“Hungry monster...”

The day was spent racing around the dry countryside in search of lunch. Our first stop had taken us not far down the road, to a beachside hotel that we had passed on a walk the previous day. We soon found out that the restaurant only took reservations, and although there was nobody there, they only prepared food if you ordered it from the hotel in advance. So we got a couple of sodas and continued along our way. We took the road as far west as it would go, until it turned on to the beach and signified that we would be turning back towards where we came. That little escapade was not totally unrewarding however as we saw a lot of secluded beach, and one point break that looked like it might have some waves once the abundance of rocks lining the point were covered with water.

Continuing along the road we were soon back out onto the highway, our new target being Playa Guanico, the next beach town over. We pulled up along the beach and were soon greeted by throngs of drunk and drinking Panamanians celebrating some kind of Jesus related festivities. There was an abundance of live music and drinks to buy, even a gas-powered generator keeping a soft serve ice-cream cart going, but alas, no restaurants. So we jumped back in the trusty Matrix and zipped on back to the larger town of Tonosi, where we had picked up some groceries prior to our arrival at Playa Cambutal. The time was now encroaching upon four in the afternoon, and the bowl of cereal I had ate that morning was becoming grossly inadequate to keep me going. After passing a few options in town that didn’t seem to have vegetarian options, we found a little restaurant where, with some difficulty, secured Denielle some pasta salad, rice, and lentils, where I had the same with the addition of a fried chicken drumstick. All for the low price, a record setting price on our trip in fact, of three dollars and fifty cents. Bargain.

With the time now midway past four, we went to the grocery store and loaded up with some snacks and beans, and raced back to our hotel to sneak in a sunset surf session at the point break we had discovered earlier that day. To my dismay, this point was known by quite a few other people, all on holiday for Santa Semana. While not the hordes that were found the last couple of days at Playa Venao, (last session I counted 43 people in the water when I entered and they just kept coming), it was disappointing to have to share the waves with twenty or so other surfers. People are usually quite lazy, so the further you have to travel to a place or the harder it is to get there, the fewer the number of people you tend to encounter. But I guess holiday weekends trump that reasoning, so here I was left to compete for the large monster waves peeling along the point. This wave was truly a monster, a beast fed by the strong on-shore winds throughout the day, the wave would come in heaving, pulsing, as if alive, and build up quickly and break steep as it went down the line. You could almost hear it roar if you listened carefully. This monster ate surfers. I sat outside for a while to study the creature’s habits, and once comfortable that I could tame the beast, I dropped in on one of the smaller ones breaking towards the outside edge.

I had managed to park myself above a large boulder, from the signs of the boils pouring up in the water with each passing wave, the effect of which was to cause a short steep section that you could catch the wave well down the line from the main takeoff point that was crowded with other surfers. This guaranteed me a short ride until the other surfers caught up to me by riding the wave across. At this point I would pull off and paddle back out. I caught 4 of these overhead monsters and had to paddle back in as the sun dipped below the horizon, leaving what little light that was left to cast an angry tone of grey upon the rough waters and the landscape.

The previous evening I tempted some even angrier seas for a late evening session while Denielle caught up with her parents on the internet from the local restaurant in the pricey hotel down the beach. Strong currents and thick on-shore wind chop made the waves very difficult to catch, but a few were tamed ever so briefly. A few days before the swell had picked up again, and the reef break offshore from our hostel in El Ciruelo could be seen breaking from our room. So before we checked out, with a gracious checkout time of 2 pm, I paddled into the lunchtime surf, a long ways through the bay out to the unknown reef. There were some large waves coming through, and I only had to share them with two other kids. I had a couple great rides, but the increasing wind made it quite difficult to get into any of these hollow lefts, so I came back in and we packed up and came to our new home for the next few days. While our time in El Ciruelo was nice, it was slightly uncomfortable having to share the place with the owners the entire time, who may have neglected to remember that we were paying to stay there. I think they believed we were taking their food as the father of the family, in his southern drawl, constantly scowled and grumbled over things like “where have all the eggs gone?” even though they saw us cooking with our own food the whole time. I also managed to leave my haggard nine dollar flip flops at the hostel, so had to pick up a pair of shiny new, very orange, three dollar flip flops in Tonosi. Anyway, on to better things.

Sitting high atop our hill from the balcony here in Cambutal, we can look out onto the ocean and see some of the large ships that have recently made the journey through the Panama Canal, a voyage we will hopefully be able to partake in next weekend if the tours aren’t fully booked up. Denielle’s dad had made the trip quite some time ago, just a little after the stone-age I believe, and seems to be quite excited for us to see it for ourselves. Meanwhile, we’re quite content here in our ocean view, where just yesterday we saw our first monkeys parading through the tree tops while Denielle did yoga in the breeze out on the balcony. I had initially started the session with her as it was my idea, but the pains in my back had me bow out and opt for some ibuprofen and hammock time. And this evening whilst getting ready for supper, I found two quite large cane toads hopping about, surely up to no good, just beyond the balcony.I’m not sure how we’re going to fill the time between when we leave here and when we can take the tour through the canal, but it will probably involve some beaches closer to the city.


Tyler