The travels continue from Nicaragua and into Panama
It has taken some time, but I've now realised why I seem to have lost weight. Things like being active and eating healthily would seem the most likely, but alas no. It's time for the less glamourous aspect of travelling to emerge; sweating and itching. When leaving the Isla de Ometepe in Nicaragua, the weather took a soggy turn and for two and half days of buses from southern Nicaragua to Western Panama (straight through Costa Rica) it's been very wet and humid. That's the que for me to sweat like gun-ho business secretary and for the legions of mosquitoes to descend upon the very tasty blood of yours truely. Girls will hate me for this, but the combination of sweating and itching has left me 10-12 lbs lighter, I´ve even had to send some clothes home, as they simply don't fit anymore.
Finally arriving in Panama I was greeted with some superb rain, that would put most downpours in England to shame, as the rain here is so hard it hurts, and is a great temporary relief from itching too. After almost 3 days on buses I was glad to be in the very quiet village of Santa Catalina, a surfing destination on the south coast of Panama. http://www.flickr.com/
I was recommended to come here by Karen and Nicky in the LSC (London Surf Club), so I was fully expecting huge knarli beach breaks, ferocious spitting barrells and a point break only attemptable by jet-ski tow-in. Day one in Santa Catalina was about 1-2 feet and with a howling on-shore wind. Score. Thankfully, things did pick up from there.
I'd made friends with a German guy on the bus and we decided to check out the Surfer's Paradise just on the road to the beach. I can understand that paradise is a matter of opinion, but I'm certain that paradise should at least be finished before accepting guests. The high point of this place was the views of the point break and beach and the 4 labradors/golden retrievers that lived there. Low points were to numerous to count but my favourite had to be that there were no doors to the rooms, which meant that all four dogs would make their way into our room at night and try and sleep on the beds with us.
The dogs were called Blondie, Bono, Coffee and The Other One. Blondie was a German dog and had lived his first few months trapped in an apartment, so being unleashed in Panama he was permenantly hyperactive, kind of like the dog Marley from the film Marley & Me (...thanks Sarah!). On one evening he led the charge of all the dogs to follow us from the hostel all the way to the pub in the village (this is a 20 minute walk). He also tried to go surfing with us on one occasion and nearly drowned himself.
The beach breakdown the road always looked a lot worse than it usually was. I'm reminded of the mantra Lloyd from the Surf Club always quotes,"surfing is always worth it". How right he is. Hitting the low tide in the morning the waves often appeared small, gutless and uninspiring. But on closer inspection and having dropped the crowds for the east end of the beach, it wouldn't be long before shoulder to head high waves would come through providing late drops and fast beach break waves making the sessions super fun and all the more fulfilling given the previous outlook.
For the first couple of days I was surfing with the German lad but after I beat him twice at chess he left town. I'd like to think it was hurt pride and shame that drove him home, but I think that the fact he ran out of money in a village with no ATM, is more likely. After he left I moved into the village and stayed at place called Rolo's. The man in charge is a local surfing legend and is the man as far as the local spots are concerned.
One afternoon Rolo took me and an Auzzie called Mick out to the point in his boat. Although a truely lazy way to surf, it was pretty cool zooming out on to the point and jumping off with my board, beats paddling out any day. The waves here only break 2 hours either side of high tide but it really magnifies the swell. It might be 2 foot on the beach break but when the points is working it's usually at least 2-3 feet bigger. After finally bagging a wave from the crowds I made the epic paddle back in with Mick, who proved himself to be the Mick Dundee of surf, going on ahead and sussing out the route back.
I spent most of the remaining time surfing the beachie with another Auzzie Chris and by this point the swell was providing some steep faces making dropping in a bit of lottery but a hell of a lot of fun. My signature move is still the faceslap wipe out but it's slowly becoming less common. For a couple of days I'm in the line up at the beach with my water proof camera, snapping some excellent wipe out shots of some more friends I'd made.
Through out my travels I keep thinking to myself, "I´d love to come back here" and Santa Catalina definitely fits the bill, but not for the surf, but for the milkshakes. Two German girls moved here last year and have set up a surf shop Surf n Shake, and serve up the most delicious smoothies and milkshakes. I end up selling my board to them in Santa Catalina and I have to see sense that trading it in for an endless supply of banana and chocolate milkshakes is not a good idea. I'm very sad to see the board go, having carried it from California, even if I´m now carrying a lot less. A banana and chocolate milkshake soon makes me feel a lot better.
Santa Catalina is a wonderful place and for surfing it's definitely got my vote, but the village is not just about surfing. It's also the launch point for the one of the world's best kept secret diving locations. Offshore there are islands in a national park, that diving instructors from renouned diving destinations (Bay Islands, Honduras and Belize) absolutely rave about. If I come back here, I wouldn't be worried about a flat spell, as there's plenty of fun to be had below the surface.
I stayed here for about a week and now that my surfing batteries had been recharged, I was prepared to head on to Panama City and see about a boat to Colombia. Most people who surf or know me, can understand that you can't go too long without waves, I'm hoping by the time I´ve sweated out a few more pounds and got my itch to get back in the water, the next place will be just as good.
More photos in the usual place:
