Trip through Panama

                                Dec 19 0730hrs

    We put Second Star in a marina so we could be plugged in to shore power while we were away. The trip with Don and Rita was sooo much fun. We took the water taxi across first thing Fri morning. The rental car was delivered (late of course) and we set out. The drive across the mountains was beautiful but a bit rainy. I think it was challenging driving for Don, but the rest of us got to sit back and enjoy the scenery. We had a quick lunch on the road and got into Volcan in the early afternoon. Don and Rita had planned the trip to share places they had gone 15 years ago. We stopped to look at a trout farm they had visited back then and then for some awesome strawberries and cream. The cabin we were headed for, to spend the first night, is just a little north of Cerro Punto. It’s at about 7500 ft. You have to do some serious four wheel driving to get to it and it doesn’t have electricity except one car battery that runs a power strip with a wi-fi router plugged into it. It has a wood stove for heat (and it was cold up there), a gas stove for cooking and propane lamps for light. We were surrounded by stunning rain forest with a big stream running just the other side of the “road” in front of the cabin. The water falling over the boulders was a wonderful sound. It rained over night, which was very loud on the roof, and between that, the altitude and a cocktail and wine with dinner (no, we really didn’t drink that much), Don, Rita and I had fierce headaches that made it difficult to sleep. But, in the morning, the sun came out, we had really good coffee, courtesy of Capt Johne, and some Advil, and we got to hike though the fresh, wet, shining forest. Rita had brought her fly rod and she was very excited when she actually caught a little trout.

                                1400hrs
    I took a break from writing to clean, put up the holiday decorations, and make, eat and clean up after lunch. Now back to the trip.
    We left the cabin, drove back down the mountain, and headed for Boquete. On the way we stopped in Volcan, at an archeological site. The lady who gave the tour was very interesting and very knowledgeable (although, Johne did some research later and some of what she told us was myth not fact). It was an amazing site both for the archeological history and the botany. The variety of plants was awesome and  we got quite an education on them.
    After that we had lunch and then hit the road again. When we got into Boquete we started looking for hotel having not made reservations in advance there. We drove though town and then back up into the mountains on the other side. We happened across the most interesting rock formation. It was a place where the lava had flowed and cool quickly in layers and then an earthquake had shifted the wall, so it looked like 6x6 lumber made of rock and not laid quite right. It was really cool looking.
    We went back into town, found a room, had dinner and made plans for the morning. ZIPLINING!!!
    Okay, let me just start by saying, if you’re not afraid of heights, and you have the opportunity, DO IT! We had sooo much fun. There was a miss communication about which office we were supposed to be at so we ended up waiting for an hour for them to show up in the morning. But that only put a small and temporary damper on the experience. We were the only ones signed up that morning so we got their undivided attention once they showed up. The ride up to the first platform in the truck was cool by it self. Don road up with us even though he didn’t want to do the zipline. He had a very nice walk back down while we did the ride. Rita and I giggled almost none stop until we got back to the lodge and probably for a while after that. It’s exhilarating and the view (though it went by fast) was amazing. This site was over a gorge with a stream and water falls. The lines go in and out of the jungle canopy. We did 12 lines and it took about half an hour. What a great experience.
    After that we had another strawberry fix then headed back down to David to do some shopping. That part of the trip was a little stressful but, after going to 4 big stores, 2 of them twice, it was time to get a room, have dinner, and get a little sleep before heading back to Bocas at 0-dark-30 the next morning.
    The drive back was even better than the drive over (no rain) and we made good time. But when we got back to Almirante the rental car place said they didn’t have anyone to come pick up the car, so Don and Rita drop us, with most of the stuff, off at the water taxi and drove the car back to Changuinola.
    We got the groceries and luggage back to the boats and spent the rest of the day putting stuff away and taking care of the needy cat.
    Yesterday and today we’ve been working on the new A/C project and getting the boat ready for the solstice party on Friday. We’ll be going back out on the anchor tomorrow…