We're finally here!

Well, we finally made it! The Blackers don't have wifi, only hooked to there computer, so this is getting posted rather late.

Yesterday, I made contact with a brother and sister that the Blackers had found in San Jose. They own a b&b, and it would have been wonderful to stay at there place, but everything worked out ok. He mentioned a website that has a bus schedule. I was able to contact the bus station, and figure out the time we needed to be there, how long it would take, the price, and where the station was, all in Spanish!

We took a taxi to the station, and waited for the bus. I bought a cup of coffee while we were waiting. It was by far, one of the best coffees I have ever had! The bus headed out, through San Jose, and into the highlands towards Panama. Going through the mountains was beautiful! It was a real rainforest. The road was windy, narrow and steep. Our bus driver had no fear, it seemed. He would pass tractors, and trucks on the steep windy roads! I was glad we were sitting in the back of the bus so we couldnt see too much. Parts of the road had been washed out up to the yellow line too. Scary stuff. The bus didn't have a/c, but through the highlands, I needed a sweatshirt it was so cold.

We only stopped for lunch around noon at a small outdoor cafeteria, and only for 20 minutes. The food was great though. When we got closer to the border of Panama, it started to get hot. We had heard that the border crossing at Paso Canoas was rough, but we had no idea. After finally getting through customs, our entire bus was detained, as one person from the bus had failed to report to customs. We were told we would have to stay all night until he showed up. The room where we all were was about 100 degrees, and very humid, so needless to say, we were hot. Thankfully he did about an hour later, and we were free to go.

I borrowed a phone and called the Blackers, who we met up with at David. We went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner, where a full meal and drink is around $3.00. We made it back to their house around 8pm. The sunrise this morning was amazing, and the view of Volcán Baru, the volcano we are at the base of was breathtaking. We will post more pictures soon.

I'm glad we are finally here. It was such an adventure getting here, it seems hard to believe we will still be here for a month.


-The Jacksons

Location:Volcán Panama