Swaying in the late afternoon breeze, high atop the hill, I lay in a hammock, gazing upon the waves breaking far offshore over the rocks of the reef at low tide. I sip a cold Balboa and take it all in. Not more than 300 kilometres from here, Columbus landed during his fourth and final voyage upon what he thought was Asia. Only a few years later, Balboa, for which the beer and currency hold the namesake, became the first European to view the Pacific Ocean, a sight which I currently enjoy from the comfort of my hammock. We’ve been so absorbed in our trip that it almost escaped us that we had already accomplished our goal. After all, the name of the blog was “in search of Panama”, and now here we are, resting comfortably in Panama. While sitting out over the reef this morning I was thinking about just how far we have come, and how long ago it seems our journey began. I remember the cold nights and long hours on the road traversing the US, and the initial fears and uneasiness of our first border crossings. Now we have become part of our journey, and what seemed like it would never happen, now appears to be commonplace. Living in paradise for so long changes one’s perceptions. You begin to expect the unexpected, and somehow experiences that once wowed and amazed, now seldom require a second glance. I suppose it’s the same as driving through the mountains back home and becoming frustrated with the throngs of tourists clogging the highway to get a glimpse of some bear or elk off the side of the road, when such instances are no longer new to ourselves.
Perhaps this means that the magic of the trip is beginning to fade, or that now we have reached the end destination that our thoughts can’t help but turn towards our return trip. I have to admit that I am not looking forward to many of the long driving hours ahead, as a lot of the places will no longer be new experiences and will fail to have that certain shine. But we still have some time in Panama, so I must try not to look too far into the future and focus on all the new wonders that surround us here at the moment. Just yesterday in fact, I marvelled at the sight of a rather large sea turtle that kept breaching the water beside me in the surf line up. The coffee table-sized reptile would emerge just long enough to gulp in a couple of mouthfuls of air before descending into the deep blue once again, as though we weren’t even there. The big swell is continually dropping each day, while the crowds remain, so it is fitting that we are scheduled to leave in a couple of days to explore the next peninsula down. We’re looking forward to getting down further towards Panama City and seeing the large ships go up and down the canal. Perhaps we’ll even take a boat tour and do the trip ourselves. It seemed a little expensive at first, but how often does one find themselves in Panama?
There is also a first class rail tour that you can take aboard the mighty Panama railroad from one end of the canal to the other and back in just 2 hours. During the California gold rush in 1849, this was the most popular route for Americans on the east coast to get to the west coast. They would board steam ships and travel along the coast, and make the 80 kilometre walk or train trip to the other coast, where they would then catch another boat up to California, thereby bypassing the dangers of the Indians awaiting in the central US. There is still a large portion of freight that is shipped along these tracks as an option to the expensive fees and size limits of the canal route. At the time of construction, the railroad was the most expensive line of rail ever built, coming in at just over 8 million dollars, while stocks in the railroad company held the highest price on the US stock exchange. So perhaps we will pretend to be wealthy 19th century industrialists following our expensive cargo, and make a round trip aboard the first class car at a cost of an exorbitant 38 dollars per person. Apparently it’s one of the best ways to see the canal.
A couple of days break from the long paddle out to and back in from the reef each day will do my body some good, and while Denielle is having a nice relaxing time hanging out around the magnificent grounds of our hotel, I think it will do us both some good to get to another place with more of a town atmosphere so we’ll have more to occupy our time with. And hopefully the next place will have more groceries than dried beans and rice. There are a few restaurants here, and tonight I think we’ll treat ourselves to 6 dollar pizzas again after last night’s 3 dollar meals. The food certainly is cheap, and the sun is relentless. It’s tough work living in a Corona commercial, but we’ll keep struggling.
Tyler.
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