March 5 Night Perspective

We enjoy a brief visit to Perita to see the Carnival during the day. There are huge trucks spraying everyone with water, lots of fireworks (very safe...), and the floats/bands relentlessly play on.

After a lunch with some Rotarians who work with the UN, we load up into the SUVs and head towards the big Carnival in Las Tablas.
We meet Nestor at his parent's weekend home, just outside of Las Tablas. We enjoy some rum and ceviche on the porch, and the girls get the hammock time they have been desiring. Time with Juan is busy, but carries a certain component of relaxed pace. The power comes and goes a few times, as towns in the area are all running carnival.

At 9 we go into the small town (Santo Domingo) to experience "how Carnival used to be". It is intimate like our experience last night, but definitely busier. A round of beers (10) costs $6.50, and 'street meat' curly sausages are $0.50. Life is grand. It's a nice carnival, and the bands (while not different than last night) are impressive up close.

Beers are done and we are headed to Las Tablas. We park on the outskirts of the carnival, and start our walk into the town centre. Things are different. People are drunk, and there are a lot of them. We are told to expect the first queen at 11ish, and the second at 1ish. Juan is on his cellphone, trying to keep everyone close, and making some plans for us. Eduardo appears, our UN/Rotary lunch guest from earlier in the day, and we are taken up to the condo they have. It's THE perfect location. Top floor (4th), of the tallest building, overlooking the square. We are experiencing things from the best vantage points. Truly VIP treatment.

The floats are coming. The band is bigger. There are people flooding into the square from all sides, and it's getting frantic.

We try to go down to street level, but it's craziness. Within minutes our group is separated, and Alicia is gone. We find her 15 minutes later back at the apartment. It's a wild event, and it's only getting busier as the clock strikes midnight.

It's a long way home, and Juan calls the chaufeurs to get us moving in the homeward direction. Blink, we all fall asleep and arrive to the estate in what seems like minutes. A once in a lifetime event, from a near-perfect vantage point. Spoiled are we. Last day in Panama tomorrow...Costa Rica here we come!

CGD