Leaping lizards, people who cut of their hands

Sorry that it has been a while but I have not had access to a computer for several days. First I want to talk about Max. Max is pretty cool. He is 20 years old and has his own exotic animal business based in Denver CO I met him in the hostel in Uvita, this guy knows all sorts of cool stuff about all different kinds of reptiles, animals etc. He told me about a lizard called a basilisk. The cool things about basilisks is that they run across water on their hind legs. One day I was at the beach at Uvita and saw Max there with a local guy and both of them were using local herbs to attain a favorable state of altered consciousness. He saw me and called me over and of course I joined them. He explained that he had seen a basilisk or many basilisks actually and they were only a little way behind us. So after attaining said favorable state of consciousness we went to where the basilisks were. Man are they cool! They look like tiny dinosaurs and when they are scared they run across the water on the water on their hind legs. Max explained that the way it works is that they move so fast that it creates an air pocket which prevents their feet from going in the water. It is this ability which gives them the nick name Jesus Christ lizards.

Cortes Costa Rica
I didn't go here. So why am I writing about a place that I didn't go. Well let me explain. I was looking at the map in the hostel in Uvita deciding where I was going to go the nest day. I saw Cortes. I asked the owner of the hostel, an American expat about it. He told me I didn't want to go there. When I asked why he said that at one they imported people to work in the sugar cane fields. These people were covered by insurance and when they saw the payouts for things like lost fingers lost hands etc. They started chopping off their hands because they got $5000.00 for a lost hand. These are the descendants of those people. So for this reason I didn't go there.

Panama

I got into Panama yesterday, July 28 and it was raining like hell. None of the shuttles would take me to David City, where I am now.So at about130 in the afternoon I got a cheap hotel about 1 kilometer from the border. Of course as luck has it about half hour after I checked in the rain stopped but what hte hell it was only 13 dollars per night. I love the highway in Panama it is 2 lanes in each direction and it actually has a shoulder. Thank god. This makes riding much less stressful. I can actually relax. They use American currency here in Panama so I don't have to figure out how much something costs in dollars. It is also a lot cheaper than Costa Rica. Beer is only .60 per bottle down here compared to 1.50-2.00 in Costa Rica. Guinness is available here at the grocery store for only 3.30 per 6 pack. Those of you who have known me for a while know how happy that makes me. kSo I am here in David City Panama and will probably be here until the 1st and then start my way to Panama City where I will catch the ferry to Colombia, home of cocaine tea, can't wait.

hasta la vista baby
It has been a while since anyone has emailed me, I sure would like to hear from ya'

Charlie