The return

For our final day we have breakfast on the beach. It’s as lovely as it sounds with freshly cooked poached eggs sausage and bacon, toast tea and fresh fruit. We go straight from there to a sun lounger to make the most of our morning. Our taxi is picking us up at 1:45pm.

It feels like the best morning yet but that may be just because it’s our last and we want it to be. We lounge around in the sun weirdly not feeling end of holiday blues at all. I think the way we planned this has been bang on. If we’d gone home straight in backpacking mode I’d have been as miserable as sin. Spending a week chilling out at a lovely place as helped us put a lid on our journey.

We swim out to the edge of the marina and back as exercise and wash off the salt in a shower. An older chap is really impressed with our swimming and asks about snorkelling etc. There’s such a lovely atmosphere in this place, everyone is friendly without being in your face and asking questions or passing the time of day with others feels totally natural.

We pause our final attempts at soaking up some rays to finish our shuffleboard series. I triumph in another close game though Cath gets a little irritated by my tactic of smashing her scoring discs out of the way. Apparently there’s no skill involved in brute force.

Basking in my glory as Caribbean shuffleboard champion I retire to read my book in one of the shaded hammocks, the heat is intense. We have a final farewell dip and head to our room. The packing is all but done so showers and final checks are underway. I pop outside to get swimming stuff into the sun to dry as much as possible but get locked out somehow. As Cath’s showering she can’t hear my knocks and I’m stranded, not exactly an awful thing in the Caribbean sun. After a little while I knock again but she still can’t hear me, however our maid does and Polyanne lets me in.

Closing the cases up is really straightforward though we are a bit worried we are over the weight limit. We have rum – including some bottles which aren’t supposed to be transported (75% alcohol is classed as hazardous material). We are a little anxious.

Before we leave there’s time to look around the lovely little boutique and Cath spots some clothes she likes and I see some really nice paintings but there’s no room for extras and certainly no spare cash.

Out taxi takes us to Aquarium restaurant (recommended by people at the cocktail party). It’s a lovely restaurant which opens onto Magazine beach. Our server tells us he’s an intern and promptly spills ice on the table. He’s clearly quite anxious. We order a couple of beers as we look over the menu noting the view and the breeze. Our server comes back with bottles and chilled glasses. He pops Cath’s down then as he leans to place mine he loses his balance and she gets covered in Stag beer. He’s so embarrassed and she’s drenched. He can’t apologise enough as Cath nips off to try to dry in the toilets. Fortunately I popped a spare vest top of Cath’s in my carry on for some reason. Cath comes back to the table worrying she’ll stink of booze on the flight. The staff can’t apologise enough but it was an accident so we tell them not to fret. He’s so embarrassed he doesn’t serve us again.

The food is delish I have West Indian Beef Pepper Pot and Cath Curry Lamb. So good, we even splash out and have pudding – the standard Creme brûlée for me and choccy mousse for Cath. We had considered walking to the airport but having seen how steep the road is sack the idea and the restaurant orders us a cab. Just getting into the taxi on the hill is a serious effort!

Check in and security are a breeze and though we’re still a little nervous about the rum in our bags we wander around duty free picking up a bottle of gin and toying with the idea of more Caribbean rum but deciding, wisely, against it. The Virgin flight crew are milling about – their uniform is actually pretty decent. We chat briefly to an English man who lives now on Grenada. He loves it, and when we point out that we love the fact it’s not too touristy he agrees but says its both bad and good and that Grenada’s laid back attitude is sometimes it’s own worst enemy. I guess financially that’s possibly true but everyone we’ve come across seems happy enough with what they’ve got going on and Grenada still really feels like it has its identity which is great from our perspective.

Cath think she hears her name being called over the tannoy but we dismiss that. The tannoy announcements are really faint and the Virgin crew have boarded. We move closer I order to hear what’s going on. We see a couple form The Calabash and chat to them then we do hear Cath’s name being called – she’s to identify herself to the gate. Immediately we’re both anxious, it must be the rum! We hurriedly say goodbye to the couple and approach the desk. The lady tells us Cath’s bag has been opened but has been closed again and that a security buggy is on its way to get us. I can go as I’m her husband. Between us we try to work out what to say, I’ll say it’s mine and that we had no idea it was a problem. Thoughts of being sent to the prison on the hill enter our heads and I’m not sure the amazing view would be much of a consolation.

We get onto the back of the buggy with an incredibly sour faced man driving. We drive a short distance then he demands my passport to probe my identity. We walk in, there’s a posh lounge to our right and security ahead. An incredibly friendly woman greets us and offers us a local rum punch. I can’t understand why this is happening are they trying to lull us into a false sense of security. They show us into the posh room where there’s free drink and food. We sit both shaking with nervous adrenaline but trying to look entirely relaxed. Our rums arrive. It slowly dawns on us we’re sposed to be here. Cath’s cousin who booked our tickets is a Virgin gold member or something so we’re entitled to use the first class facilities! Gutted. We spent an hour and a half sat in normal waiting area. I have literally only started drinking my rum punch when were asked to board. Cath necks her and most of mine and we board.

The seats in premium economy are plush leather with loads of leg room and a prosecco in a glass glass is brought to us. We talk about missing out on really maximising the freebies in first class lounge but I guess it’s poetic justice for packing the rum. The selection of films is good and after the safety announcement done via the medium of cartoon we’re off. I start watching Deadpool (brilliant made me laugh out loud a few times) it’s only 30 mins to St Lucia where we’re on the ground for just over an hour. The entertainment system has to be restarted which interrupts my film watching but is no great annoyance.

It’s only just over 8 hours to Gatwick. The flight is smooth though Cath gets quite anxious at one point. She hates flying in the dark. We both watch three films (Deadpool, The Room and Revenant for me all really good. Revenant, The Martian and some Irish film for Cath.) I don’t get any sleep but Cath manages to grab 20 mins at the end of the flight. The food was decent and arrived on proper crockery with metal utensils. Cath enjoyed an after dinner brandy (nerve settler) as well. They weren’t exactly offering the alcohol liberally though if you asked we’re happy enough to give it out. They had a plentiful stash of water and orange which you could help yourself to. I got chatting to a bloke who’d spent £6,500 on two weeks at Palm Island he chuntered on about it for a while and other stuff. He meets his friends 3x a year to go fishing, he runs a B&B in Dorset but made money in construction etc etc.

Cath and I share a little tear on the plane. Not sadness. It’s just been so amazing. I’ve never felt so content and carefree as an adult. There’s been no pressure on us other than what we choose no structure or routine. We’ve simply been able to enjoy ourselves and each other’s company. It’s been amazing. We’ve done and experienced so much. I don’t think we could have asked for a better start to our marriage.

Landing is no issue and we get through passport control quickly. We come the luggage wait. We still have nerves about the rum. We wait and wait. And wait. Then wait some more. Just once I’d like our bags to be amongst the first off. It gets to the point where there’s less bags than people which is a concern. Finally with nothing left going around but still one or two people looking vainly for luggage we ask a virgin attendant. She asks if we were priority, we were, she explains our luggage came off separately and points out our bags lined up neatly. Our backpacks are there, intact, unopened. We scoot off to find Cath’s mum and start the drive home.

Sue’s waiting for us and it’s lovely to see her. We get to the car, it’s not that cold here!! Battling against the tiredness we chat for a bit but neither of us can hold it off for long and soon are snoozing away.

It takes about three hours to get to Sue’s where we eat some lunch drink tea and chat away. Finally we get up the energy to head back to Normsie.

It strikes us that England looks so modern and organised compared to what we’ve been used to for three months. Back at ours we see our neighbour Martin who was keeping a watchful eye on our gaff while we were away the. We’re into the house. So lovely to be home.

We spend the afternoon sorting the house out and dealing with the our luggage. Sue, the legend, has fully stocked our fridge including the stuff to make sausage and mash which is the food I said I’d been missing!!

It’s good to be home.

Final full day

Breakfast as usual on our Veranda. Then a short stroll to a couple of sun beds on the beach. There were a couple of little showers but still sunny which was strange. It’s hot when the sun is out full though. We grabbed some snorkels and headed round the bay. There was some great coral and brightly coloured fish – a lot of large sea urchins too so very careful about putting my feet down.

We are being tight arses today after getting a copy of our bill so far at the hotel!! It is expensive here for food and drinks. We decide to hold off on lunch and instead enjoy their complimentary afternoon tea which starts from 3:30pm. So we head up to our room for a muffin (from breakfast) and a beer. We had a big breakfast so not too hungry. We fit in another game of shuffle board, Huw narrowly beat me – it’s such a good game. We then head up to the pool and chill up there until the time came for afternoon tea. Sandwiches, cakes and tea – best cup of tea we’ve had since leaving the UK too. Some more lounging and swimming in the pool after.

We head back in time for our complimentary canapés and pack our backpacks for one last time. Heaviest they’ve been due to the rum! Fingers crossed the weight will be ok for tomorrow and that the rum makes it back in one piece. We have a final beer on the veranda and head out to Red Crab restaurant. Noooo… It’s shut despite saying its open all week, I think low season they just shut whenever. Still The Junction is open and we enjoy some tasty food and wine in there.

Heading back – with a contented feeling and strangely not too sad to be leaving tomorrow (although we have the morning to chill and catch some final rays). We decide to take a stroll along the beach – so quiet and calm  I jokingly suggested to Huw about going for a skinny dip – next thing Huw’s stripped off and heading in. I quickly stripped off and headed in to – the water felt so lovely. What a perfect end to our final day.

 

Dragon Bay

After an alcohol free night Cath was amazingly sprightly in the morning. After breakfast we get some snorkelling equipment and head off in the Rav for the underwater sculpture park near Dragon Bay.

The drive is pleasant enough as we pass through a series of Caribbean villages brightly painted and well looked after. There’re goats everywhere, pretty much a staple meat here.

I spot a sign for the park and we make a sharp left turn down a steep track to the bay. There’s two blokes at the bottom. The younger approaches us and has quite glazed eyes. He says its $31 each to go to the underwater sculptures. We try haggling but he says he can’t change the price. Cath says its way too much, the guy at the dive shop said we should be doing it for about $10, the young man looks shifting about and says he can go with us in a kayak but we will have to swim. It looks quite far out of the bay and we’ve no idea how far it is to the area so tell him we’ll try to find a guy with a boat and failing that will go back to him.

We drive off up the steep concrete track. A goat is in the middle of the road wildly trying to get away bits tied up and has rope wrapped around one leg. It’s really struggling and I can’t get past. I tell Cath she’s gonna have to deal with it and she pops out of the car and walks toward the goat. It’s desperately trying to get away and looks kind of comical. I’m a bit worried Cath’s gonna get kicked but eventually the goat seems to either give in and and accept its for the curry pot or twigs Cath’s there to help and stops struggling. She untangles it and we’re off again. Not only a sloth spotter but the saviour of goats.

We drive around trying to find flamingo bay or any other bay to see if we can cheaply rent a boat. We drive on some narrow tracks in big loops around Happy Hill but without success. We don’t really fancy the swim out and so reluctantly decide to sack it off. We are in two minds where to go and so I pull onto a driveway so we can look at the map.

A young man approached us from the building saying “you wanna go waterfall? I take you!” We don’t but say we want the sculpture park. He tells us he can do that and we haggle him rapidly down from $30 each to $10. Hollering at a window “Pappy I’m to beach in boat” he hops in the back of the car and we’re off. We head back to dragon bay with Moses in the back chatting away. At the bay he talks to the stoned chap and they pull the smallest boat I’ve ever seen out, a hole at the back is plugged by a stick and a plastic bag. There’s a short delay while Moses runs up the hill to get a baguette from some guy in a posh looking boat. Then the small boat is pushed in Cath perches at the front, I’m at the back and Moses sits in the middle to row.

We chat as he rows us out, he shows me his red bandana which is a gang affiliation but he doesn’t do no violence. There appears to be a east/west island divide and there’s quite a lot of gun crime. He’s a nice chap though and we have a laugh. Rounding the corner of the bay and just on a bit he tells us were at the beginning and slowly slip into the water. Our masks are awful quality and throughout we have to drain water from them. We see the statues they’re pretty cool, put there by a French guy apparently. Couple of circles of people, Christ of the deep, a mermaid a dude at a desk and typewriter to name a few. It rains at one point and seeing rain hit water from underneath is beautiful.

Moses decides Cath is a famous actress though he can’t remember which one and Cath tells him that if she was it’s unlikely we’d have haggled on the price. But then on the row back says she loves this time of year as there’s less people about bothering her for her autograph. Moses chuckles away not quite knowing what to believe. We pay up and tip him considering it was a tough old row with a couple of sticks.

Afterwards we head to a spice market. Considering this is a spice island, we thought that we best get some supplies. Quantity seems to be large and prices pretty low and so we return with a bag full of spices. Instead of receiving change from our purchases, we receive more spices instead.

We have lunch again at Umbrellas and chill on Grand Anse beach. A bit of snorkelling is done and we see what looks like a sea snake!

Back at the hotel we get changed for the weekly cocktail party with the owners and management. We stroll down and have a glass of bubbly while chatting with Leo Garbutt the owner. The canapés and drinks are flowing freely unfortunately it’s my night to drive but Cath enjoys a few glasses. We’re introduced to a lady called Brenda who’s been coming to Grenada for 29 years and lives here for 7 months to escape the English winter. She’s 80 but looks considerably younger. Her and her daughters are fascinated with our travel stories and share some local knowledge with us. We decide to follow their advice and try a place called coconut beach for dinner. We say our goodbyes and head off.

Coconut beach is closed, so we eat in BB’s sharing a crabback starter and then I had the best curry goat ever. Cath had lovely jerk chicken. The evening was lovely and felt really romantic on the deck over the sea with a full moon and gentle breeze.

Back at the hotel we see Brenda and her girls and say coconut beach was closed – she’s gutted remembering that it’s Tuesday and they’re not open. We tell her it’s not an issue and that we had a lovely dinner then head to the room sharing a beer before bed.

Rum and Tings

Our Rav Toyota 4×4 is dropped off at the hotel for 10:00am. Huw’s happy to take first turn behind the wheel. We head up north of the island and are soon both happy we have a 4×4 this time, roads are quite uneven in places and pretty windy and steep. We head to Antoine Rivers Rum Distillery – the only distillery left that has a functioning water wheel powering the machines. A vast majority of the work is manually carried out which is pretty impressive. We arrive and are given a little guided tour for a couple of dollars. I had no idea how rum was made so pretty interesting to hear and see the process. The tour lady informed that they no longer export as they don’t make enough anymore, only providing the islands rum but said that there is still not enough to go round. The tour includes some tasters at the end. We try a 75% rum, that almost blew my head off, Huw thought it was really nice. They only sell the stronger rum to locals as airlines would view the strength of alcohol as a weapon. We also try the watered down tourist version and a pretty tasty rum punch concoction followed by a strangely lovely tasting chocolate rum liquor. Of course the sampling results in us purchasing some for home.

We cut back through the centre of the island, heading up almost into the clouds and then back down. There are some cool waterfall hikes but neither of us can quite be bothered. Instead we head to Grand Anse beach where we found a cute place for lunch and ate some tasty bourbon style chicken wings, with local fried fish and corn. We spent the next hour chilling on the beach. This really is the Caribbean beach that you expect – water is crystal clear and sand so white. We can only cope with the sun and frequent sand blasting for an hour or so and head back.

In the evening we headed back in the Rav to check out a well reviewed Beach house restaurant. I was driving but sadly quite relieved to have a night off the booze. The meal was tasty, although on the pricey side. I had scallops with a basil and saffron sauce. Huw enjoyed the catch of the day which was swordfish. So glad we hired a car, go to get out and explore today.

Chillin

Another day of lolling about in the Caribbean. A modest breakfast as per our new resolution not to undo all our efforts at remaining a similar size to when we left.

Arranged a rental car for the following two days then spent the morning by the pool, so nice as had it to ourselves for most of the time. Had lunch again in the beach club sharing a fresh fish finger sandwich and two glasses of wine each, it was just that sort of day.

After lunch Cath chatted to her mate Stella and I splashed about. We played shuffleboard in the early evening and Cath beat me relatively comfortably. We get quite competitive at times and started a second game but our interest had gone.

Back at the pad we showered and popped some tunes on relaxing and drank our complimentary bottle of rum punch. It packed quite a kick. The food in the restaurant here is pricey for what it is so decided to head to a place called the Red Crab, however being Sunday it was closed and we beat a path back to the hotel and ate an average meal there whilst sharing a bottle of white. A little squiffy we tottered off to bed.

Calabash life

Breakfast on the veranda again – we’ve decided we must cut down our choices as we’ll be huge by the end of the week.

We head down to the beach, certainly no lack of free sunbeds. It’s low season so it’s so quiet and chilled out. Huw grabbed a midday beer from the beach bar and asked the bar man for a mixed punch juice (non alcoholic due to the rum and Coke not Coke and rums I consumed last night). The drink was delicious – again a blend of fresh fruits.

We ate lunch at the beach club. Refreshing glass of white wine and some really tasty tapas. We had lobster ravioli, garlic shrimp, pulled pork fritters and something else but can’t remember. After lunch we decided to use the free facilities and did some paddle boarding. No induction, we just headed straight out. I immediately fell off, but it’s easy to scramble back on and we both soon got the hang of it. Huw picking up speed quite quickly. It was good fun and quite straight forward really.

In the spirit of milking the freebies – we then played a game of the boules on their own little bowling green. I had only played it in the sand but it was a close game, Huw still won.

We headed back, showed our faces in the gym and rushed back in time for a glass of white wine each and complementary canapés delivered to our suite at 6:00pm. What a treat.

We head out to The Junction for dinner – just a few mins walk up the road. We’re the only ones in it at first. Food was good although I think I was served up the most unhealthy main course I’ve eaten the whole trip. A bowl full of fries covered in chilli beef and Beans, smothered with a load of cheese and sour cream. Huw had a the healthier option of a BBQ pork kebab with coleslaw.

Of course there is a micro brewery next door and we adhere to Huw’s holiday rule. We had a cheeky drink and then headed back.

Luna de Miel

Literally the best sleep I’ve had in the whole 3 months of travelling. I think it might be because we both know we have a week of relaxation ahead of us and no more planning and thinking about how,where and when we need to get to the next place. PollyAnn comes to our room at 9 (which is the slot we asked for on our breakfast request slip). She sets up the table on our veranda for breakfast – white table cloth and all. We have a fruit platter to start with some local spiced tea and then up she pops again with our warm dishes of breakfast. What a treat.

We decide to head into town first thing to get some cash out. We are told by reception the best way to get there is by taxi which will cost $20 – we both gulp but still go ahead with getting one. It only takes about 15 mins too but Cecil the driver points out some useful and interesting sites along the way – including BB’s restaurant which we’ve heard a lot about.

As soon as Cecil drops us off – a local guy in a matching sweatsuit approaches us giving advice on the best way to walk to see the most of the town. At first we think he is just pointing us in the right direction but I soon realise he is taking us on his own sort of tour and feel that there will be a price tag attached. I keep nudging Huw hoping he will come up with something to say that will get us out of this awkward situation. Neither of us pipe up as he continues to take us up to an old fort. Finally I start telling him we have been travelling for 3 months and are on a budget. He still doesn’t really get the hint so i go in full guns and out rightly ask what sort of price is attached to him walking with us as it certainly couldn’t be called a tour. He implied it was up to us if we wanted to give him somethings and would leave us be soon. However, he didn’t seem to be leaving so i made the excuse we needed to go and get cash and just wanted to wander around on our own as we have done a lot of tours in the last 3 months. He then finally piped up with a price that was about £15 – well there was absolute no chance he was getting that. He must of realised by my quick ‘no’ response followed by ‘you’ve picked the wrong couple’ – Huw passed him one dollar and he wandered off.

We escaped and got a refreshing ginger beer from the supermarket. I keep wanting to say gracias to the people in the shops I guess due to being so used to saying it for 3 months. We continue to wander around the town and head to the fish market area. We pass an abattoir and meat market which looks absolutely horrendous. The abattoir has smashed in windows and some skinny goats tied up down a filthy looking alleyway. The hooks dangling from the ceiling with blood splattered on the wall and floor. It reminded us of a scene from the film ‘The Hostel’.

We head to BB’s for lunch – the owner first opened a Caribbean restaurant in London and has now returned to Grenada. It is a local looking place on stilts across the harbour. We decide to share the house classic dish of Crab back. It was the most amazing crab I have ever tasted – cooked with cheese and white wine and herbs, it was so good. Might have to go back to this place. It was served with some dumpling type things but really light tasting and we had a side of fried pumpkin.

We decided to attempt at getting the local bus back to the hotel. We got on to a cramped collectivo van which I thought we had seen the end of. Oh no, fully packed in with 4 people sitting on my 3seater row. Huw bagged a spacious seat behind but soon realised he was responsible for opening the slide door and getting out every time someone wanted to get off. Still the journey cost us 75p each – what a steal in comparison to the $20, which Huw tells me I have to let go of. The driver tells us to get out at a bus stop and tells us we will need to walk a bit but it’s not that far and points us in the direction. We head off and the sun is beating down now despite on and off showers all morning. We set off, however after about 15 mins it still doesn’t feel right and stop to ask. We are going in completely the wrong direction and the bus driver probably gave us directions to the wrong hotel. We head back purchasing some water and a lovely banana and mango smoothie to help us walk in the heat. The smoothies are so good out here – think it must be because their fruit is so fresh.

We walk back in the right direction for about 45 mins – our phone telling us we had walked 11km this morning! We head back and lounge by the beach for an hour before heading back to the room to pluck the courage to get ready for the gym. It’s all been refurbished and has air con fresh water and towels etc – we end up quite enjoying. Huw’s happy that he appears to have lost a few more pounds. Don’t know how considering we’ve been eating out for 3 months and drinking but we have both realised how much more active we are even if it’s just constantly walking around. Not looking forward to getting back behind a desk.

We head back to our room and undo all the good things of the gym by cracking open our bottle of complimentary fizz. It’s tasty stuff. We shower and head out to a local place, thinking that we should have brought a torch as it’s pretty dark on the road – phone light does the job. The restaurant/ bar is in a marina boat yard and clearly a popular place with locals and boat people. We order and share a pizza, calamari and a very non mozarellery, tomato,mozzarella and basil salad. It does the job though and there is a cool Caribbean live band playing – he did a cracking rendition of a an Ed Sheran tune reggae style.

We don’t quite make it up to dance in time before the band finishes. I enjoyed some good rum and cokes – more rum than coke in them though. Huw enjoys the Carib beers.

We get a lift back with a random Scottish guy who has lived in Grenada for 8 years so had a very strange Caribbean accent with a Scottish twang. We both sleep very well.

Cheers Panama

Panama City to Grenada

I woke up a bit before the alarm but given I’ve a cold quite pleased I slept as well as I did. We’ve packed already so just a matter of getting the shuttle to the airport.

Check-in is straight forward as is security and boarding is a breeze. I’m impressed with Amercian Airways. The plane to Miami is brand spanking new and the free movie choices are decent. I watch The Unforgiven – bit of classic Clint and Cath watched life of Pi.

Flight is smooth and we land on time. We have been told to expect the worst at MIA but to be honest it’s a breeze.

In the terminal we find some seats and watch an episode of Man in the High Castle. Mum’s Amazon prime has been a real blessing on long trips and in quiet moments.

We share a lunch of noodles and stroll around, the 4 hours seems to fly by. The flight to Grenada is similarly uneventful – I watch Life of Pi and Cath the Great Gatsby (average apparently).

On landing we stroll into the terminal and wait for our baggage. My bag is one of the first off. It looks like its wearing a nappy and isn’t quite closed. The padlock is missing. An attempt to tape it up has been made but it’s pretty shoddy. I’m not very happy. We take it to the AA folk who think it was probably American customs but no note has been left at all. They’ve clearly rummaged through everything and just not bothered to repack properly. Not on really. Though a part of me feels sorry for them – Cath’s bag has all the good stuff and my just smells of San Blas and sweat.

Our lift is waiting for us and takes us straight to the hotel. It’s amazing. We’re greeted with a drink and cold flannels. Our bags are taken from us and were shown around. It’s lush. The apartment to the beach is 50 m. Our bathroom has literally just been renovated and we’ve been upgraded to Deluxe. The advantage of telling people you’re honey mooning! There’s free fizz and homemade chocolates. Caroline explains how we order our breakfast which is served on our private verandah. This is sheer luxury.

We change and free drinks of our choice are brought up by George, and after relaxing we eat in the Gary Rhodes restaurant. This couldn’t be any further from San Blas – though we’re both mightily glad we experienced it! We’ve not got any toothpaste – security removed it as it always 125ml – and I call reception to see if housekeeping have any. Dialling 0 puts me to security and I have a conversation with Thomas who tells me that housekeeping are closed. I tell him not to worry. As I’m drifting off to sleep the phone goes and it’s Thomas. He’s offering to go to the garage for us to get toothpaste. I thank him but say that won’t be necessary and we’ll just get some tomorrow. Though I was sorely tempted. I hang up and sleep hits me.

And relax

Slept like a baby but have woke up with a stinking cold. Bloody typical. We eat a decidedly average buffet breakfast and chill back in the room. We swap some messages with J&S but decide we want to head off earlier to get to our hotel by the airport so pack and go by about 11:30. The trip to the Albrook station is easy.

As we descend the escalator in the terminal I hear a squawk from Cath and looking over see her hat sliding down the gap between escalator and stairs. I’m not that bothered figuring it’ll slide to the bottom where we’ll pick it up. I hadn’t seen what Cath had seen- a great big gap and I see the hat tumble into the darkness out of sight. Cath is gutted and I can see a door into the space I see the stairs where the hat is. I try to explain to some men that I need a key to get a hat but the more flustered I get the worse my Spanish is. I’m getting frustrated and Cath is guarding the bags and not able to come over, eventually patience ebbing away I get my bags and Cath does a much better job of explaining. It’s not enough though and the guys are spectacularly unhelpful.

We wander off, one sombrero down. It’s a bit sad as she got the hat in Granada and it was genuinely nice. Much nicer than my tatty hatty. As we head towards the bus we see some work men under another set of stairs and ask if they can help. In very clipped manner (and on English) the head bloke tells us to wait, we do for quite a while then he emerges and takes us to a help Point however the queue circles the room and so we give up on the hat.

We wait an eternity for the bus. As per usual there’s no schedule and no real organisation to proceedings. Empty buses seem to drift past as if looking to see if the queues long enough to warrant stopping. After 50mins a bus pulls in. We board but only one card has enough credit on it to allow me on. Cath is stranded behind, why we didn’t check before us is beyond me, the nearest recharging point is 100m away and I’m not sure she’ll make it there and back in time. I can see a Panamanian is trying to push past Cath, I can’t understand why then it becomes clear, she’s using her card to pay for Cath. Such a kind act. We offer to pay her but she won’t hear it and only incredibly grudgingly accepts $1 for a $1.25 trip. After the unhelpful men in the terminal it’s nice to be on the receiving end of kindness and though only a small gesture really struck a cord with us both.

It’s quite a distance to the airport And just before the highway we stop and an older woman gets on. I get up to give her my seat but she doesn’t want it pointing at the young girl opposite Cath. They have a loud expressive argument in Spanish which had most of the bus torn between smiling and turning away in embarrassment.

As we leave the highway towards the airport I spot our hotel and there’s a bus stop. We can’t quite get our stuff together quickly enough Cath almost biffs a baby in the head and I clip the angry girls head immediately apologising profusely for fear of the repercussions. The bus starts to move off then jolts to a halt again as the driver has twigged we want off. It’s only a 4 min walk to the hotel.

It’s a big complex but room is spacious and clean and we chill out there for the rest of the day it took us 4 hours to get to it!!!

We eat a surprising good kebab from their BBQ set the alarm for 3:15am and hit the hay.