when it comes to speaking Spanish. For dinner, I get a few patacones with fried eggs and pick up a few Spanish words.

It is definitely very interesting to see a Panamanian house from the inside. Everything is very Spartan and somehow bare. The floor is polished concrete. It's kind of stylish, but I would bet that it is not chosen for highly modern interior design reasons. The sink and work surface in the kitchen are also made of concrete. The ceilings, on which the only lighting, a bare light bulb, is mounted, are very high and end just below the corrugated iron roof without any suspended ceiling.

Now we come to my problem of the first night. It pours rain like buckets, and it is damn loud on the roof. In addition, there is a strong gusty wind that sounds like it would knock the house down. I wonder with every gust of wind why the house doesn't shake. Spontaneously, I download an app for measuring decibels. Max 73 dB. I google it and, oh, that's between traffic and a lawnmower. Oh well, good night then. Fortunately, the WiFi is great, and I can stay up all night watching Netflix.

My night is finally over at six o'clock. After more Netflix, I get up, have some cornflakes, feel out of place, and walk over to the school/hostel. It's really nice there, I immediately meet some girls from Switzerland, and I feel much more like being in a family there. I quickly arrange to move to the hostel the next day.

After I have everything settled, I hike to Boquete. The hostel is located a bit outside the town, and I reach the place after an hour and a half, taking beautiful detours. It's still extremely windy, and I'm glad I make it to the destination without anything hitting my head. In the town, I have lunch and meet one of the couples from the shuttle bus. It's really funny. They seem to travel a lot too, but when you hear them talk, it seems that everything is lousy everywhere. Then you'd better stay at home and spend your money and time on something else.

I hang out at the hostel with the Swiss girls in the evening. Then Malin from Sweden joins us. Of course, I'm once again the oldest one. It's so nice that I don't want to leave, but I want to be "home" for dinner at seven. There, to my surprise, we have rice with beans and eggs. Yeah!! It tastes really good, but it's just sooo boring. At first, I feel out of place again, but Amilcar, the almost 16-year-old son, draws me out of my shell, and I chat with him for two hours. Well, of course, he talks much more than I do, but at least I understand most of what he says. The evening shows me that it really makes sense to live with a family if you want to learn the language. However, I had expected the family to be larger and to be able to listen to everyday communication more. Anyway, I have now decided to move to the hostel, and that's what I'm doing now.

After another very stormy night, I have to pack my backpack again. That was probably not the best idea to buy a backpack for only 50€. It has already torn in one place. Damn, but I'll sew it up before I continue. I chat with Ingrid for a long time. She owns the five language schools with hostels in Panama and Costa Rica. I go to the supermarket, finally cook something for myself, and fool around a bit, so that I almost don't have time to do my homework for class. Since there is not much going on, I have two private lessons instead of four hours of group lessons. That's great because I realize that four hours a day would be too much for me. It's really crazy when you think that you usually work eight hours. But I'm in vacation mode. In the evening, we all eat together and drink wine. Malin plans a WorkAway on Isla San Christobal in Bocas del Toro. It sounds really exciting. I had considered that during my planning, but then dismissed it because you usually have to plan for six weeks or more. Hers is only nine days, and it makes me think.

The next morning, we all go on a tour. First, we take the bus and a very short walk to hot springs. But we don't get into the naturally created pools with water temperatures of 30 and 40 degrees until we have cooled off in the cold river. It's nice to go swimming again. We take the bus to the next stop. Unfortunately, we only walk a very short distance, but it makes us want more. We reach a beautiful waterfall with pools for swimming, splashing, watching, enjoying, and absorbing everything.

In the evening, I decide to join the WorkAway, and Malin asks if they need someone else. The next morning, we get the answer, and I can join. We are very excited. They have horses, make their own chocolate and ice cream from their own cocoa plants, and have a small house that they rent out to guests who are also cooked for. We are supposed to help with everything a little.

Once again, I have my daily Spanish lessons. Oh man, my head is really spinning today. It feels like it's my first lesson... in my whole life. But somehow, I'm also getting annoyed with the teaching materials. They are sometimes completely illogical and stupid. Suddenly, sentences in the past tense are used, even though the past hasn't even come up yet. How are you supposed to understand that? Furthermore, there are errors everywhere, which even I notice and apparently are not corrected. Today, I'm really annoyed by it and seriously considering whether I want to continue. After all, it costs $225 for a week, and it has to be worth it. Especially since I could also spend the money on other activities.

Today, the Féria de las Flores y de Café is taking place in Boquete. It's supposed to be a big folk festival. Well, big compared to the tiny size of the town. According to Lonely Planet, there is hardly any coffee, but instead a lot of rum. When we arrive there in the early afternoon, it's still closed, so we go back after a cheap lunch. After Malin and I can motivate our lazy butts to go for a jog, we go back in the evening. Actually, we feel like dancing. Two party-disco-music areas are set up, where, as always, even for a party, the music is played too loud. It's extremely windy and cold, and it's raining, so we go home. Midnight snack, Netflix movie, bed. We party girls, we...

Last day in Boquete. Malin is still annoyed that she can't do the volcano hike. The hike up the Barú volcano looks like this: you start at 11 p.m. and make the ascent in the dark. If everything goes well, you're not too early (freezing cold and dark) and not too late (after sunrise) to see the sunrise at the top viewpoint. From there, you have a breathtaking view of a large part of Panama and, above all, you can see both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. But if you're unlucky, the top of the volcano is in the clouds and you can't see anything. For various reasons, I quickly decided against this hike. The last hikers who started a few days ago had to be picked up by helicopter from the mountain due to bad weather. Since then, the national park has been closed. Unfortunately, you can't hike the highly recommended Quetzal Trail either.

So today we only go for a short hike, the Hidden Waterfalls. We take a taxi past Boquete and higher into the mountains. It's even cooler and moister here, but we are totally amazed by nature. At an altitude of about 1800 meters, huge trees grow here, in contrast to native regions. It's drizzling, which creates a great atmosphere, especially when the sun peeks through gaps in the clouds from time to time. But the trail is wet and muddy, and I slip, fortunately only once, and sit down in the mud. It doesn't matter, we think everything is great: Look at this, look at that... Woooow!! There are supposed to be three waterfalls to hike to. We only find one. Not exactly the signposting of the Alpine Club. But that doesn't bother us either. We are satisfied with the trail, exercise, and nature. Besides, Malin is cold in her shorts, and I also have to go back to Spanish class, which I'm really excited about. Today, it's going well again.

I cook dinner for us in the evening. Red snapper with pumpkin-potato mash and tomatoes. Whatever is left... Then I pack my backpack and go to bed early. Tomorrow, we're off to Bocas del Toro for the WorkAway.