I made it back home to Boquete about 8 a.m. today. The travel time was long (almost 24 hours, in total), but I made all my connections along the way just fine. I’m really glad that I checked my carry-on bag – since there were four legs on this flight, I couldn’t see lugging it around and trying to find space in the ever-crowded overhead compartments four times. That decision made the trip a lot less stressful, believe me!
The airport is on the far east end of Panama City, and the bus depot is at the far west end, so it’s a bit of a hike from one to the other. I could have called an Uber and probably saved a little, but from what I’ve read, Ubers aren’t allowed in the same area as the taxis, and I didn’t want to have to figure out where to meet them. By the time I went through immigration and customs, with little sleep the night before, I just wanted to get there with a minimum of effort, so I took a taxi instead.
I got to the bus terminal in plenty of time to catch the midnight express bus to David. The bus ride from Panama City was long (about six hours), but I had a great seat. It’s a nice double-decker bus, and I had one of the front-row seats. It was like a huge picture window with a live-action movie. Granted, it was night time, but it was nice to have an unobstructed view of the highway and towns that we went through.
I got a taxi in David to take me to my house. Taxi drivers cluster around the buses when they arrive, to catch a fare. This guy was very nice, and helped me with retrieving my luggage from the bus and carrying them to his taxi. When I explained to him that I lived about five kilometers before Boquete proper, he gave me a break on the usual price for the ride.
It was wonderful to get in the house and collapse in my comfy recliner! After taking a nap until mid-afternoon, I felt more like a human being. I think I’ll skip being a vendor at the Tuesday market tomorrow – this week’s Tuesday talk is about our neighboring volcano, Volcan Barú, and I’d like to hear about it, so I’ll do that instead for this week.
Glad you made it home safe and sound.