¡estamos aqui!

We are finally here! It feels great to be at Casa Victoria. We left LAX last night at 2:20 am and arrived in Panama City at about 10 in the morning. We had an 8 hour layover, so we thought we would take the time to go tour around the city a little bit. We got outside the airport and were looking for a taxi to take us to the Panama Canal and show us around a bit, but they were asking 100 bucks...a little more than we were willing to spend.

So I (Jon) looked around and saw a surfer (who we had met in the customs line) who was waiting for a friend to pick him up and asked him for some help. His name is Magnum by the way, could he possibly have a more awesome name? He was on our flight and is currently living in Carlsbad, but he is a pro surfer on the Latin American circuit and is in town for a competition. He said, "Why don't you wait till my friend shows up and I will ask him." So we waited and almost immediately his friend pulls up and they exchange greetings and moments later his friend says, "We will give you a ride into the city." So we jump in our new friend Gary's Land Cruiser, throw Magnum's boards on top and we are off on an adventure. It turns out that Gary is also a pro surfer and one of the best on the Latin American circuit. He is housing Magnum and another young surfer named Manuel, who I met when I was surfing in the Domican Republic just a year and a half ago. CRAZY! Also it turns out that Magnum is sponsored by Quiksilver and knows my friend Chad Mitchell who works for Quiksilver and who I went to high school with. Also Gary surfs for Billabong, and the list of people I know at Billabong was long enough to have at least one common friend. It was a miracle that we ended up in this Land Cruiser.

All that to say, they brought us to the city, found us a cab driver (who incidentally recognized Gary from a RedBull billboard he has in the city) and sent us on our way.

We visited the Antigua part of Panama City and saw buildings from the 1600's. We went to an area known as the Coastway and saw where the President lives. We went to the Marina and had an authentic (Irish-American) lunch at Bennigan's with our taxi driver Eleuterio. Nothing like a lunch of a bacon cheeseburger and spanish lessons with your taxi driver in Panama! After lunch we went to the Panama Canal and visited the Miraflores Locks, which are the last set of locks coming from the Atlantic to the Pacific, or the first set if you're traveling the other way. We watched a gigantic freighter pass through and be lowered down 20 meters or so. It was amazing. Then it was back to the Aeropuerto and off to Quito. Both our flights were very nice and we arrived here feeling great. Jose-Luis was at the airport to greet us as soon as we came through customs and took us straight to where we are now, which is Casa Victoria. We met some of the guys living here and of course were welcomed by Alicia who originally had the vision for the house. We talked and toured and roasted the marshmallows we brought down over a fire in a fireplace in our room!! Now it's time for bed and we look forward to a full day tomorrow. ("Anna! Go stoke the fire!") We are certain more great adventure lies ahead and we will do our best to keep you updated!! Check back soon!