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10/27/17 Arrival in Medellin

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10/25-26/17

The 25th was dedicated to getting to Panama City so we could easily get to the airport the very next day. Our travel started at 5 pm, it took some time to get to Almirantes where the bus that we would be on for the next 10 hours was at. The bus itself was so cold and I made the mistake of wearing shorts and a short sleeve shirt so the ride wasn't pleasant. We got to Panama City at 4:30 am. 

After napping, we walked around Panama City for a little bit before going to bed at 6pm so that we could be awake by 2am. The first flight at 5 am was to Bogota and from Bogota we transferred to Medellin. We finally made it to Medellin at 10:30ish in the morning

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10/23-24/17

Last beach day and full day in Bocas.

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10/22/17 Carenero Isla 

The second time we visited Carenero. We stayed on the beach this time and just took a day to relax on the beach

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10/19-21/17 Raw Fusion

Before leaving Bocas Del Toro, we ate at the local sushi spot and took a calm 3 days packing and cleaning before getting ready for the next part of the trip

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10/18/17 Starfish Beach 

It's just as it sounds, a beach with starfish in the water to view. 

Even though it was a cloudy and cool day we decided to head to the beach and see what we could find. We saw multiple starfish through out the water and multiple almost transparent fish all over.  As we got into the water taxi we saw a Manta ray that was at the shore as well.

Getting there was easy and fast. It was only a 30 minute ride in a tourism bus and was about $5 per person.

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10/17/17

Chocolate Tour

The tour was on an island named Almirante, a 30 minute water taxi away from Isla Colon.

The farm was up in the mountains. Indigenous people of the land all lived up on the farm. They are the ones working and making the chocolate, they are the ones who showed us their chocolate making process and even let have samples during the whole process.

Before we started the hike they served us a meal of chicken, rice, taro root and taro leaves. The dish is something the people on the farm eat and the taro is grown there as well. It was new to me but very good. After eating we climbed further up, getting an explanation on the cocoa trees and the farms history about how the tress were covered in a fungus and that ruined the whole tree. After all that we hiked further, getting to the point where they toasted the beans and showed us the whole process

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10/13-16/17

Between these days we stayed in, went to the beach, and I retook my test.

I went back to see if i passed and I finally did, after failing the first time. So to finish the process of getting my license, I just had to get my picture taken and sign some papers.

So now I can go scuba diving anywhere that they offer it without having to take a class before doing so

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10/12/17

My last class and dive as part of my scuba diving course. The second dive was in the same locations as the first, but this time I was able to see more of the coral reef than I was the first time. I had to do more exercises in the water but I also had to do 6 laps around the boat which was actually really hard because I had to swim against the current. While under I just had to do buoyancy exercises. 

I also got to fail my scuba diving final exam by 5% that day so :)

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10/11/17

A trip to Carenero Island.

Carenero is right across the water from Isla Colon so the boat ride there is a quick one.

Getting off the boat we walked down the island, past the beaches where everyone was at. We ended up at a ledge, from there you could see Isla Colon and down the beach.

After walking back to where we got off the boat we had some pizza then continued further to Aqua Lounge, a bar/club that has opening in the floor so it creates almost a swimming pool using the ocean. We stayed there for a while, able to enjoy the sunset and the night before dipping in the ocean right outside the lounge before calling it a night

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10/10/17

Scuba diving can be scary but it's actually a good experience. As long as you stay calm and listen to the teacher you'll be ok.

My second lesson was right off the dock of the school, practicing first on the surface then in shallow water. After learning 4 exercises we then took a boat out to a spot that had a ship that was sunken in the water.

While about 20ish feet under, I had to do more exercises before we were able to swim through the ship. The ship itself had been down there for about 5 years so it was covered in algae and fish were in and out of the boat. As soon as I went into the ship I saw what I think was a caribbean reef shark that was pretty long. I also was able to caress a jellyfish, it was smooth and kinda slimy.

While on my second dive, which was at a spot with a lot of coral reefs i got to see a baby shark and a seahorse.

What I had to practise was taking out the device that I breath through and let out air then put it back in your mouth to begin breathing again but this was done underwater first, it isn't as scary as it seems. I did swallow sea water and freaked out at first but it's actually an easy exercise you just have to breath out the water hard into the device and it'll clear it out for you

Tip: Breath through your mouth always or you might inhale water through your nose and freak out, sometimes water will get into your mask and if you breath through your nose you'll obviously get water in your nose.

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10/08/17

Back to Paki Point, we took another beach day.

Later on at night we went to The Bookstore Bar in town to kill time. They had an Atari that was free to play so I tried playing Mario Bros but I died every time. They also had a ping pong table that I tried as well but they just had to put the table in a room with wide windows so the ball was hit out the window multiple times by me.

After that we went to Toro Loco (a sports bar. The only sports bar in town) to watch my home team play football, and eat wings of course.

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10/05-07/17

Between these three days we stayed at home, walked around town and took a trip to the Cine Cafe, a small movie theater that is also a cafe. 

They had a wide variety of American movies so we watched La La Land and snacked on a latte and crepes.

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10/03-04/17

The 3rd was a stay in day and the 4th was when I started my Padi scuba diving training. 

The course that I took consisted of three classes all together before I could get my license.

The first class and part of the course was going through the book they gave me. I had to watch 5 chapters of videos and take tests after each chapter. This all together took 5 hours to complete.

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10/03/17

6:37 pm, view from my window.

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10/02/17

Celebrating my moms birthday we ate at Bocart Restaurant in the middle of town. They serve Japanese, Caribbean food with vegetarian and vegan options.

We started off with the tuna maki special which was simple but good.

I got the udon noodles with calamari and my mom got the paella which wasnt the same as real paella but still tasty.

For desert we got the chefs special which was a plate of various small desserts including strawberry ice cream, fried bananas and apples.

Overall the meal was simple but good.