Sun, Sizzla, and Sand

up close and personal

So this past weekend Panama celebrated its independence from Colombia. I specify that because apparently they celebrate a few more independences this month. Basically, November in Panama is one big...beach party! Who am I to complain?

Not to mention it only cost $3.00 to get to the beaches on the Pacific side, which is where I spent my weekend. Something about knowing that I can see so much for so little is empowering. I get excited about the thought.

By now many of you have seen my picture with the phenomenal reggae artist that is Sizzla! Before I even knew when Panama's holiday was, I knew I would be at the concert. Even had my outfit planned. And of course I didn't get my ticket until two days before, haha. Typical.

Anyway, at the last minute I was convinced to head to the beach on Friday night instead of early Saturday morning as I had planned, in order to beat the traffic. Usually, I like to think things out a bit more, but I said whatever; this is all about adventure and experience, right? I was already packed so I did a quick mental checklist and went outside to catch a taxi to the bus terminal. There was only one problem and one problem only; I left after 9 and the last bus was leaving to Gorgona at 9:30. But like the 'blessing pikin' that I am, I made it (despite the taxi driver driving intentionally slow after I indicated that I was in a rush.) Either he was scared of going above the speed limit or he wanted to prolong our ride together. Either way I was annoyed.

from my 'bus'

I rushed to the bus---well, little minivan type of thing. It’s what we call ‘podahpodah’ in Sierra Leone, a ‘minibus’ in Guyana, or a ‘trhttp://trotrodiaries.tumblr.com/otro’ in Ghana. I was extremely close to this one guy who was adamant about sharing his 44th birthday plans with me. He told me about everything from his family to his birthday outfit. 

I finally arrived to the the town of Gorgona and you could feel the calm before the storm; it was clear that the next day would be a day of partying!

sunny days

hidin' out under the cliff catching waves

Saturday came quickly and I checked into a little house owned by a surfer guy in a beach town called El Palmar. This particular beach is frequented by many surfers because of the waves. There is also a surf school. I enjoyed the waves and all, but I'll leave the surfing to the surfers :) I will admit that it felt good to have the waves take you with them.

hey there

beautiful rock structure

I enjoyed the beach a bit more with my homegirl, who is actually learning to surf. Then we got ready and headed out to make an impression---I mean to go to the Sizzla Concert. Yay for Sand and Sizzla. How much better does it get?

Oh wait, it gets better!

I managed to make my way into the VIP section, which basically meant I was free to go riiiiight up close to the front. I figured why shouldn't I be as close as possible to the stage? I will only see Sizzla in Panama once, right? 

Okay, the VIP scheme wasn't that easy. I paid $40 for my ticket which was general admission, but my friends paid $40 on the day of and they got a VIP ticket. I would have been okay with this if there wasnt such a bigggg difference. Like general admission was like being on the back of the bus and not by choice. And I definitely did not come all the way to Panama to be in the back. No, no, no. Not Bintu Mary.

Needless to say, I put on my DMV charm, walked up to the security guy and asked him what the price difference was so I could pay it. He directed me to the ticket booth. I asked them the same question. They told me to hold on. Luckily my friend Javi had a better idea. He would just hold my hand and cover it with his VIP wristband and we would walk right in. We tried it. It worked---or so we thought, until I saw the security guy walking towards me out of the corner of my eye. Lol okay #fail1.

We explained the situation to him. My friend told me to speak only English. That would help our story if I pretended to be a clueless American girl. Then somehow my friend asked the security guard where he was from...and u guessed it...they were both from the city of Colon. That was it; in less than five seconds, that security guard walked right back and we walked right into VIP without problem. Later we slipped him $3.00. Gotta love third world hookups.

passionate performer

feelin' his music

And with that, I was rest assured in the VIP section.

Next mission was to work my way up to the front! And center. And if you know me, then you know I succeeded. I mean go hard or go home. And home is far from here. ;)

sandy days

The experience, the VIP hustle and all was amazing. The stadium was basically a stage set on the beach. So my feet were in sand. All the more hippie/bohemian and I loved every minute of it. Even the fact that the generator kept going out was exciting for me. When the lights went out we could see the stars. I have never thought the sky looked so beautiful. When my crew complained about the lights going out, I reminded them that we were at a reggae concert in Central America on the beach, feet in sand, how many more times will we be able to have this opportunity? Better yet, how grateful should we be that we even have this opportunity?

I even took a nap right there on the sand until the lights came back on. This was my type of thing. Beach vibin’ and reggae vibin’.

everyone diggin' the vibe

Rastas, backpackers, Panamanians, and a Sierra Leonean American girl who once dreamed of beach concerts. All of us came from different places for one thing: music. For the love of Sizzla's music and to witness his art. Music, if nothing else, is truly a powerful means of bringing people together. I will always remember the day I was walking in Suriname, a small country in South America. A black Surinamese approached me selling cds; I asked him what the hottest song was right now. He started singing ‘Yori Yori. There I was, somewhere in South America, oceans apart from Nigeria and the hottest song in Suriname, was a song by a Nigerian group. At that moment, I realized this: music is a binding force. Music transcends borders and oceans. 

Remember! Never take off your seatbelt---you never know what's next on Bee's Backseat---stay tuned for this weekend's adventure!

Takin' the Road to San Blas

And then there were two chicks and a 4x4. So my wonderful cousin came to visit me in Panama. My first guest :) She wanted to visit the San Blas Islands, which are a popular tourist destination here. Seeing as though, it was on my list of things to accomplish for October, I gladly accepted her excitement and planned a trip to San Blas. All we had to  do was deposit the money in a Kuna guy’s account and then rent a 4x4, as the road to San Blas must be driven with a 4x4. It became clear why shortly after getting on the road. 

Of course, there’s always the journey before you get to the paradise itself. And indeed San Blas was paradise, but the journey---well---it was nothing short of interesting and indeed triumphant by the end.

We began our journey from Panama City to Kuna Yala, which is the name of the land of the Kuna’s at about 6 am. We had a GPS. Or so we thought. I will explain later. We had been instructed to get gas by the airport because after that we might not run into any more gas stations. So we did just that. Only that of course, being two foreigners, we couldn’t really find the gas station or get back on the road after we found it.  We finally got back onto Carretera Panamerica somehow. We drove for about 25 minutes before running into the protesters. What protesters you ask? I knew you would! Well in quick summary of Panamanian news, the government tried to sell the land in the 'Free Zone'. The Free Zone is a tariff free shopping area in the city of Colon. Colon is a historical city in Panama, however, the city of Colon remains destitute and many live in conditions of poverty. Not surprisingly, it is the city where many of the beautiful black people live. Colon has been forgotten. Thus, the Coloneses are frustrated with the government’s plan to sell this land in the Free Zone. Quite frankly, I think they are frustrated period at the overall and long standing abandonment of their needs by the Panamanian government and rightfully so. For about two weeks now there have been numerous protests scattered throughout the city with regard to this situation.

the point where the road block begin. protesters to the left.

  

So yes, we were stuck on this road as police had blocked off the road. It wouldn’t have been that bad if there was another way to get to San Blas. Anyway, this guy told us to follow him since he would be going in the same direction.  We made a U turn in an attempt to follow him and we lost him. Great. Just great. But luckily, (I think) our GPS was still doing us some good because somehow, we ended up on the road that we were trying to get to before the protest. We kept on drivin’ until we got to this point where the GPS told us to go straight. The only problem was this was a road going one way on our side. We literally had to cross this major highway. This time that there was an even bigger dip in the median. We attempted to cross it thinking it would be as simple as the one we encountered near the road block. Not quite. We got stuck. Uh oh. But guess who came in handy? The protesters! There were about 4 or 5 guys that were cheering us on and when their vocal directions couldn’t help they came and pushed us out of the ditch while I hit the gas. What an experience!

Even though the GPS said 169 KM to our destination, I wasn’t too confident about that GPS. Call me a little old-fashioned but I am always weary of GPS especially in Central America. Luckily we saw a sign that said indicated the road to Kuna Yala was on the left. But my cousin thought we should follow the GPS. I followed it for a bit then I stopped at a local Fonda* and asked if we were on the right path to San Blas. Just like I thought, we needed to turn around and go back to where we saw that sign.

As we began ascending the hills to Kuna Yala, I said another prayer to God and thought how my mom would have a heart attack if she knew her first born and only daughter was driving up some hills in a jungle in Central America. But then again, I think she has started to realize just how crazy her first-born is. The road was not an easy one; there were even some parts missing on the road, but we made it! And boy was it worth it! Though, I am not too sure if I will be the one driving next time.

You arrive at a checkpoint and pay a small tax because the Kuna Yala is a protected land. Then you continue on driving up and down some more curvy hills. I think the second set of curves are worse. 

Then you arrive at a port designated by your Kuna tour guide and park your car. So we parked and waited for our guy Senor Blas to meet us and take us on the boat. And there began the reward for braving the road.

The water---an incredible, deep blue, turquoise at times, aqua green at times and just plain awesome---was enough to remind you that every fear you had driving up there was worth it.

starfish mid ocean <3

our little lobster friends. $2.00 a pop.

nothing like fresh catch

our kuna jewelry

As you sail, you feel this sense of freedom being on the water. Just enjoying the breeze, the ride and the array of blues that can be found was enough. But of course, that’s not all. There are 365 islands of San Blas. I am sure each has its own little flavor. They are all very small islands that you could walk around in less than 10 minutes, some less. We visited a total of three islands. The first one was an Isla Pero where we just waded in the water and prayed for the sun to come out. And of course posed for our San Blas pics lol. Then we travelled to a second one for lunch. I swear this one had some kind of bugs that chose to only bother me. They were stinging me but leaving no marks and my cousin thought I was crazy because she wasn’t being bothered. Go figure. 

baywatchin' at San Blas

been my partner in crime since 88'

sunshine and smiles.

Finally, we spent the last couple of hours on Isla Perika. Oh my. This is where I realized that it wasn’t fair to call this a beach experience. Literally we were on an island with near-white and soft sand, clear water, starfish, palm tree with coconuts, and the peace of the ocean. The best part is that it’s not like a busy beach. Just you and the island.

I honestly thought that it was being a bit oversold when I heard people talk about it. However, when I visited, I realized why people can’t really say much about San Blas. It’s just one of those things, you have to experience. Very few words will be able to capture the essence of the San Blas Islands. Panama is up 1.

San Blas is not a beach; it is a paradise. 

Stay tuned for the next blog post because this weekend will be jampacked with fun as Panama celebrates its many independences. Pictures from the Sizzla concert in Gorgona beach and a special treat on Monday. There is a place I have been dying to visit and I have finally been invited! Hint: I mentioned it during this post. Put your seatbelts back on!

*Fonda- Local restaurants that typically serve cheap traditional food.