In which Layla and Roz brave the rapids atop a blue rubber dinghy

And so we set off for dinner at a little Italian restaurant and found ourselves their sole clients… we settled down on their very cute outdoor patio next to the river, though had some doubts when indoor customers appeared… and the rain started. Fortunately the food was tasty – I’d definitely been in pizza withdrawal… we returned home by taxi to watch an electric storm even more impressive than the previous night’s – the whole sky lit up every couple of seconds. Bizarre and exciting to watch.

Less exciting to try to fall asleep to, but luckily we were tired, and next thing we knew, we were hauling ourselves out of bed to an insistent alarm clock. We scurried around packing, shrieking at the insects who’d found their way from the rainforest to our shower, and gulping down our last French toast breakfast. And then it was time for a hurried goodbye to our home in the mountains and off to an adventure we feared too adventurous for us: white water rafting!

“Oh, it’s only grade 2 or 3 rapids” the other six rafters told us serenely, before launching into stories of narrowly averted disaster from past rafting trips. We quadruple-belted our lifejackets, fastened helmets to our heads, and joined the others heading down from the van to the roaring river below. Oh okay, it probably wasn’t roaring. But there was white water. That’s all I’m saying.

White water rafting turns out to be fantastic fun – though I’m not sure whether our two raft-mates would agree, if my shrieking, and Roz’s ‘Oh God No!’ exclamations were anything to go by… Perched on the sides of a rubber dinghy with paddle in hand and a competent guide steering the contraption from the back, we alternated smashing into waves, spinning, and flying through the air with moments of still water and serenity, and plenty of time to admire the beautiful views of the local volcano and Panama’s countryside. We stopped halfway through for ‘lunch’ (our lack of watches failed to advise us it was but 10:30am, so we may have overindulged in sandwiches and pineapple…) on a little beach, and then it was back in the boats for more white water excitement… and at one point we even jumped out of the boat into the water to bob downstream. Despite our shrieks persisting til the very last rapid, we both loved it.

And then it was onto an extremely slow bus to David and taxi to the airport where we await our plane back to Panama amid one of these storms I mentioned… Wish us luck!