From Costa Rica to Panama

Although this blog by no means gives justice to incredible times we have had in the past month as we said goodbye to Jon and Ginger, traveled and worked on an inorganic farm in southern Costa Rica, traveled into Panama, worked with a Peace Corps volunteer, made great new friends, and encountered endless hospitality. Whoooo! That was a long sentence! So the highlights in short are:

Great Hitchhiking both in Costa Rica and in Panama. Thank you to all who went out of there way with their kindness to help out two hot and tired backpackers on lonely dusty roads.


A rather enchanted stretch of beach in the Osa Peninsula, hardly another soul around except for the monkeys, macaws, toucans, coatis and such (And guess what? One broken camera. Muy triste).

New friends through chance encounters. Scott, Mike, Alec and Claudia, Johanna, Fred, Kayla, Ben and Emily. It was a pleasure to meet you all. The sharing of meals, conversation, cultural exchanges, hikes, slack lining, and everything we learned while working with you will not be forgotten. We look forward to when our paths will cross again.

Good Projects. We always get so much more out of our travels when we are working with communities and the wonderful community of Barrigon and Coopabuena were no exceptions.

The hospitality of others. Although a week spent on Finca Salvaverde (a small organic farm in Southern Costa Rica) without electricity, or a bathroom or a bed was not our easiest place to stay, the owner Scott’s kindness, the incredible fresh fruits and vegetables, and the calmness of nature, made it one of the highlights of our trip. Thank you.

A chance encounter in the wrong visa line on the Panama border led to meeting Johanna and her offer of a free, beautiful place to stay for a few days, awesome meals and even better stories, complete with about 15 furry friends to have as pets for a day. Thank you, Johanna, for your huge heart!

Peace Corps volunteers have never ceased to amaze us. Kayla the volunteer extraordinaire not only invited us into her beautiful home, but shared her wonderful community and friends with us.

So while each one of these could easily be made into multiple blogs on their own, time is working against us as we are now in Panama City hoping to get on a sailboat going to the Galapagos Islands, a two week sailing adventure without seeing land. We will then need to make a decision to head back to the South American mainland or continue on a 45 day sailing trip to the South Pacific. Decisions, decisions. Either way this wonderful adventure is going to continue as we look forward to each coming day as we start an exciting new year.