Viva Panama!

So after deciding that the Rio Patria wasn´t going to happen due to rain, and recalling our lack of excitement for class IV shole boating, we decide that Panama sounds cool. We all agreed that our previous research led us away from panama, because the season is Sept. - Nov., but we decided it would be a refreshing adventure, and we might find a gem or two that flowed during the dry season. So, we went for it and found our selves in Boquete Panama two days later. The cool misty mountain weather was a very welcoming break from the hot sticky buses and sweltering heat of the lowlands. We spent 4 days in Boquete enjoying the refreshing water, and relaxing feel of the Caldera river that flowed though town. The stretch that we did twice was constant, exciting, and refreshing, and a perfect amount of action for grins all day. The excitment level was perfect, not scary, just fun! The other fellows thought that it was a little low, and it was, but definately my favorite so far. The town was full of fun and exciting people such as our hyped up hostel owner, and our rather BROsive new friends from Moab! We had a good time to say the least, dancing and hooten´and hollerin´till all hours of the morning. A relaxing day at the hotsprings topped off our stay in Boquete. I´m defiantly going to return!

So after aquiring info we headed toward the Rio Chiriqui Viejo, the river that borders Costa Rica and Panama. We ran about 50 mile of great class IV-V in 3 days, two nights. There was a good mix of everything, IV+ bump and grind, Class V pool drop within a tight gorge, boulder gardens, sholes, and of course a wroudy fun slide that flew into the river from one of the tributary´s.

Once back at the border town we decide that it´s surfin´time. We walk our boat to the boarder in the sweltering hot sun, then grab a cab to Pavones, Costa Rica which is a small surf village at the end of the road. At that moment in the cab, with a Cerveza in hand, boats on top, and my buddy´s all around me it clicked! This is what vacation is all about, Paradise found right here in this moment. That feeling didn´t last long, about an hour later I´m throwing up in the alley way after just meeting Casey´s buddy Chris from Alaska. It´s quite a horrible feeling to get the BUG!, but a few days worth of stuff coming out of both ends is a small price to pay for paradise. At this point in the trip I was the last to get the bug, the other´s had already been through it! Pavones was a perfect place to nurse my self back to health, as I slowly came too and hoped on board for some daily sunrise and sunset surf sessions. What a place to be a surf bum, I can definatley see how people flock to the lifestyle of surfing, just as we have to the rivers! We bid Casey farewell from Pavones, and glanced towards the falling sun across the ocean to ponder our next part of the adventure.