Santa Catalina

On the 19th of March at 6:00 am, we get up and pack the last bits and bobs into our backpacks. We can leave the hitchhiking signs in the room, the hotel manager will pick them up and put them away for us, we are very grateful. So for the next 3 weeks, we will only be traveling with our daypacks and we are especially happy to have such light luggage. At 6:30 on the dot, José arrives with his rattling taxi and takes us to the bus terminal in Albrook. Along the way, we can catch a sneak peek at the Ärmelkanal - a destination that we have saved for later.

Everything runs smoothly at the terminal: we quickly find the right bus and it leaves a few minutes later. We drive to Santiago, from there to Soña and from Soña further to Santa Catalina. The buses get older, smaller and stuffier with each section of the journey. ;) But everything is pleasant - I shine in the sun thanks to a film of sweat and little streams running down my back are just part of the day's program at 35 degrees and high humidity. After 8 hours of travel, we finally arrive in Santa Catalina and first check into our room at the Hotel Las Hamacas. The name says it all and there is a beautiful, soft hammock in front of every room as standard. Our room is more like a studio with a bathroom and a small kitchen! We are so eager to cook for ourselves that we immediately set off to 1. explore the village, 2. look for diving centers, and 3. go shopping. Since we are staying here for a week, we can confidently stock the refrigerator and think a little more generously. Back in the room, we cook a bean stew with chorizo - delightful.

We read and soon fall asleep.

On the 20th of March, we have Shakshuka for breakfast. At eleven o'clock, we go to the beach for body surfing and fooling around. The police pay us a visit there and let us know that they are at our service ;) We inquire at the Rancho Estero about surf lessons and can start tomorrow at 4:00 pm.

After returning, we realize that we have sunburned, well, the sunscreen was probably not as water-resistant as advertised...

Afterwards, I try to finalize our essentials (flights, hotels, etc.) in French Polynesia.

Despite good booking platforms, it is quite difficult, as many things, especially certain flight connections between the islands, are already fully booked 7 weeks before arrival. Now we need to move forward, so that when we are on site, we can actually see things. In addition, prices are increasing as the cheaper (if you can even say that) hotels are slowly but surely fully booked. We also suddenly realize that our credit card is once again at its limit and we can no longer make reservations. Increasing the limit can only be done by phone and in the end it costs us 35 francs! Joel, one of the four Swiss who moved in next to us for three nights, lends us his phone for this purpose. They are nice people and we chat with them a bit before we read ourselves to sleep.

On the 21st of March, all hotel bookings in Panama and French Polynesia are on the agenda, after we secured the flights yesterday. It also takes us a lot of time to book the hotels (except for one island). The fact that we also have to pay attention to the limit increase and not book hotels that require prepayment (otherwise we would be without money for the next three weeks in the evening) does not make it any easier. After that, we contact the largest diving organization in French Polynesia to reserve the dives.

We are very much looking forward to our surf lesson and make our way to Juan to listen to his instructions. A Canadian woman joins us spontaneously.

Juan explains well and the waves are perfect for beginners! We seem to be natural talents!

We catch almost every wave and only rarely fall off the board. Snowboarding probably helps a lot! Juan is thrilled and praises us with shouts of "iihaaa" and "increible"!

For payment, we return to his German wife at Rancho Estero and euphorically make our way back to the hotel. But before that, we still have to try on the diving equipment at the dive shop. Like every evening, we cook in the bungalow and relax on the veranda. Another small problem awaits its solution: We planned to drive directly from Soña to Bocas, but according to the schedule, this only works if none of the four connections is delayed. The buses would leave at the same time as we arrive... So we are looking for other options to get to Bocas del Toro in one day, which would cost about $180 if we don't find any other passengers... In addition, the hotels are already booked and would have to be changed if we had to take two days for the journey. Well, a little problem every day keeps the brain cells fit...

On the 22nd of March, we are at the dive shop at 7:45 am and have a cup of coffee with Kony, the dive guide, and two fellow divers from California. After a short briefing, two dive instructors (French/British) who are on vacation also join us. Together, we walk to the beach to board one of the many boats. The journey to Coiba Natl. Park takes about an hour. We do three dives and make many great observations. We see a huge turtle (more than a meter in shell length), many whitetip reef sharks, a nurse shark, an octopus, a seahorse, stingrays, large schools of dolphins (200 animals). The visibility is not optimal and the corals are not as colorful as in the Caribbean six months ago. Kony is quite quick to move on, sometimes we lack a bit of time to take a closer look at certain things. In addition, the currents are sometimes quite strong and there are also cold water zones where you feel like you're in the Aare river. All in all, a nice experience, we are happy. The hermit crabs entertain us excellently during the lunch break on the beach. On the way back, we observe a tropical forest fire, it is the end of the dry season. Back in the bungalow, we try to contact more hotels on Maupiti and solve our bus problem. Finally, the risk of getting to Bocas in one day is not worth it to us, so we try to book a hotel in Boquete for one night, and one night less in Bocas. After that, we could book the shuttle that leaves Santa Catalina at noon. We are a bit exhausted from diving and feel the motion of the boat. We are visited by a giant cicada, yes, the ones that make incredible noise, but she is not in the mood to make music. Everyone takes pictures of her as she is probably the largest flying insect most of them have ever seen. We receive positive confirmation from the dive operator in French Polynesia. We decide on 10 dives on three different islands.

On the 23rd of March, just before the power outage in the village, we manage to arrange the changes and the shuttle to Boquete. We try to cancel our planned dives for tomorrow, but we don't know if it will work, as no one is in the shop.

In the evening, we manage to cancel the dives for tomorrow, the owners show understanding.

We go to the beach to play some beach volleyball before we cook dinner and peacefully end the day.

On the 24th of March, today is all about organizing again: we have found a diving school in Bocas that offers the PADI Advanced at a very affordable price, an offer that I have to take advantage of considering the future dives! So I spend the whole day on the online platform, learning and updating our blog with our latest experiences.

We have also found a shuttle that will take the two of us to Boquete at a reasonable price. Now everything is sorted and settled.

On the 25th of March, the waves are much more unpredictable and higher than on our first day, but working on our "surfing skills" is a lot of fun and we can celebrate successes! During the two surf sessions of about 1.5 hours each, we have a great time. At the pool, we meet two young Swedish girls with whom Amelia can show off her Swedish skills once again.