This morning we were up with no alarm at 6:15 and at our breakfast spot around 7. The power was out in the whole town. We were able to get eggs because they have gas ranges. We chatted with Juan, the co-owner. He was born in Spain but grew up in Germany. He gave us the number of a guy who could take us to San Blas, and helped us plan our bus situation for tomorrow.
After breakfast we decided to see about a surf lesson. We made our way to a surf shop that Juan recommended, but the guy was already out on the water. We moseyed down to the beach on our own and Ryan decided that we should just rent a board and figure it out ourselves. I gladly stepped aside and let him do this on his own. Surfing kind of scares me, and I don’t like violently falling into salt water, getting it up my nose, etc.
Anyway, we went back to the hotel (power still out), changed, got together what little gear we were bringing, and headed back to the beach. We rented a board for 7 dollars from another hotel and restaurant right on the water. I think you had to be a guest to rent them, but that was sort of lost in translation, so we got the board anyway.
I parked myself on a plastic bag and watched crabs dig holes while Ryan dragged the board into the water, looking all surfer-like. I lost him pretty quickly once he was in the water. He’d disappear behind a wave, and there were dozes of tiny heads in the water.
beach - santa catalina
I made a few attempts to wade into the water for a better view of him. Eventually he came walking out with a did-you-see-that expression. I didn’t. He said he was able to stand up and ride a wake for a good 8 or 9 seconds! Wow! For never surfing a day in his life, that’s impressive! The one time I tried to surf in his school I barely stood for one.The poor guy was crushed that I didn’t capture any of his ride on video. Back in he went, and this time I stood in the water with the camera on him. Nothing….nothing… I decided to turn around and look over my shoulder at our stuff to make sure no “ladrones” were getting to it. You guessed it. I looked back at the water and there was Ryan in full on surfer mode standing up on the board cruising toward me. The moment I turn my head! I put the camera on him as fast as I could and got a few seconds of footage of him standing. Phew!
He went back in one more time, and I went back to my crab-watching. There were also a lot of dogs running around on the beach, they were pretty cute. There are lots of dogs in this town actually. Some look healthier than others.
After Ryan last go at surfing, we climbed back up the stairs from the beach to the hotel we rented from, returned the boards, and ordered lunch. I ordered coconut curry chicken, and Ryan ordered fish. Both came with fried platacones. After taking our time and sitting there for a while after we ate we headed out. (side note: they were playing a Dispatch cd while we ate - one of my favorite bands! What are the odds?)
We decided to walk along the “beach” back to our hotel. I say “beach” because it was really just piles upon piles of volcanic rock. Thankfully my Crocs held up and we maneuvered over all of them, dodging crabs and what seemed to be half-bug/half-lizards.
Ryan showered and I face-planted onto the bed and took a mini-nap while he finished up. That brings us to now. We ordered two banana drinks at our hotel tiki, Ryan is reading in a hammock, and I am blogging while bemoaning the lack of wifi. He power is back on, but the wifi was knocked out. Looks like I’ll have to post this entry when we arrive in Boquete tomorrow.
Update: here in boquete - had mexican last night near the beach. took many busses today and reunited with Jaron and Joe at Mamallena, Boquete. Blog more later!
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