We managed to get in a little sleep, somewhere between 1:00 and 6:00 am, and then the day started. Darn circadian rhythm! And this while trying to establish compliance on my new CPAP machine. It’s an awesome, easy little traveling machine. =]
We met up with Darien for breakfast, Skyped Dad, and headed upstairs to pack. Darien caught us up on her wonderful week -- getting her new place to live, the support (and furniture!) that the teachers brought over, and her new beau, Aaron. Quite a week our girl had!!! After packing, we did one more Skype call to NY to talk with my Mom, and then we started the drive down to Fila Guinea. The bus route to Darien’s community takes 7 hours, we were hoping to make it a little more quickly than that.
After leaving San Jose, we headed down the Pacific Coast line, eventually stopping in Tarcoles for lunch at Restaurant Nambi, which was right by Crocodile River.
The food at Nambi was great, and then we headed to go see the crocs -- there were at least a dozen there in the river, and one HUGE one was swimming along rapidly.
After lunch, it was back down the coast, heading to Palmar Norte, where we would cut over to reconnect with the Pan American Highway, which ends in Darien, Panama! The sun began to disappear, and the rain began. The conditions of the roads was rapidly deteriorating, due to the heavy rainy season. There were many potholes, and we were pretty certain that we were falling in behind some pretty drunk drivers along the road. We drove several hours until we made it to Dominical, where we had a coffee break, and topped off the tank. The method of preparing the coffee was most unusual, but the locale was quite beautiful.
We left Domincal, and made it to Palmar Norte, where we started climbing up the mountains. By now, it was downpouring, pitch black, and there were lots and lots of potholes filled with water. Landslides also abounded on the road, oftentimes obscuring half of the road. We crept along at a slow pace, trying to avoid the weaving drivers while paying attention to the road.
Somewhere around 8 pm, we made it to San Vito, had dinner in an Italian restaurant, and then continued to head to Fila Guinea. We got in, had a tour of the house, unpacked somewhat, and collapsed! I thought I’d be finishing my paper tonight, but somehow, that just won’t be happening. Sleep beckons.
