Feb 12, 2007

Today i´m in a town called Boquete in the Chiriqui province of Panama close to the Costa Rican border. It is gorgeous here. I just arrived about 2 hours ago. I´m just getting settled and trying to book some activities. Will go white water rafting tomorrow, and the next day hopefully go hiking. We shall see!

This morning I had a surreal experience as I had to get up at 3 am and walk 40 minutes along the beach across sand and rock with a dead flashlight (I resorted to using my ipod) to catch a truck that would take me to where i could catch a bus to another bus. I was in punta burica, about 1.5 kilometers from Costa Rica, and the trucks only went out at low tide because they drove along the shoreline (the only "road" out there). I was talking to god while I walked along in the dark, listening to jungle sounds and she reassured me that everything would be ok. I really shouldn´t have gone out to this remote spot, but when I read the description of this place called Mono Feliz (Happy Monkey) in my lonely planet guidebook, I couldn´t resist. Basically I camped with the monkeys! 3 species in fact: howler monkeys, squirrel monkeys and capuchin monkeys. It was quite an experience and I really enjoyed it, even though I was kicking myself in the pants this morning and praying to god that I would live to see the light of day.

The guy who ran the place is this retired hippie dude from LA, former surfer and world traveler named Juancho. He was just as interesting as the monkeys! I think he thinks he´s a monkey. Think Grizzly Man. However, luck is on his side because no one has ever to my knowledge been mauled by a monkey. Anyway, the monkeys come right up and will eat banana out of your hand. Juancho also adopted a baby howler monkey who is only about 4 weeks old. She is literally attached to him and spends the entire day crawling on his arm, chest or head. She crawled on my head once and shit on it, and that was then end of my desire to hold her (even though she was a cutie!). Is monkey shit good luck too? We also met another dude who lives out there who runs a sea turtle refuge and owns a pet ocelot that he rescued from near death. She was a beautiful cat. She liked to lick your hand and suck on your thumb. I got to watch her eat raw chicken necks.

Before Mono Feliz, I went to a spa up in the mountains. The views were amazing. I hiked out to a waterfall that was about 100 ft tall and swam in the pool underneath. Quite spectacular. The next morning had an amazing shiatzu massage. Again, I felt as if I should have been on my honeymoon!