Last time, our regular doctors surgery in London took three weeks to sign the medical certificate to say we were fit to travel - and that was with us chasing them regularly. We didn't fancy our chances of waiting on them to complete and email the forms in a shorter turn around, so instead we set out to find a doctor nearby in San Jose. After entering a few private practices to be told the doctor was out, we did eventually find one at home. A Gynecologist. You can imagine my nerves being sat in the waiting room.
The receptionist showed us into a large room, behind which sat our doctor, a huge man with (I couldn't help but notice) the chunkiest fingers I've ever seen. I've never had to visit a Gynecologist before, but I mentioned to Gemma that in the unlikely event that I would need to in the future, I'd enquire about the size of their fingers first! Fortunately, a practical was not necessary. Did we have yellow fever, dengue fever, malaria? No. Form signed, and $80 lighter than when we entered, we had finished our paperwork.
The good news is that we will be returning to Europe by boat, leaving from Moin, Costa Rica on 2nd February, and scheduled to arrive in Algeciras, Spain about 15 days later. Our new ship is called the MV Bonavia (Details at Marine Traffic), a Liberian registered vessel quite a lot smaller than the MV Hanjin Miami. And quite a lot more expensive it must be said. In part this is down to the fact that the trip is 3 days longer than our previous voyage, and in part because we will get two stops - in the Dominican Republic and Martinique. We are both delighted to know that we will be returning by ship, and will have travelled around the globe without flying.
Once our documentation had been submitted, and our hefty bill paid, we decided to head down to Panama. We booked our Tica bus seats on the overnight drive and set off at 1pm. We arrived at the border in the early evening, but it took nearly 3 hours to get through customs on both sides, so we arrived in Panama City at 5am the following day. Normally arriving at a new bus station in the dark can be a painful process, but the Albrook bus station was a huge, clean, modern building with a line of waiting taxis (normally the drivers are hussling, crowding, even grabbing you).
We jumped into one and set off for our hostel. The drive across town was a real eye opener, Panama City is a huge, sprawling modern town with the biggest sky scrapers we have seen since leaving the US, some apartments and others office buildings with names like Citibank and HSBC. Even the road network was impressive, huge fly overs and causeways built over the ocean. Of course, good roads do not necessarily mean good driving, but that's true anywhere in the world!
Arriving at the hostel at 6am, the owners allowed us to go straight to our room and crash out, so we didn't wake up properly until the afternoon. People have often commented to us that catching the night-bus is a good prospect because you save on a nights accomodation, which is true to a degree. But it is rarely a good nights sleep, and there are often stops which necessitate waking up - borders and police checks are common in Central America. Which in turn means that you tend to waste the first day in a new city, catching up on sleep.
We did manage to wander down to the nearby ruins in Panama Viejo later that day. There are a surprising amount of foundations still visible, despite being left unloved and open to the elements in the 340 years since Welshman Henry Morgan plundered the town. Apparently old Panama was a wealthy transport hub on the route to Europe for the Peruvian gold, which made it a focus of pirate interest. Despite sacking the city Morgan is probably less famous here than another old British rogue, Sir Francis Drake, who was allegedly buried off the coast of Portobello on the Caribbean side of panama - divers continue to flock here in search of the lead coffin in which his body supposedly resides.
We had only been admiring the ruins for a few minutes when a policeman on a bicycle peddaled over to us and warned us, in a curious mix of English and Spanish (Spanglish?) that the slums behind the ruins were just about the worst part of panama for us to be in. He told us to head down to the visitor centre instead, so we braved the afternoon sun and strolled away from the better ruins. By the time we reached the office, it was quarter to five, so we decided not to pay for 15 minutes. Instead, freshly concerned about walking back through the slum we caught a taxi.
The next day we caught a taxi to the Panama Canal, specifically to Miraflores Lock, one of three such locks along the 80km of canal, which stretches from the Caribbean sea to the Pacific. This particular lock is the closest to downtown Panama City, hence the most regularly visited, which is why they have built a large visitor centre, complete with a balcony with football stadium style seating. Just try getting a seat! It was packed when we arrived in the early afternoon, so we stood staring into the blisteringly hot sun to await the arrival of a ship.
We didn't have too long to wait, a small catamaran moved into position, followed by a tug, then a large cruise ship and finally a sizeable cargo ship edged down the second channel. We watched as the water level dropped, allowing the ships to move between the locks before heading the short distance out towards the Pacific Ocean. Actually I found it a bit underwhelming, here was one of mankind's greatest engineering efforts, yet it was neither as dramatic as the Corinth canal, nor as beautiful as any one of a number of small locks in the English countryside.
Back inside the air-conditioned visitor centre (it was approaching 40 outside) we had a brief look around. The movie room took it in turns to show Spanish and English versions of a film about the construction of the canal, but we had just missed the version we might understand. Instead we had a stroll through the small museum, with it's collections of artefacts from the construction. It was quite nicely presented, and the aquarium showed us all the creatures which lived in the canal - namely dark, dirty looking fish. Apparently the ships have to pay for passage through the canal based on weight, and in 1928 one man was charged 36 cents for the right to swim through. I don't know if I'd fancy trying the same today, the water looked distinctly murky with a layer of covering oil.
After seeing the canal we felt we'd do some shopping the next day, I needed an extra bag to carry all the bits we've picked up on route, and we needed to find Gemma a birthday present. We asked at the hostel, who directed us to a mall in the city. The taxi driver dropped us off at the entrance and I nearly fell to my knees and wept - the first two shops were Cartier and Louis Vitton. And from there it got worse, Armani, Versace, Rolex, Omega, all the luxury brands had a presence here. When Gemma had said she wanted a watch, I hadn't envisioned we'd be looking for something that would cost us more than our entire trip!
We had a brief look around, but there was no chance of us buying anything other than a drink in the food court. Instead we went to a different mall on the outskirts of town called Los Pueblos. This was were the people shopped, here we were able to pick up a bag, a watch, and some t-shirts for a few dollars each, far more like a backpacking budget!
After a few days of doing nothing except trying to find some relief from the relentless heat and humidity, we decided to return to Costa Rica. Gemma did take a train along the length of the canal one day, but she'll explain that in more detail later. We headed back to the bus station at 11pm one evening for our return trip on the Tica bus. The ride was as bumpy and twisting as before, and we were woken several times before we reached the border at 6am. Being the first time we had driven north in central America, we watched as sniffer dogs checked our bags thoroughly in both sides of the border. The second time the dog took a liking to my bag and I was hauled out to have it checked, but the strongest drug they found were several packets of Costa Rican coffee!
We eventually returned to San Jose at 4 in the afternoon, and walked the short distance to our hostel, to the dismay (and annoyance) of several taxi drivers. This being our third time in Costa Rica's capital, we resolved to do some of the things we had kept putting off, so the following morning we caught a bus downtown and found the Museo del Oro Precolombino (Precolombian Gold). The entrance price was a little steep, but there appeared to be several different exhibits, so we forked out $11 each and stepped inside.
Heading down stairs, you are obliged step walk through huge vault style doors to where the gold is kept. Inside is one of the best presented museums we have seen in Central America. The displays were well set up, with thought going to the presentation, especially lighting. But it's no wonder the curators have made such an effort, because they are the guardians of a wonderful collection of treasures. Little golden figures of humans and animals of all shapes and sizes, incredibly detailed and beautiful, these Precolombian people were true artisans.
I was particularly impressed by the sheer range of creatures, from the almost compulsory worship of jaguars through to the unlikely representations of a lobster or a crab. The museum also contained exhibits of the homes these people lived in, through to little models showing how they lived their daily lives. There was also a movie room which showed a video concerning how they created the gold.If you are ever in San Jose, this is a must see attraction.
The other thing we wanted to see was an Orchid garden called Jardin Botanico Lankester, about 25km outside of San Jose. We took a taxi to a bus station (there are over 20 here, so you have to know which one you want to go to before setting off), and caught a local bus to Cartago for $1. In Cartago we jumped in another taxi, and we were soon at the gardens to which Gemma has a family connection.
Charles H Lankester moved out to Costa Rica to farm coffee in the 1940's, and in his spare time cultivated his passion for orchids, which grew perfectly in this climate. When he passed away, his gardens were left to the care of the University of Costa Rica and the American Orchid Society, and survive to this day. The same Charles H Lankester was the second cousin, twice removed of David, Gemma's Dad.
Unfortunately having a family connection didn't save us from the entrance fee, so we headed inside to see what the Gardens looked like. The first area was dedicated to the Orchids, and they had a huge range. Most of them weren't in bloom (wrong time of year) but those that were looked stunning. We spent a long time admiring (and photographing) them inside the greenhouses.
They also had several other areas dedicated to different plants, including bromeliads, cacti, and a slightly disheveled Japanese Garden, so we spent an hour wandering around the pleasant paths, before returning to the reception. Gemma tried to get some information about Mr Lankester, but besides a few photographs inside the staff offices they didn't know a great deal, so we walked back down a dusty road in the afternoon heat to begin our return to San Jose.
In the next few days we will be heading down to the Caribbean coast for some sun and sea, and we'll be anxiously waiting the call from the Port Agent in Moin informing us of the embarcation procedure, but all being well we should set off on the 2nd February and expect to arrive in Spain 15 days later. Until then!
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