Panama first few days.

We made it into Panama City at 3 in the morning. After a brief search we found a taxi and headed to Casco Viejo where our hostel awaited. It wasn't a fantastic hostel... Micheal and Kim found bugs in their bed. But no worries, we were only there a short while and by the time we actually found the place, we were too tired to care.

The next day we slept in and after checkout, explored Casco Viejo for a bit.   Casco viejo was a beautiful city but had many very run down parts.  It seemed like a very up and coming Antigua Guatemala.  After a short walk and sightseeing we grabbed a cab for the bus station.  We snagged a bus for David and were off in due time.  7 hours later we arrived in David and grabbed a cab for Boquete.  Arriving after 11 it took some time to find something open.  We grabbed a storage room with a bed on the floor. 

The next day we found a hostel right along the river.  With the sound of rushing water and thick mattress we found our home for the next few days.  Yesterday, we went horseback riding through the jungle and mountains of Panama.  My horse was rather lazy walking for 30 seconds then taking a break.  I tried to speaking kindly to the horse at the beginning of the excursion but by the end I was cussing to make him move. During a struggle for second place I got my horse (lets call him cordado) to a gallop and as we were just about to pass cordado bite Amanda's leg.  She wasn't happy. 

After the horse fun we hopped back in the van and made a short trip to Caldera hot springs which is owned by a local rancher and his family who charge a couple dollars a person to enjoy the bubbling natural springs on an operating ranch. There are successively hotter pools surrounded by loosely piled stones and vigilantly guarded by a thieving juvenile female monkey. A mountain river runs through the property allowing bathers to alternate between cold and warm waters. When we arrived it was announced by our guide that Chita (the monkey) was 'wrestling a duck' which sounds supremely awesome. However we soon realized we misunderstood the Panamanian accent and the monkey was actually wrestling a dog; which is still entertaining for monkey, dog and onlookers. We then hit the road back to Boquete after spending some time petting and handling the monkey. I washed my hands before we ate, not sure about Kim, Josh, and Amanda though.

Upon arriving back in Boquete we made a run to the 24hr Romero market to finally purchase some beer (due to the previous 2 day alcohol prohibition of martyrs day which commemorates the events in the mid 60s of clashes between Panamanians and American soldiers near the canal which resulted in several deaths on each side and led to the eventual overturning of control to Panama). We polished off a couple 6 packs before heading out to Big Daddy's - a seafood restaurant specializing in fish tacos and margaritas operated by a couple ex-pats. After a couple rounds of margaritas the staggering and vocal ladies hit the bed and Josh and I had a beer on the porch overlooking the river and discussed very important issues in a very serious manner. I later fell asleep.

Fearing the potential effects of alcohol combined with very early morning we set no fewer than 4 (four) alarms in order to catch our bus to Rio Chiriqui for some white water action. After some earlier trepidation the ladies were raring to go and seemingly felt no I'll effects from the previous night at 6:45am. I was quite sleepy however. The 2.5hr ride out was uneventful and sleep-filled. After arriving at the construction zone where the 2nd of 3 planned power plants was being constructed we received some bad news that the company was NOT going to release the water. This unfolding significantly inhibits one's ability to float on rather than pull along the raft down the river. Our group decided to wait it out a bit instead of of pushing in immediately.  After what seemed like hours of watching earth moving machines, the water began to flow.  Here is the rest in video.  Enjoy!