Heidi left Vienna on July 7th to catch an 11 hour flight from Amsterdam to Panama City. Impatiently waiting to finally set her feet on real ground after about 10 hours into the flight, the following announcement by the captain was rather disturbing.

No radar was working in the whole the country of Panama and all planes had to be guided down - one by one - “by hand” (!!!). Heidi’s immediate inquiry produced an easy enough explanation - the air controller will talk to the cockpit crew and thus direct them to find the runway. The flight attendant added that this happens all the time. Heidi did not let go and wanted to know how often she had personally experienced such a situation. Well, twice, in the life of an experienced life attendant. This did not really take away Heidi’s worries. Her imagination was running wild and she pictured hundreds of planes circling the sky over Panama City running out of gas. Funnily enough we landed in no time.

Once inside the arrival hall, it became quite obvious why: there were no other planes landing and the airport seemed deserted. Heidi literally jogged through immigration and her luggage was already waiting when she got to the carrousel. Outside the terminal senores in white shirt are flagging down taxis for the passengers. When they did not bother finding someone to share the taxi, I chatted up a young Dutchman and off we went. At the comfortable La Casa de Carmen I joined up with Gilles.

The following day we left on a plane for Pereira, Colombia and the airport presented itself like the day before, a few passengers and what must be thousands of employees hanging around.

Juancho’s main goal was to create this protected area and establish a safe habitat for the monkeys in this area.

Maybe I was lucky, but los monos visited several times a day, always one species at a time, always in groups, mainly waiting to get fed with bananas. Afterwards they would goof around producing as much noise as possible or just throwing mangoes on the ground. Juancho explained that the monkeys generally complete a tour of the property most mornings, late afternoons & often even more frequently.

Among the countless monkeys are the much endangered Central American Squirrel Monkeys or Mono Titi. It is estimated that there are only between 1.000 and 3.500 left of this species. Watching the monkeys, I learned that the Mono Titi mainly eats bananas, whereas the Mono Congo prefers to munch on mangoes & papaya leaves. The Mono Cariblanco on the other hand is a true gourmand: it devours bananas, papayas & corn, which does not make them popular with local farmers.

Especially feeding the Mono Titi became the daily highlight: these cute small creatures go nuts, jump on you, on your arms, on your head, just to catch a small piece of banana. Afterwards they shoot up a tree to gulp down their prey, undisturbed from the others, who at times become slightly aggressive to be the first to get fed.

These same monkeys developed a fun game: they discovered that jumping around on the tin roof of the cabins would make a hell of a noise. “Los Mono Titis son monos latinos, se quieren ruido” (“Squirrel Monkeys are Latinos, they love to make noise”) Juancho explained with a big laugh. Imagine the following commotion: with a “boom” they land on tin panel. This then changes into “trr trr trr trr” when the animals race from one side of the roof to the other. After a playful wrestle with a fellow monkey the “trr trr trr trr & boom” start again. A delight when you watch from the outside!

One thing I learned the hard way was that the male Mono Congo seems jealous of tourists. Once, when I approached them to take pictures of females, the males started to make fierce war cries. When I could not be scared away by their martial behaviour, they tried to urinate on me. Luckily, they missed!

During long talks with Juancho, I also learned that now the females no longer have babies only in March, right before most fruits are in season, but all year round. The extremely witty and informative explanation for this phenomenon is delivered in the great book of John Ewing, “Monkeys are made of chocolate”: When food is secure and sufficient, primates have the ability to reproduce at any time of the year. This certainly will help the population to recover, something Juancho definitely aims at with his project “Mono Feliz”.

I am really glad that I went there, no matter how tough the trip there was. Not only because it was such a delight to watch these adorable creatures, but also because such projects need every support possible.

The first thing I noticed when arriving at the Mono Feliz were the hundreds of small crabs that run on the ground and hide in small holes when they feel threatened. Of course I have seen crabs on numerous other occasions before, but these were special. First of all, the sheer number was outlandish and then the colour: black, with orange legs and purple pincers.

Well, Juancho was less excited by those little creatures: he actually called them a real pest, eating every young plant they can find. This makes it impossible to grow any kind of vegetable. The reason the crab population exploded over the years, is, as so often linked to the gradual disappearing of the main natural predator, the racoon.

These crabs do not only live on the beach but in the forest and even on top of the hill. They are simply everywhere. But what was most stunning was to discover they also climb trees to reach new leaves to munch on. So yes, in and near the Mono Feliz, you will see crabs in the trees!

Mono Feliz or “Happy Monkey” is a heaven for nature lovers and people who just want to get REALLY far away from the hustle and worries of our usual lives. Add to this the feeling of being on a remote island, cast away from the outside world. Okay, Mono Feliz is not no a real island, but it is simply inaccessible during high tide.

Mono Feliz was created by John Garvey or “Juancho”, a gringo who sailed down the Pacific Coast of Central America 11 years ago. This is where he decided to settle down and create a small paradise, not only for the monkeys, but for him and his visitors. Juancho truly enjoys sharing his dreams and his love for this place and the monkeys. It is a true pleasure to watch him playing, feeding and imitating his frolicking friends.

Situated on Punta Burica, on the western Pacific Coast next to the Costa Rican border, these 7 hectares of secondary forest is next to a deserted beach. Juancho’s passion has been to provide a safe heaven for many animals which have lost their natural habitat over the last few decades. This is mainly due to the creation of pastures and deforestation along the coast.

Accommodation consists of four simple cabins with shared, very clean bathrooms and a communal kitchen. The fresh water pool fed by a nearby spring is an additional treat. Juancho’s wife Lusmilla also cooks excellent food on request, mostly from home grown produce. The super juicy mangoes and perfectly ripe avocados will always be remembered. Given the location fish is part of the daily diet.

Going to the “Mono Feliz” would be a challenging undertaking, I knew that. This remote place is located at the very end of Punta Burica, a peninsula on the Pacific coast, a few kilometres from the border to Costa Rica. But for various reasons it turned into a true nightmare…

Since Mono Feliz is free of any means of modern communication, Juancho, the owner, needs the assistance of “Otto”, who is receiving the reservations from the outside world. He advised me to take a very early bus from David to Puerto Armuelles, so that I would arrive before low tide. This timing is indeed crucial, since the last leg of the trip, the 30km from Puerto Armuelles to Punta Burica, can only be done on the beach, at low tide. At high tide, Mono Feliz is simply inaccessible!

So I eagerly arranged my arrival in Puerto Armuelles for the early morning, only to learn that “Mr. Ivan”, the supposedly only driver to Punta Burica, would only leave between 04:00 and 05:00 pm, since at 12:00 pm it was not low but high tide, no matter what “Otto” told me the day before…

Furious, mildly describes how I felt! Puerto Armuelles is not an attractive spot to hang around, especially shouldering 20kg of luggage in morning temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius with an extreme humidity!

After asking almost every person who crossed my path for a way out, a silver lining appeared on the horizon. At around 01:00 pm a jeep was about to drive down the peninsula. But not along the beach, it would take the “road”. Which road? And yes, I would have to walk for about 30 minutes to an hour from the drop off to the Mono Feliz. The depressing prospect of spending more hours in Puerto Armuella made me decide to grab this opportunity.

During the one and a half hour ride on a bumpy and muddy road a strange feeling took hold of me. But what the hell, I just wanted to reach the Mono Feliz, so I started marching after the jeep dropped me off.

Soon I discovered that the cab had actually left me at the end of the road that is about to be built… After 10 minutes I had to cross the first creek, after 20 minutes the mud was knee deep. The path was going up and down, up and down, each time with a creek to cross and was getting extremely slippery. The mud eventually was so deep that I had to take off my sandals and walk bear foot in the mud, hopping I would not get hurt. Another troubling thought took possession of my mind: if I hurt myself, it might take several days until someone would walk that way…

After more than one and a half hour, I finally encountered a “campesino”, who gave me the only correct information I received that day - I had at least one more hour to go!

When I reached Mono Feliz after 2.5 hours, I was covered in mud up to the waist and I was sweating so profusely that the inside of my backpack was partly wet. No need to say that I was emotionally and physically exhausted, and fuming mad at the idiots who had talked me into doing this… But also extremely relieved that I had actually arrived in one piece!

At least the return trip was the “normal way”, 45 minutes walking along the beach, then 1.5 hours in a jeep on the beach and finally a 2.5 hour bus ride. All in all with waiting time less than 6 hours …

Since Heidi will only arrive on July 7th, I will be travelling alone for the next 6 days. I decided to avoid the major touristy destinations such as San Blas Archipielago or Bocas del Toro and head to the west, the Golfo de Chiriquí.

Even though David is the capital of the Chiriqui Province, it seems to have little to offer. Despite this fact, in recent years it has turned into a major hub for travellers on their way to and from Costa Rica. It is also the gateway to now very famous Boquette and to the Golfo de Chiriqui with its beaches and national parks.

The Purple House Hostel was just the perfect place to spend this transit night in David. Yes, everything in and at this place is purple, even the towels and the plates… Andrea, the owner is an endless source of information about the region, Panama and offers everything a traveller needs.

Usually is the ideal place to rest and relax, unless you happen to be there on the very day the “King of Pop” is mourned by zillions. The party of devoted fans lasted till the wee hours. “Something that never happened before”, apologized Andrea. So Michael Jackson’s death did not even leave a remote Panamanian town untouched.

The trip Vienna - Amsterdam - Panama City was smooth, though very long. The arrival in Panama turned out to be one of the easiest I had ever experienced. Not only was the plane 20 minutes ahead of schedule, but within 20 minutes I had recovered my luggage and breezed through immigration & customs.

The transfer from the airport was also especially easy and cheap: once you leave the terminal, you run into official cab drivers, easily recognizable in their white uniforms. I let them know that I was looking for a “collectivo” to the city centre. Within minutes they found two other people to share the cab, which lowered the price down to 11 USD per person for a 35 km ride. This trip was more like moving in a low-flying plane through rush hour traffic. So no later than 70 minutes after touch down, I was at my hostel.

What a night! I seem to have lost the ability to understand what the Lonely Planet really means when they so warmly recommend a place, and above all to read between the lines! Luna’s Castle is definitely the right place if you are here for some serious partying, but surely not if you want to rest and relax! Even a major jetlag would not help me to battle the heat / the humidity (there was no air conditioning in the dorm) and the noise of the party animals until very late at night.

So I fled on an early bus to David, the gateway to Mono Feliz on the Punta Burica for some “off the beaten tracks” Panamanian experience.

The travel from Panama City to David was a boring 7 hour bus ride with the air conditioning maxed up. The freezing temperatures in the bus were a hard to beat déjà vu of some notorious bus rides in Venezuela. Of course such pleasant conditions do not come alone - a series of bad movies was played at full volume. Only one short moment was truly entertaining, when the driver by accident chose the wrong video and started playing a porno. He soon recognized his mistake and quickly switched to another horrid blockbuster. A few American young ladies on the bus could not believe their eyes!