We discovered a hidden gem toward the final legs of our journey: Playa Corona and the Café Gourmet Guesthouse, run by our super friendly host Jorge. Admittedly, it took us quite some time to find our next stop. The Caribbean side of Panama proved to be far beyond our budget for anything meeting the minimum standards we’d accept, and even on the Pacific side we hadn’t found a convincing option - until Café Gourmet. This small beachfront guesthouse sits at Playa Corona in the tiny village of San Carlos, about two hours east along the coast from Panama City. We had originally booked for one week, but after our first night we extended our stay by another week. We immediately felt at home. Jorge welcomed us, showed us around the property, and told the story of the house his father had built. The beach was literally a few steps down a short stairway, and a fully equipped kitchen let us cook for ourselves - not only saving money, but also practical since the nearest restaurant was a lengthy footwalk away.

This will probably be one of the shorter entries I have written for our travel blog, simply because our daily routine evolved around making breakfast, jumping into the Pacific Ocean, having lunch, stealing a quiet nap, jumping into the Pacific Ocean again and then having dinner. What may sound repetitive or boring to some was exactly the right thing for us, anyways.

.Well, we also did a few trips together with our host Jorge! We visited a nearby community garden that was lovingly maintained and run by a friend of his, where we harvested mangos, pomegranates and other fruit that were growing there in abundance. We also went to a local zoo with Jorge and two of his friends, where mostly native animals were on display, and Jorge even gave some surfing lessons to the kids, which was particularly enjoyed by Leni. Honestly, our decision to stay at Jorge’s place -  and to extend our stay - turned out to be an absolute blessing, not least because of the friendship we formed with him over those two weeks. We lit bonfires together on the beach for the new moon and traded stories from past journeys as well as plans for future trips. What we had already experienced - for example in Kosovo, Laos, Cambodia and the many other countries we visited over the past 11 months - was proven true once again: meeting and exchanging with people is what makes travelling truly special. We concluded our stay with a lovely Italian dinner on our final evening in San Carlos together with Jorge, before it was once more time to pack our bags.

We can consider ourselves truly fortunate to have experienced such a wonderfully positive and memorable stay during the final weeks of our journey, and Jorge, in case you are reading this: thank you so much - until next time! Whether that next meeting is in Europe or in Central America, we look forward to it with gratitude and excitement.

We left Playa Corona for El Valle de Anton, a moutaineous town in beautiful Panama. More about El Valle in my next update. Until then: Be well!