Panama City & San Blas Islands, Panama

I slept soundly on the bus for several hours.  Bright lights flicked on at 5am, and the bus driver announced “Frontera!”  Everyone on the bus disembarked and got into line outside a small office behind 30 people already waiting.  The lights of the building were off and the front windows shuttered. … Read more

Envision Festival (Uvita) & San Jose, Costa Rica

At about noon, the bus pulled to the side of the road, seemingly in the middle of nowhere.  There was nothing in eyeshot except jungle and the two-lane road.  The bus driver announced “ENBISIO’N!”  The passengers looked around confused for a second, “Here?” … Read more

Liberia, Monteverde & Quepos, Costa Rica

My taxi driver dropped me off about 200m before the immigration office on the Nicaraguan side of the border.  When grabbing my bags from the trunk a local border hustler tried to help me with my things.  There are usually dozens of these types of people swarming tourists at borders, and I usually ward them off. … Read more

San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua

My taxi driver dropped me at a gas station across the street from the multicolored “San Juan del Sur” welcome sign.

San Juan del Sur is a medium sized beach town of about 15,000 people situated on a moon shaped bay of the Pacific in the far Southwest of Nicaragua.  … Read more