Panama City to Sante Fe

Sunday, Feb 27

I woke up at 8 and caught a taxi to the Albrook bus terminal to buy a ticket for the nine P.M. direct bus to Bocas. I couldn't buy ticket because the road was closed due to Indian protests.

I returned to the hostel and told Nico it was not possible to get to Bocas for serveral days due to road closure. I told him I was heading to Santa Fe and described it to him. He got on the phone and talked with Tanner at about 10:30. Tanner said he would soon be ready. Soon is relative in Central America and they were quick learners. Misty and Tanner were dragging their respective asses in consequence of the excesses of the prior night but Misty was packing a heavy load of passive aggressive responses to being “told what to do.” At noon, Nico, Tausha and I walked over to their hotel and tried to rouse them. They finally showed their faces around 12:30 and then Misty decided to pack her bags for the minimal supplies necessary for a two day trip. She opened her suitcase and pushed things back and fourth for an interminable period while I paced. Finally she was ready. They wanted to walk a mile to the bus stop to get a $.25 ride to the bus terminal, I wanted to get going. I flagged down a taxi van and negotiated a $15 ride to Albrook for the five of us. I asked the driver how much he wanted to drive us to Santiago and was quoted $600. Yeah, right.

Stopping back at La Jungla the extra bags were put in secure storage and we went over to the mall. This group had previously purchased tickets to Bocas which could not be used. I went to the window and told the cashier that we wanted a refund. She put the tickets aside and indicated that it would be a little while. I walked down to the other end of the terminal and found that the last express ride to Santiago was at 2:00. I returned to the Bocas window to find a line of 100 people trying to refund their tickets. I wasn't going to wait in line while other orders were processed ahead of mine which had been previously submitted. I went to the front, stuck my hand through the teller slot and indicated that I wanted my refund immediately. She needed my passport number. I wrote down nine random digits, got the cash and handed it over to Nico. Now Misty and Tanner decided they needed to eat. We missed the 2:00 bus. Then they needed to hit the ATM. We missed the 2:30 bus. I told them I would go on the 3:00 with or without them. I passed out nickels, which are necessary, exact change, to get through the turnstiles, I don't know why they don't include the charge in the ticket.

We finally got on the bus. A Panamanian woman with a child got on the bus and said “Hi, Jim!” I had no idea who she was. I chatted with Nico about photography, we got together a shopping list for food. Three and half hours later we were in Santiago and headed across the street to provision. I was the only person with any Spanish whatsoever so I procured items from the meat counter. After taking a number I waited and waited while people were slowly served sliced processed meat. There was never a discussion as to thickness, everything was cut about 3 mm thick, I would have preferred it to be about a quarter of that. Finally, with shopping done we headed across the street back to the bus terminal and I walked down to the Santa Fe bay to see the tail lights of the bus, the last bus of the day.

Back out front I ran into the woman from the bus who asked if we were going to Santa Fe. I responded in the affirmative and then she asked if we were staying at La Qhia which was also affirmed. Finally I had placed her, she was a maid at the hostel. She told me that taxis to Santa Fe would be $25 if we could find one. Cab after cab refused the one hour trip. Rosa, the maid, made phone call after phone call or asked the cab driver if he knew someone who would go. Five minutes, ten minutes, somebody is coming. Another five minutes. Failure after failure. After an hour I flagged down a dual cab Hilux pickup truck and negotiated a price of $40 for all of us. I sat in the front seat, the other six sat in the back until we got out of town after which three rode in the bed with the bags. We ascended the mountain under a clear star speckled sky as the temperature dropped near continuously. Rosa called Stefanie at La Qhia and confirmed that they had five beds in the dorm. An hour later we arrived in Santa Fe, passed the hotel which appeared to have closed down and were greeted by Stefanie who informed us that she was fully booked for the week. She suggested we try Tierra Libre, the only other lodging in town besides Hotel Sante Fe, a dump without a restaurant or bar and way the hell down the hill, probably outside city limits.

Tierra Libre had but one guest, which is one more than it usually has. Seneth, the Cambodian woman who runs the place and her husband Marnix were in the restaurant chatting with a couple from England. No food was available, the kitchen was closed. No, we couldn't use their kitchen, this is a restaurant. Tausha made wraps of meat like products derived from chicken and ham with cucumber, tomato and lettuce, Monterrey Jack cheese, enhanced with a little hot sauce and wrapped in thin tortillas. Marnix looked at the food and give none too subtle hints that he was hungry. We gave him one despite his previous ingraciousness.

Tanner and Misty took one room. Nico and Tausha took the other room and I took a room in the dorm they slept platonically on the same bed. Tausha is a wife and mother of two and is married to one of Nico's best friends. There was another guest in my room, a woman from California who had been “rode hard and put up wet.” A Texas expression about horses.