Bocas del Toro - Semana Santa

Kellie and Eric left first thing in the morning; it must have been just passed 6 am when I said goodbye to them, knowing that if nothing else I will be seeing them in Alajuela before they made their way home in about a week’s time. Their plan was to go into the mainland of Panama to explore David and Bouquete, while I was going to make my way back to the east coast of Costa Rica after Semana Santa, happy that I had a place to stay until after easter. This is when I met the crew with whom I would spend the next week or so together. I met Brendan, who was traveling with his dog Suzie (he got her in Nicaragua) and his girlfriend Audrey, a French Canadian from Quebec. Brendan got a van for next to nothing in Nicaragua from his traveling buddies, so he was on a road trip across Central America. I also met Dana and Paula, traveling buddies who met in Greece a few years back, and have been traveling together ever since. They have spent more time together abroad though they live less than an hour away from each other in Vancouver. Also with us were Dan and Aaron; Dan is an aspiring physician from Sweden, who got together with Paula, and Aaron is an aspiring musician from California. Also with us was Phillip, another Californian who lived in Costa Rica, though he would not be joining us on the road trip.

Since Brendan was traveling with a Mac, I sacrificed a day on the beach so that I could use his computer and try to catch up on the blog. I spent a good few hours writing entries and updating photos while everyone else was at the beach, but I kept on telling myself that I would have plenty more days to take advantage of it… Little did I know. I also got to know Rohman a bit better, the owner of the hostel and the manager of La Veranda, another hotel close by. He told me all about his life, his Argentinean girlfriend, and how he was looking to sell his hostel and move to Ecuador with her, to manage a high end hotel. Once everyone got back from the beach, we spent the evening together, laughing chatting and overall having a great time. By the time most people went to sleep, it was down to Dana, Aaron and myself, and in between watching movies we had a blast hanging out and especially laughing at Suzie, who made an unfortunate attempt to jump from one chair to another, attempt being the key word, since she failed miserably and had quite the amusing fall. I don’t remember the last time when I laughed so hard, and it kept on going on for quite a while.

The next morning I woke up to rain beating down on the roof of the hostel – so much for my planned beach day. The weather kept like that for the whole day, it didn’t stop raining, and at times it was quite the torrential downpour. Even the backyard, though covered, ended up being flooded – we kept on moving our chairs forward to escape the water, but eventually it was too much. We spent the entire day watching movies, since Rohman was kind enough to bring his DVD player and his collection of movies. Since this was the Thursday before Good Friday, I asked around as to what the rules of Easter weekend were, and got as many different answers as the questions I was asking. I heard everything from stores being closed on Friday to everything being closed for the whole weekend, so I didn’t know what to believe. Rohman provide the most accurate estimate, telling us that stores would be open the following day, though forbidden to sell alcohol, and that all bars would be closed for the whole day, though reopening after midnight. So most of us made sure we were well stocked up for the holiday, though in the rush of things Rohman forgot to replenish his beer supply.

Also on this day Brendan and Audrey decided that they will leave for the mainland, though we made plans to meet again on the Monday after the Easter weekend, so that we can join them on the road trip. In the evening I met up with Eddie again at Starfleet, not only to book my last dives, but also to discuss some business opportunities that both of us thought would be beneficial. We spent a good few hours talking about numbers and possibilities of establishing a business in Bocas, and the more we talked the more feasible it seemed. Once we were finished, I returned to the hostel, where I met up with Dana and Aaron, then we made our way to Bohmfaulks (yes I realize how that sounds, it is on purpose) an American-themed sports bar who was holding an open mike music competition. We got to see Aaron in action, as he performed in front of the whole crowd, and even though he didn’t win any of the prizes, he got a lot of respect from the people present, including the owners of the bar. We also met up again with Sara (my diving buddy) and a few of her friends at the place. I also saw Chad (from Starfleet) with his girlfriend, and we shared a really good laugh as a dog was having a great time humping his leg repeatedly. This was to be the last party before Good Friday, when everything is really quiet. The cops had already come in a number of times and warned the owners to wrap things up before midnight, so last call happened soon after 11pm, to make sure all the patrons were out before the end of the day. As we returned to the hostel, we noticed that the police were already patrolling the streets, nabbing anyone caught either drinking or being drunk on the streets during this holy holiday.

Good Friday was a very quiet day around Bocas, not only for the bars being closed, but it happened to be another rainy day, so yet again we spent the day watching movies and staying in. Rohman had forgotten to get beers for the day, so even though we helped him out throughout the day, he tried to get some under the table, since apparently his brother knew some people who were still selling liquor despite the ban. He wasn’t successful though, but I did get to meet his brother, who also happened to be the bartender at Barco Hundido later on that evening. As it got dark, first I watched the procession of the Stations of the Cross, where seemingly the entire city was joining a parade throughout the streets, mimicking Jesus’ last trip before being crucified. There were drummers and lots of believers marching through the streets; it was quite a sight in itself. I spent some time reading a book, then decided to take a walk to the main street to go use the internet. I was amazed to see all these people wondering around like zombies, all out of booze, waiting for midnight so that they can hit the bars again. To kill time before midnight, most people went to Mondo Taitu, a hostel nearby, where they played drinking games until the bars opened. Since I joined them later, as soon as I walked out of the Backpackers’ Hostel, I could hear them chanting “Fuck me, Fuck me, Every body Fuck me”, which, for the record, was a drinking game. I joined in for a while, and by the time the clock struck midnight, everybody was more than just a little bit drunk. So much so in fact that it took us over an hour to get everyone motivated to come to the bar.

We only got to Barco Hundido at around 1:30 in the morning, and the place was beyond packed. Only on New Year’s Eve have I seen more people on the dance floor and filling every corner of the bar, all around the swimming area and over all the docks. It was an electrifying atmosphere, reminiscent of my clubbing days, which were years and years ago. One of our friends, a British guy named John, had the misfortune of taking a wrong step and falling into the water, with his passport, money, iPod and everything else on him. I realized that the following morning, when I woke up to see all these little pieces of paper hanging everywhere to dry all around the room at the hostel. It must have been almost 4am by the time we made our way back to the hotel, careful not to attract the attention of the police patrolling the streets who were just waiting for an excuse to arrest drunken unruly tourists.

Given the extent of the partying on Good Friday, Saturday was pretty much a write off. It happened to be another cloudy, rainy day, so we spent it around the hostel, nursing hangovers and watching bad Steven Seagal movies on TV. By the late afternoon the sun finally came out, just enough to give us a preview of the day ahead. We recovered just as the night set in, and we again headed out to the bars, passing by Mondo Taitu first, then to Iguana Bar. Though by the time we got there, most people were leaving to go to Barco Hundido, where we ended up for the rest of the night. I made sure to go to sleep pretty early, since I had two more dives planned for my last full day in Bocas, and given the last experience I knew I didn’t want to repeat it.