Angry squirrels

My cell phone conversation when driving home from work went something like this:

Me:  "Hi honey"
Tom:  "Hey, I'm going to be a bit late tonight"
Me:  "That's too bad.  And don't forget I have Spanish class tonight"
Tom:  "Bummer, I won't make it home before you leave, so I'll see you after class"
Me:  "OK, how was your day?"
Tom:  "Well, I'm tired.  And I got bitten by a squirrel today."

WHAT?!  For those of you that know my husband, this does not come as a surprise for you.

Yes, apparently, after having irritated the squirrels by creating a new, inventive way for them to have access to their peanuts (blue jay free), Tom has irritated one of them enough (by trying to hand feed it), that is actually lunged and bit his hand, instead of grabbing the peanut.  (Apparatus picture below.)

Me:  "And, are you going to try to hand feed a squirrel again?" (dripping with sarcasm)
Tom:  "Not without gloves!"

Don't hand feed squirrels, folks.

40

That's my age.  40.  The big 4-0.  But I'm OK with it!  Really, I am.  As Tom likes to say, the alternative is death, so hey, 40 is great.  And, Tom made me a fantastic dinner last night, I'm a very lucky woman. 

And I got good news at the ortho doc yesterday - I was pretty sure I tore my meniscus hiking, but they said probably not - since I don't have pain with the "catching" in my knee, only general swelling and tightness sometimes.  So, Aleve and ice will be my friend for the next few weeks.  Just when fall is upon us, my favorite time to trail run.  Shhh...don't tell the doc...but I'm going to sneak in some trail running.

This afternoon, I'm off to Michigan and Ohio for a few days to visit family - then back to blogging, I promise.

Sick.

I've been pretty sick this week. International germs are the worst, but I'm slowly feeling better. 

Lucy plays nurse when one of us is down, she stays by our side on the couch. She slept next to me from 8:30-4pm yesterday without moving. A sweet girl...

Heading home...

What a great city, we got out and took a taxi to a few of the more interesting spots around town yesterday - Panama Canal & Miraflores locks where we watched two ships pass through, very amazing...Ancon Hill with a spectacular view of the city, and Noriega's previous home where the guard offered a photo and perhaps a few minutes on the inside of the gate if we tip him. Apparently $5 was not enough, so the photo is through the gate instead. Greedy guard. I wonder how much he makes daily doing that!?!  Mucho dinero, I bet!

We also walked down to the fish market for lunch where you can pick from about a dozen or more cevicherias that serve up ceviche and cocktail (marinated raw seafood) in a styrofoam cup for about $2!  Muy barato.  Tom tried 3 different kinds, and loved them all. We also  had a wonderful dinner at Veggie Moon in Casco Viejo.  What a beautiful city!  

Hasta luego, ciudad de Panama. Home, James. 

Ceviche for lunch. 

The craziness of the fish market. Loud, busy and delicious!

Ship in Miraflores Locks

Casco Viejo

We made it to Panama today!  Our last day in Providencia was RAINY, so our motorbike rental day turned into a somewhat lazy day. However, in better news, we found the camera!  We rented a kayak and paddled over to Crab Caye early yesterday morning and found our underwater camera lying on the ocean floor, just where Tom suspected he dropped it, aha!  Fabulous, a bit of very good luck. And the camera still works!  I'll have to give that one a solid online review later on.  

Leaving Providencia, a small, sleepy island with few people and coming to bustling Panama City is a bit of a contrast. Casco Viejo is a historical part of the city coming back from ruins. Many of the old buildings now house residents, restaurants and shops. But just as many are ghosts from the past...buildings in shambles, some without roofs, stand next to upscale restaurants and art galleries. A very cool place indeed, and a UNESCO World Heritage site.  You'll find the history and info on the area here: http://www.cascoviejo.org/.  Basically this area was built to house the wealthy after pirates led by Henry Morgan destroyed the original city site in the 1600s. 

Tomorrow we will find a very yummy breakfast place (one of my fav things to do), hopefully get some pictures of the beautiful architecture in the morning light and then explore, visit the Panama Canal and locks and maybe a walking tour of the area...TBD. 

Buenas Noches. 

 

Building unrestored. 

Part of the restoration. 

Plaza Cathedral at night. 

Our day.

We awoke to a cloudy, overcast day. The first one here for us, as it's been hot and sunny. We headed to Southwest Bay Beach late morning and shared a Plato Mixto from El Divino Niño for lunch - whole fish, lobster, crab, coconut rice, plantains, conch and salad. About $15. Bargain.  Watched it rain and rain. 

Walked back to our hotel in time to catch a cab to hop a boat to Crab Caye (small island) to snorkel.  Apparently all day would be rainy. We were left on the TINY island that has a couple of picnic shelter type structures and watched our boat go back to shore, just beating the first of several squalls.  We were the only people on the island.  We tried to snorkel in very choppy seas until the lightning rolled in, then our "get out of the pool when it is lightning" childhood training kicked in and we waited out several storms in the picnic shelters over the 2.5 hours we were there - watching the seas get ever choppier, and discussing how we would fashion rafts and paddles out of the material on the island if our boat failed to return to get us.  Minimal snorkeling was achieved.  

The boat eventually picked us up and as we arrived back on shore (just in front of the darkest storm yet), we noticed that our underwater camera was nowhere to be found. Figures.  

Tom suggested he take one of the kayaks back over to the caye to retrieve the camera from the watery depths (probably fell out of his pocket snorkeling). Um, no. Storm rolling in, very dark, very bad idea, Tom. So, the very nice people at a hotel we were not even staying at pulled one of their maintenance guys, whose boat happened to be anchored out front, off of his door repairing duty to shuttle my determined husband back into the approaching storm. They made it across as the rain started and, unknown to me, Tom's snorkel mask chose that exact moment to "come undone".  No mask + Storm + Rough seas <> Camera located.  So as the storm hit full-on blowing rain and lightning status, they left the island and headed back to land in very very rough seas.  Empty handed.  I'm very glad they made it back, it was a serious storm. Seriously. 

And so, on our last day on Providencia, we are renting a motorbike (the preferred mode of transport here) and likely the first stop of the day will be renting a kayak and paddling back to Crab Caye with our snorkeling gear (Tom fixed his mask) and searching the sandy bottom for a camera that was probably "carried by the current due to the storms and possibly covered with sand" as the locals said. Should be a productive morning. 

Southwest Bay Beach. Deserted and perfect. 

El Pico

The Peak. The highest point on Providencia, not high by Colorado standards but add in 90 degree temps, humidity to match, and a walk to get to the trailhead  and you have a good hike - probably about 10 miles total. 

Our day started about 8:30am from the hotel.  There was no cell reception so they couldn't call a cab, so we'd be walking the 3 miles to the trailhead. If we saw a pickup truck along the way, we'd hitchhike. Apparently NO pickup trucks were circling the island in the correct direction today. It was already blazing hot.  

Supposedly, everyone goes with a guide but we thought we could tackle it alone with the help of some directions from a local woman passed through a fellow traveler from Quebec. The directions were this:

1) go right at the first house

2) go right at the next house without a roof

3) when there is a fork in the trail don't go left, go "kind of" straight

4) eventually you'll have to go through barbed wire, even when it looks like you shouldn't. 

Believe it or not we made it. Only one slightly wrong turn that led us through very steep jungle for a while. Luckily we turned around.  The view from the top was beautiful, well worth the trek. 

We also went sea kayaking through mangroves along the east coast yesterday, and snorkeled out front of our hotel today. This is by far my favorite island I've ever been to. Warm people, awesome seafood, fantastic snorkeling, calm seas and just a really cool out of the way place. Pictures below!

For future travelers, here is our modification of the directions for The Peak/El Pico:

1) make the turn off the main road at the large, obvious sign. 

2) at the first "side street" take a left, walk to the end and you'll see the trailhead sign to the left. The trail veers right immediately and passes some houses with friendly dogs. 

3) at the first buildings (I believe there were 2, one a stable) take a right, even though the better trail leads left

4) at the colorfully painted utility building the trail goes left. 

5) eventually, you'll step up to the right and step through an opening in an old fence, this will be fairly obvious

6) further up, after passing open fields with more barbed wire fences, you'll find barbed wire blocking the trail with "no arroje basura" on a sign...GO THROUGH THE BARBED WIRE. If you go up to the left, you'll find yourself on a steep jungle slope. The rest of the trail is easy to follow past this. With these directions, you do not need a guide...Happy Hiking!

Spotted Eagle Ray while kayaking

Providencia from the water on Maricaibo Bay

Kayaking in the McBean mangroves

From "El Pico"

A Sunday bike ride.

We explored on bikes today. It's always good to get "the lay of the land" on vacation, so we circled the entire island on our rentals. It was hot, hilly and wonderful. This truly is an island almost untouched by tourism. Friendly locals, only a few small guesthouses and hotels and restaurants and stores that still close on Sundays. 

We took our snorkeling gear and snorkeled on Santa Catalina island from a beach. Santa Catalina is a small neighboring island connected by footbridge to Providencia.  It has a few historical sites, maybe one restaurant and a few homes. Very pretty. We also stopped at almond bay beach where some local kids promptly borrowed our snorkel goggles and swam around for a bit. Happy kids. 

In other news, the electricity went out for a few hours tonight, I believe for the whole island. Luckily our hotel has a generator, unluckily none of the restaurants do (there are only a few to begin with).  So, for dinner we had a picnic in our room of cheese and crackers, homemade ginger cookies and apples. Tom tried to make some piña coladas but...um, they weren't exactly tasty.  But I love him for trying. :)

Tomorrow morning we are headed out to sea kayak in the McBean Lagoon mangroves (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Providence_McBean_Lagoon_National_Natural_Park).  Should be beautiful. 

Pictures below of our day...

Beside the road. 

View of Providencia from Santa Catalina. 

On the footbridge. 

Colombia

24 hours after we left Denver, we arrived in Providencia!  It's a beautiful little island, not many people and almost non-existent tourism, perfecto! 

The two things we learned in Bogota were that Dunkin Donuts are horrible in Colombia and that blondes are few and far between - Tom was the only one in the domestic terminal at the airport. He got quite a few looks.  But then again, he's a nice looking man!  ;)

We are exhausted, had a great meal and are headed to crash. The picture below is from our balcony. Tomorrow we rent bikes and explore the island!  It'll be nice to get our legs moving after all that travel...  Buenas Noches!

A Swarm...

The picture of the day was taken by Tom just before work today. The hummingbirds are migrating and he said we have a swarm of 20+ at the house right now!  I always seem to miss these events somehow...but it's a great picture from under one of our feeders. 

In other news, we leave for Colombia and Panama tomorrow evening!!  I expect cell and wireless to be spotty at best in Colombia, we will be pretty far off the beaten path there (through next Friday). So, I'll post when possible. In Panama, we will be in Panama City, so definitely more "on the beaten path".  Now to pack!  :)

Inhospitable

Anyone hiking on Guanella Pass today may agree with this desrcription of the weather, especially those on Bierstadt.  The day started out very cloudy, but nothing threatening.  So, we made it to the top of Square Top Mountain, but the clouds had already moved in and shrouded the summit.  The winds were howling and it was pretty darn chilly!  Welcome once again, September and Autumn...

The first video was taken on the final ridge to the summit - it's a bit better resolution than the second one and you can see the clouds rolling across, but you can't hear what I'm saying.  I took the second video on the summit.

Square Top Ascent

Square Top Summit