Road trip: Panama and Costa Rica

From Panama City we hopped a bus to San Jose, Costa Rica, a 16 hour (5 movie) trip, with a two hour stopover at the border crossing station of Paso Canoas. We were going to visit Christer, Ulf's childhood friend from Sweden, and his wife Camilla and their son Viktor, alias "Spiderman."

Christer and Camilla left Sweden in 1996 to live in Malaysia. After living for two years in Penang, they moved to Barcelona, Spain, where they lived for ten years. In 2007, ready for their next adventure, they sold everything and moved to Costa Rica, sight unseen! Now their license plates look like this -- totally inspiring!

It was really cool to see how Christer, Camilla, and Viktor are living now in Costa Rica. It is pretty far from Fiskarvagen, Jarna, where we grew up.

It was Jen's first time meeting them, and Ulf's first time meeting Viktor -- who is now his good buddy, following some fiercely competitive arm wrestling, boxing and football matches. Here's Viktor as goalie.

Camilla and Jen got in on some video boxing. They floated like butterflies, and stung like bees. You know. (P.S. These guys have fun toys.)

Along with some sightseeing (like traditional Nicaraguan dancing, in honor of International Women's Day), we got to tag along on a house-shopping trip.

Here is the house that Christer and Camilla are in the process of buying. It has stunning views, fruit trees, and hawks soaring overhead.

Every morning, Camilla treated us to luxury breakfasts, followed by more good food and drinks throughout the day. We even had long hot showers for the first time in six months. We're still talking about them. We hope to see Christer, Camilla and Viktor somewhere in Central America, by sea or land, before too long.

Click here to read Christer's cool blog (in Swedish) of their new life in Costa Rica.

After that fun reunion, we headed south to see a little more of Costa Rica en route back to Panama. Following an intriguing Lonely Planet write-up and a hunch, we headed for the little mountain town of San Gerardo de Rivas.

We were bowled over by the beauty of this little town far up a long dirt road, in a glacial canyon surrounded by rushing rivers, lush cloud forests, and the high peaks of Chirripo National Park.

San Gerardo de Rivas is a quiet, friendly place that attracts a small crowd of hiking tourists who come to make the two day ascent of Mt. Chirripo. Otherwise, all is quiet except for the pervasive sounds of birdsong and rushing water.

In the afternoons, cool rain clouds roll into the high forests and conceal the valley and mountains. We stood on the bank of a ridge, mesmerized by large birds of prey that were riding the air eddies over the cliff, disappearing and reappearing in the encroaching clouds.

The roads and hillsides of San Gerardo de Rivas are replete with an astounding variety of wild-growing flowers and fruits.

This spike-cuffed bamboo was exotic.

At Cloudbridge, a privately run nature reserve that is open to the public, we walked the trail to the incredible Pacific Waterfall.

For the most part, the houses of San Gerardo are small and simple, except for an extravagance of flowers.

There are natural hot spring pools in the town: a nice treat after a few days of steep hikes.

We were happy to find the excellent hostel Casa Mariposa, situated just a few meters from the trail head to Mt. Chirripo. The hostel is appointed with simple, nicely decorated rooms and great mattresses -- a rarity among budget hotels.

There is a comfortable library/sitting area and a well-stocked kitchen, with gorgeous forest views, where we made real meals and enjoyed some good conversations with our host, John, and the other guests.

A trail behind Casa Mariposa leads to a pristine swimming hole with icy cold -- we mean, refreshing! -- water. Below right: willing myself to dive in.

There are a couple outdoor sitting areas, one in a covered gazebo above the house, another tucked away in the woods. We loved staying at Casa Mariposa, and quickly made friends with our friendly, interesting host. We didn't want to leave at all.

In fact, we were half convinced that we should sell the boat and buy a house in San Gerardo de Rivas... we liked it that much. But we decided to keep moving and see what else we might find. Heading back towards the Costa Rica-Panama border, we decided to skip the busy Paso Canoas crossing point, and headed for the quieter border town of Rio Sereno, near the charming Costa Rican towns of San Vito and Sabalito.

Over the border and back into Panama, we were again riding through gorgeous highland terrain, but on this side the landscape was richly planted with all kinds of vegetables, fruits, and coffee, interspersed with vast horse farms. We stayed in the little town of Cerro Punta, Panama, at the top of another mountain road.

It was the week before Semana Santa, an important holiday throughout Catholic Central America, and everyone was traveling. All the hotels in Cerro Punta and the surrounding towns were booked, but we heard that there was a spare room beside the pharmacy that was sometimes for rent. That's how we met Omaira and Luis, a great couple who own the pharmacy, which is also Cerro Punta's "hospital." Omaira is the town pharmacist, and Luis is retired from the truck driving business. They were wonderfully kind to us, and a lot of fun as well.

We were enchanted by Cerro Punta, just as we had been by San Gerardo de Rivas. Crisp mountain air, incredible views, kind and fun people, great hiking... and more amazing flowers everywhere.

Moving on, we passed through the city of David, Panama, on the last night of the pan-Central American agricultural fair. On the final night of the feria, the streets were full of cowboys and cowgirls, parading and actually dancing their horses to the rhythms of a brass and percussion band set up in the back of a cattle truck. What horsemanship!

Following the feria, we took an overnight bus south and east to the town of El Valle de Anton, Panama, where we awoke to more spectacular nature. At Hotel Don Pepe, the owners and staff keep a phalanx of obviously well-loved and well-cared for birds. Here are the gentle toucans, Pancho and Ricky. Ricky liked to have his beak stroked, and would "purr" a bit like a cat.

A garrulous family of parrots kept up a non-stop talk show from the big tree behind the hotel, and came marching down the trunk for visits and fruit treats.

Wild birds, fields, and forests surround El Valle, which is situated in the almost perfectly flat crater of a long dormant volcano.

We saw many of the remarkable "woven" pendant nests of the Crested Oropendola hanging from the branches of tall evergreens. Look closely at the photo below left, and you can see the bright yellow tail feathers of two birds. Or click above to see a website with closeups of these birds.

There are pleasant hiking trails all around El Valle -- most are within an easy stroll or bike ride. Ulf wanted to take the trail below for some reason. There are also hot springs, purported to have medicinal properties. Jen tried the natural mud treatment. We may need to remind you: it is a beauty treatment.

Now it was really time to head back to Sea Quill, so we grabbed a final bus back to Panama City to finish up our shopping and provisioning. It was the weekend of Semana Santa, when the city shuts down, buses all over Central America stop, and stores don't sell any liquor (unless you ask discreetly).

Our favorite hostel, Hospedaje Casco Viejo, was full up with holiday travelers, so we spent the first night back in Panama City at the atmospheric, but dilapidated, Pension Colon, which feels like the set for a film involving weirdo travelers, waifs and junkies. Latin pop music blared through the paper-thin walls, while the children of resident families played football in the ancien-chic lobby and asked us for "un dollar" at every opportunity.

Near the Pacific entrance to the canal lurked Russian billionaire and Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich's 370' super yacht, Le Grand Bleu, replete with an extra powerboat and sailboat on deck, just in case things get boring.

Meanwhile, on the rough urban streets of Casco Viejo, someone's clothes were air-drying in an alleyway. Diablos rojos ("red devils") rumbled past leaving clouds of greasy diesel fumes, and women sporting that uniquely Panamanian hairdo -- enormous hair rollers under a mesh hairnet -- slinked through the traffic.

Jen drifted back to Saks, the discount clothes store, where shirts cost a buck, bikinis cost a $1.99, and so do magic silver shoes. Now we will click our heels three times and return to Sea Quill. There's no place like home.