Well, it was Isla Grande actually.
Yesterday morning we all (Me, John, Alex, John's co-worker Jen and our driver Ricardo) got up early and headed on a cross-country trip to the Caribbean side of Panama. Now a cross-country trip in Panama is only a three hour drive across the skinniest part of the country. But once we got past the free zone in Colon, it was all twisty, pot-hole riddled roads that made me car sick. It was totally worth it though because going from Panama City to the small little village on Isla Grande may as well have been going to another planet it was so different.
Isla Grande has a population of about 300, there are no cars and when walking through town, it's just sandy paths between small cinder block houses painted in vibrant pinks, yellows and blues. The whole island is covered with plants and trees right up to the shoreline. The water is clear and warm and the views are stunning. None of us could resist taking a dip in the water.
We were told that they had a swimming area netted off so that sharks and sting rays couldn't come in and attack us. John actually swam out to the "net" to find it wasn't a net at all, just a rope. we kept swimming anyway, but I kept an eye out for any menacing looking shapes coming toward us. Turns out the only ocean critter we saw was one lone fish swimming around our feet.
We bought agua de pipa, which is coconut water. We've had it before at the Canal and it came bottled and chilled, but when our agua de pipa arrived, it was just a coconut with the top hacked off and a straw stuck inside. It was perfectly refreshing and I thought it appropriate to be sipping the water out of a fresh coconut on a tropical beach.
Around 1:30, we went to Restaurante de Pupy, a little beach side seafood hut which doesn't have an actual menu, they just tell you what they caught that morning. They don't have anything made ahead of time, they make it once you order it so everything is fresh, and we sat around listening to Bob Marley, drinking beer and talking for the forty five minutes or so it took to make our meals. Once they came, I had the pleasure of looking into the eyes of yet another dinner. What do these people have against cutting the heads off their fish? I had ordered "langostino" which we thought were crayfish, but turned out to be jumbo shrimp, which was fine with me. It was absolutely delicious and came with a mound of rice and plantains fried up with butter and garlic. Easily the best meal I've had here to date.
After lunch we caught another water taxi to the mainland and drove out to Portobello to check out the ruins of Fort Santiago. We were all tired so we didn't stay there nearly as long as I'd have liked to. But we did walk around the old fort and admired the views.
On the drive back to the hotel, everyone but me and Ricardo fell asleep. It's a shame too, because I got to watch the sunset over the ocean and saw scenery that took my breath away. I've never been awestruck by a cow pasture before, but even that was gorgeous.
Back at the hotel, I was dismayed that not a one of us escaped a sunburn. John's face and legs got burned, I was burned from head to toe and Alex, despite the fact that I smeared sunblock on him on the hour every hour, got burned on his arms. Despite us looking like a family of lobsters, it was one of the most amazing days I've ever had.
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