Big Adventure

Hello everyone,

Its been a long time since my last messege. Partly because there was no internet or even elektricety to be used in the last 12 days for me :P. But its all good, i´m still alive and happy, and on my way home... slowly, i still got month :P

A well, now, i´m just gonne make a list of the places I´ve been, for myself to check later. also howmanynights(don´t remember exact.. but more or less)

-some expencive place.. ai-bus-
Panama City(4) couchsurfing :) -bus - Mirarmar(1) -moto boat $5- Nargana(1) -actors moto- Isla tigre(4)-coco canoa- Ticantici(1) - Playon chico(3) -moto $35 Ustupu(1) -moto $5- Isla Pino(1) - Porto Obaldia(1) -moto- Cartagena(1) -Fast moto- Turbo, -Bus- Monteria -bus- Cartagena...

Alright, I had fun.. i´ll explain

So to contenue my story, the story about the caos trip, that I put online last time.. Okey, here we go: I´ll try to keep it short..

That day I tried to find a hotel not to expencive near the beach, so I went to this place..(forgot the name) had to take an other bus to get to the beach, but took a hitch.. ended up in some resort, where I took a bus.. and because of misunderstanding it took me back to the main road... still need to work on my spanish..

Anyway, i was tired of that area, so i took a bus, and in the mean time i kinda aranged a couch on couchsurfing.com.. and luckly I could call this guy; Ken, and he let me sleep on his couch that same day... I was lucky there :)

Was fun, I took a taxi to his place, that turned out to be a big, 21 story apartment, with a rooftop swimming-pool(witch i enjoyed). Anyway, Ken let me in after a bit of a w8.. apperently he had a huge hangover from the night be4... :P Anyway, that night he had invided some friends and we drinked and i made pankakes for everyone, happy times.
There where some other couchsurfings during my good time there, ken let me use his appartment, while he was working all the time, and i went around panama city.. in the mean time: trying to book a fligh to porto obaldia, But i had to book a week in advanced... (the problem was ofcoarse the Darian gap, there is no road between panama and colombia)

In the end I checked the a loneley planet(guildbook), And found out that for ¨diehard travelers¨ i could go over the Kuna yala, an isolated island group/Province, a republic of inditinus people... Well.. thats what i did :P

So I followed lonely planets advice and went to Miramar. With some cheap busses.. first 1,5 ours to Palanque, (where i went to a super marked..) and then a bus to miramar..

And from here it gets good:
In that busride, around a corner, I saw palmtrees, white beaches, during the sunrise. So beatiful that i spontaniusly gave an applaus, and couldn´t stop smiling for an our :). Yes, Very very beatiful area...
When I arived in Miraramar, i had to w8 till the frens hostel owners realised that i was w8ting, and then they picked me up to go there, have a great dinner, and sleep in a little hit on top of the hill.
$20 hotel.. but it was the best that I´ve ever been, Great food, great vieuw, nice french people that could tell me what was happening, what boat i had to take to the Kuna Yala.
Next day, after asking around I ended up taking a boat with a guy that was trading gasoline, he asked for 5 dollars.. for a beatiful 8 our boat ride stopping at some places because he had to do some buisniss... All good for me! The islands are beatiful like in the old bounty comurcial, the vieuw in kuna yala is gorgious... and a lot of sun.. i burned.. badly :P And ohwyea, during this trip I some dolphins swam along in front of the boat, 1 meter from me.., looked me in the eye.. very cool :)


anyway, I ended up in Nargana, and that is where slept.. the next day I searched for a boat to Isla tigre (cuz it was more beatiful) and ended up taking a boat with a group of Kuna Actors.
And they told me alot about Kuna traditions.. and the act that they where going to do.. that i saw later.

Okey, The Kuna: An kind of Indians, that managed to keep their same culture.. their own republic inside panama.
Very friendly but poor people(so also a cheap place for food/accomodation.) They live on the tropical islands of the Kuna yala. There is no road between them en the rest of panama its all on island, there is only solor powered, so almost no electricity. But they live a very happy live, living in bamboo/palmleave made huts, eating fish, rice, and tropical fruits :). (and growing some pigs and chickens in bamboo cages on the beach :P)

So I went to Isla Tigre, where I stayed 4 nights for $10 a night on a hut on the beach(under some palmtrees), on the tourist part of the island .
I did a kayaking tour for $10 and went to some islands where only coconuts live(none people). Also did some beatiful snorkeling.. the water is soo clear that you can really look 6 meters deep, beatiful.

And on the 25 their was the day of the Kuna revolution, where they celebrate their victory over the panamanian police, in 1925.. They did a display(toneel stuk) with all their actors(a lot of actors!) for the history, and they told their story this way..

So, a long time ago, a panamanian poletician went to kuna-yala to tell them that they had to go to education, change their ways here and there... The kuna didn´t understand.. and the panamanian police came and told them with force that they had to change (the police was beating people that didn´t do anything). The kuna diddn´t resist for a long time.. they are peaceful people.

So in the end some kunas took a medicine that made them warriors, and they made plan, and in the end they killed some of the police. and had their revolution.. And because of that they now can still live in their simple huts and eat.. live slow like they always have.

After 4 days of chillin around and getting to know the people a bit (they are really really friendly) some israeli guy named nimrod kame along on a big boat that was trading coconuts, slowly heading to colombia... And i desided to go along, sleeping on the boat, and eating 3 meals a day.. In the end costed me $15 for 3 days :)

But it was the Slow part of the travel:

So the cocoboat whent to an island, stayed their 1 day, and the next day to the next island... In the mean time i say hello to all the little kuna children.. and tell them what my name is 1000 times.
I could see that nimrod was getting boared after being on this boat for 7 days.. So we ended up going to playon Chico, a bit bigger island, with a small airport, and he heared that he could get a flight that day.. I desided to go with him... and said goodbye to the colombian coco boat.

But their was no plane.. but some really vriendly guy that let us stay in his house in a hammak, and the next 3 days we spend looking for a boat that went fast.. none... (in the mean time i was playing basketball on the little court on the island :) and met all the children... (the island had a population of 3500, 2000 children)

Anyways, in the end we hired a guy, bought expencive gasoline, and took a motorboat to Ustupu. ($70 for the whole boat, 35 p.p.)
In Ustupu where 2 other travelers, and the next day we took an other small boat.. really slow boat.. to isla pino.
Isla pino is Think the nicest island, small population, big island, nice beach and i walked out to an island with only chicken living there.. :P
(still place looks like paradise..)

Next day, we all payed an other boat(Everybody was tired of waiting around) and went to Puero obaldia.. finaly.. we could go to immigration, and take an other boat over the boarder to cartagena.. a nice Colombian village, where we spend the night and head cheap food... Cuz we all where running out of money, because there is no bank in kuna yala, or in cartagena.. we had to share the last bit to buy tickets for everyone and the last bit was for food... But we made it.

And the next day we took a fast, dubble 175 pk motorboat that covered the same distance of kuna yala in 2 hours.. to Turbo.. and finaly I could get cash again... and nimrod really wanted to go, and the mexican that joinedus be4 in ustupu went with us. So that same day, yesterday, we took a bus first to Monteria(on the main road) and then to Cartagena... and now i just woke up and i´ll see where the day brings me!

I have to do some stuff now..

But just so you know that i´m happy, feeling glad, got sunshine, its not bad at all here ;)

Cya all later!

Albert