The Longest Left

We pulled into Pavones from San Ramon late in the afternoon and successfully avoided Semana Santa traffic as we had planned. The funny thing about Pavones is it was one of the few places in Central America we knew we would go on this trip. George had spent three weeks there years ago when he and his good friend Willy had decided to learn how to surf. It’s always a little odd visiting a place that you’ve memorialized in your head. Everything changes with time and Pavones, known as having one of the world’s longest lefts, was no different. Not bad, not good – just different. We knew we’d be here for a while, our good friend Katie was flying into nearby Golfito a week from our arrival date, so we scoped out the best deal/accommodations we could find during the high season of Semana Santa. After we parked it was time for surfing to commence!

Arriving back to Pavones was a mixed bag of emotions for me; the first time I (George) was there the goal was to learn to surf and for a 23-year-old (see- arrogant, cocky) man from Colorado this would appear to be a simple challenge. However, the world has a wonderful way of humbling people when they truly need it and for the next three weeks after rubbing sunscreen on each other, Willy and I were usually happy to have not drowned after our “surf” session. Getting back in the water in Pavones after surfing on and off for eight years and having spent the previous four months surfing in Mexico, El Salvador, and northern Costa Rica I finally had the experience at Pavones I so desired back in 2005. During the sunset surf I easily caught more waves than I did in three weeks, but surfing in Pavones was one of the most technical and challenging places I’ve surfed on this trip. The current was extremely strong on either side of the rivermouth – you either got sucked out to the point or pushed down to the bay and the waves were consistently overhead.
The swell was big, and then it was huge. So huge that it drew folks from all over the world. I (Rachel) personally enjoyed sitting on the beach and watching the amazing surfers and the carnage. The waves were so loud, the crashing would wake me up at night. After the holiday the crowds thinned out a bit and made surfing a little more fun. So much so that I played in the water for a bit too.
I was so excited to discover the nearby Pavones Yoga Center! It was about a 20min walk up a really steep hill from where we were staying but it was a perfect way to get your morning work out in. Short run, steep hike and an hour and a half yoga class. It was one of the most beautiful studios I have ever seen. Open air, beautiful wood floors, arched doorways, views of the Pacific almost all the way to Golfito, a view of the jungle canopy and plenty of birds flying by to go with it. I loved making the trek up there every day. Indira was a fabulous teacher and I reveled in any minute I could get up there. During one class, while we were in warrior three (one of the most challenging balancing poses) a small earthquake tested our steadiness. Luckily we passed and so did the building.

These cute pups kept us company where we were staying.  Had we not been preparing to ship the van from Panama to Colombia in the next few weeks it’s very possible we would have had new furry friends.

Katie flew in early Thursday morning and we picked her up at the little airport in Golfito. After a beer overlooking the Pacific, it was time to head to Panama. The date we were planning on shipping from Panama to Colombia was keeping us motivated to press on and the heat had us searching for mountains. After a lengthy border crossing, double checking paperwork to make sure everything was perfect for shipping, and showing the inspector and guards how everything worked on the van (including popping the top) we were on our way to Boquete, Panama!