Global Routes Costa Rica just got back from a weeklong mid-program break in western Panama. They visited the beach town of Santa Catalina and the island of Coiba just off-shore, which is a natural paradise for wildlife, both above and below the water. Here is an alphabetic narrative of their journey there:
A is for Aquamarine. We were blown away by the bright blue shade of the tropical water surrounding Isla Coiba.
B is for the Banana Nutella Smoothies that we enjoyed on our first night back from the island. After two nights on the beach it was a cool and delicious treat.
C is for Croc Tracks – spotted on Playa Machete in the early morning!
D is for Dolphins – we caught glimpses of several groups of dolphins. The last one on our way back to Santa Catalina put on a Sea World-like show, jumping high up out of the water!
E is for Enrique Iglesias – Bailando – a memorable song of the week.
F is for “feels like 115” – This really was a clip from the weather report on Friday. Panama was HOT!
G is for Granito de Oro – This little gem is one of many island cayes off of Coiba. This was our favorite snorkel spot!
H is for Harry Potter bus – The bus we rode on from Panama City towards the beach looked like it was straight from the movies!
I is for Isla de Coco – another great snorkel and lunch spot. Here we heard oyster-fishers calling from the trees!
J is for jellyfish – these little buggers were hard to avoid, but we managed to snorkel around them, for the most part.
K is for kayak – our preferred vehicle in Panama.
L is for Loco for Coco – Jonah was hooked! He was set to crack open a coconut and drink its sweet milk. He managed to do so with his bare hands!
M is for Mariah’s birthday. Happy Birthday Mariah!
N is for No WiFi. We were totally immersed in our experience!
O is for Ocean and how much we loved camping on its shore.
P is for Playa Machete. We had the pleasure of calling this beach home for two nights.
Q is for Que rica la comida. Our guide in Coiba, Liz, cooked up a storm! A big thank you to Liz for her fabulous cooking skills on the beach!
R is for Rising Sun. From the island we had the unique experience of watching the sunrise over the Pacific.
S is for Sea turtle. We got to swim with these glorious animals!
T is for Tony Lenta – Pa’lante. Another favorite song this week!
U is for United World College. We visited this school while we were traveling through San Jose to check out the campus and complete a workshop in Intercultural Communication.
V is for Vida, as in La Buena Vida. This was the name of our fabulous, mosaic-bedazzled home in Santa Catalina!
W is for White-tipped reef shark. Another majestic creature on our snorkeling adventures!
X is for X-celente. On Easter Sunday, before we hopped on the bus to leave for San Jose, we grabbed lunch at Restaurante Excelente, our favorite Chinese restaurant in San Isidro.
Y is for Yoga. We enjoyed a relaxing yoga class with Michelle of La Buena Vida in Santa Catalina.
Z is for Zodiac Signs. Liz gave us a grand tour of the constellations from Playa Machete after dinner one night. We could see several of the Zodiac signs: Leo, Gemini, Taurus, and Sagittarius.
Overall, it was an awesome trip!
