Panama City, Panama: Just arrived in Panama City today. Took the overnight bus from David, Panama, which left at 10:45 pm, local time, and arrived at the bus terminal at about 4:40am. I slept great on the bus! Window seat!

I got to Panama about a week ago, from Costa Rica. The last few weeks have been very exciting.

I think I last left off in Samara, Costa Rica. I remember saying it was one of the nicest beaches I had ever seen? Well, forget all that. I've seen about five nicer beaches since then!

From Samara I traveled to Monetzuma. (It would make more sense if you take a look at a map). But there is no direct way to travel to Montezuma from Samara. So I had to take a bus to Nicoya, which connected me to another bus heading to Naranjo, where I caught the ferry heading to Puntarenas, get off, and immediately catch another water ferry to Paquera. From Paquera I had to take a bus to Cobano, and finally a bus to Montezuma.

To give you an idea how detoured the trip was, imagine being in Dana Point, and wanting to go to Santa Monica. From Dana Point you drive to Newport to catch a ferry to Catalina Island Once you arrive in Catalina, you jump off the ferry and jump onto another heading Long Beach. From LB, you catch a bus headed to Santa Monica. No direct routes! And they say Costa Rica's infrastructure is the best in Central America!

But it was a fun adventure. I love taking the local buses in any country, and the ferry was fun. And the trip was worth it! Montezuma was beautiful. Went on a hike, met some girls from Canada, hung out with them for the next few days. Its the kind of place where people go, and never leave. More than once, and at least three time, I heard stories of girls intending to visit for two or three weeks, but never leaving. In fact, I met one guy who was in town for his daughters wedding. It turns out she came to vacation when she was 19, and never left. She met a local, and was getting married. He was from Topanga Canyon.

From Montezuma we headed to Santa Teresa, which was amazing. It's definitely not a huge tourist destination, as there are no hotels with more than a three star rating. But the beach is absolutely beautiful. The whole place has a laid back vibe.

From Santa Teresa, I headed to San Jose to grab my stuff. I left my big bag with some friends there. I was there for less than two hours before I caught the bus to Puerto Viejo, on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica.

Puerto Viejo was very nice. Just to the south was Manzanillo, a very laid back beach. Pictures on facebook. And to the north was Cahuita, which as of right now gets my vote for most beautiful beach! Its a national park, so its protected, and when I went there was almost no one there. At some points, there was literally, no one there. Just me and a friend. That is one place I may have to return to some day.

From Puerto Viejo, I made the border crossing to Panama. Border crossing are always an adventure when done on foot. Everyone is trying to rip you off, even the immigration officials, for extra fees. My spanish is good enough at this point to not let them get away with it. And i'm darker than i've been since I went to Acapulco for a week when I was 8! So border crossing are fun.

We were even able to get a great rate on a taxi to our next destination, once we got past immigration. Bocas de Toros is a group of islands in Panama on the Caribbean side. It was beautiful, and I had a great time, but because I had been at the most beautiful beaches in the world for the last two weeks, it was hard to fully appreciate.

Such is traveling. You have to really purpose not to take it for grant it that you're visiting some of the coolest places on Earth, and you're fortunate tobe doing so. A few days later I retreated to the mountains to try to regain my focus.

The mountains were fun. I stayed at an Eco-hostel, called Lost and Found. The owners were cool. But the solitude was the best. I went on a four hour hike in rain, and thought and prayed and read, and tried to more or less savor the moment. I was at Lost and Found for four days. Yesterday was my last.

Today I am trying to find some friends that are in Panama City. One of them has a brother going home today, and I want to say bye before he leaves. I arrived very early, so they are surely sleeping. But later today I hope to find them and explore the city.

So far the trip has been amazing. Absolutely incredible! And as they say, you meet lots of people when traveling, but most of all, you're introduced to yourself. That I can say is true. I'm learning and growing, and loving it all the while!

Thanks for reading, and John T. and Carol, could you guys send me your email, please? I can be reached at mrivera87@yahoo.com.

Mom, I love you!

Family, I love you!

Love you all,

Michael

Samara, Costa Rica: Looks like I stopped writing, and people stopped reading! I have not received a comment in about four posts! I feel like i´m writing to the wall! just kidding.

I guess its my fault for not keeping up, or not keeping it interesting. But a quick recap, and then a few thoughts.

I believe I left off in San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica. I was fortunate enough to stay at a friends, friends, house. From San Jose we headed to the Word Surfing Championships in Jaco, Costa Rica. It was quite a fun atmosphere. People from all over the world were there to cheer on their country men. I think France won, not sure. But we missed the entire competition because of traffic. But did meet some locals that we hung out with, which is always fun.

From Jaco went back to the capital, then to Tamarindo beach, and currently in Samara. I´ve only been here about 6 hours, but I think this may be the nicest beach I have seen in my entire life! I´ve thought this about eight other places, but i´m definitely coming back!

Costa Ricans have this saying, Pura Vida! And it´s true, they all say it. I was getting on the bus today, and handed the driver my money, and he says, Pura Vida! I was thinking, okay, seems contextually out of place, but I guess it works with anything.

Costa Rica is as nice as advertised, but very expensive. Especially for someone trying to budget for a year! But it is beautiful.

August 15th marked my third month on the road, i´m a quarter of the way through. So far so good. Like anything else in life, you adapt to traveling. You miss your family and friends, but get used to not seeing them. You get used to changing beds almost every day, and get used to eating out for every single meal!

I am sad to report that I have not worked on my spanish lately. Everywhere I turn, they´re speaking english! But I will make it a point to speak more spanish. I´m hoping it gets better in South America.

I´ll post pictures soon, with lenghty comments to explain what´s going on. And when I say i´ll post picture, I mean on Facebook!

Love you all,

Michael

San Jose, Costa Rica: I'm here in Costa Rica, and finally got around to blogging. I'm really going to regret not keeping up with this, but it's just so hard to find motivation to sit down and write when you're having such a great time. And it's easier to stay in touch via Facebook, because pictures tell a much better story than a blog.

But, let me try to recap my last two weeks.

I think I left off at the Islands. Merida was cool. Took a hike to a beautiful waterfall on the island. It was tough, but definitely worth it. From Merida headed to Moyogalpa, where I stayed at a 3 dollar a night hostel. And it's true, you get what you pay for. I was in a dorm with three other girls, two of which I knew, and the other I met while there. She was afraid to stay there alone, and I couldn't blame her. But she felt better once she realized we were all just as creeped out by the place as she was. But it was a fun experience. Paper thin mattresses, and filthy sheets. I used my jacket as a pillow.

The next morning I headed off the island and over to San Juan del Sur. It's a really nice beach town, (I think there are picture on facebook). I stayed for three days, but left because I had finally met up with some friends I was expecting.

We headed to Tamarindo, Costa Rica. Stayed for few days, then went to San Jose, where they were going to meet some friends that lived there.

So far so good, and so many stories to tell, but just can't get myself to write. Stories like the fight that broke out in Moyogalpa, where the weapons of choice were plastic chairs, or the gun fight that broke out in San Jose. We were all told to get on the floor, that was crazy!

But i'll keeo uploading pictures on Facebook.

Eevrything is great, so far. I am losing weight, but actually eating quite well. I miss you all!

-Michael