Our feet lathered in mud, we weren't sure what we should do. The inspirational signs saying "you are almost there," and "ten more minutes" no longer seemed relevant. The sign that said fifteen more minutes we passed forty minutes earlier.
Turning to Chet and Karen I called out, "should we keep going, or should we turn around?"
With a moment of silence, they call back "let's keep going, we have to almost be there."
We were walking to Wizard's Beach on Bastimentos. A small island off the Caribbean coast of Panama, it has one main sidewalk and about fifty houses on the water. Tucked away amongst the jungle are a few more houses upon the hillside. Cars are non existent so the only way to get around are foot paths or water taxis.
Due to the heavy rains prior to when we arrived, all of the trails turned into slick, muddy ski slopes. Each successful step came with a sigh of relief that I wasn't face down in the mud. Soon it was so muddy that we had to take off our sandals because they were of no use. Looking around, people seemed to do the same. Soon to be fossilized footprints were everywhere, and abandoned, muddy sandals were left behind to be forgotten by their owners.
Pausing to wipe the rain and sweat off of my forehead, I look around. The thickest jungle surrounded us. It seemed like one step off of the trail into the jungle would swallow me whole. Looking up into the forest canopy above us, bromeliads, orchids, and ferns hung down as if reaching for the ground. Old knotted trees with the same ancient and majestic look of an oak tree spread out to find the sun. Between the drips of water off of the leaves, exotic birds cried out in the distance.
Continuing on we run into some surfers walking back. Our legs covered in mud, they give us a funny look and say in a quizzical voice, "what are you doing?"
"Going to the beach."
Stepping out of the jungle onto the beach, we walk onto the white sand. The water while not clear at the time is as warm as a bath. Relieved to finally get the mud off our bodies, we look at each other knowing that we have to hike back.
One of us says, "I'm never doing that hike again." Silently we all agree as we start the hike back out.
A week and a half later, I now hike out there every other day. Used to the routine, it no longer bothers me. Sometimes I pass other hikers on the trail and I can't help but laugh to myself. They have the same lost and confused look that we had the first time we hiked it.
Passing a couple on the trail, the girl looks at me with a deadly look and says, "is this beach worth it? Cause if not I'm going to kill him..."
I laugh and say, "yeah its worth it."
A few photos of Wizard's Beach the other day.
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