Crossing Over…

Wow, the bridge between Costa Rica and Panama at Sixaola definitely made me fear for my life.
So, to leave Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica and travel to Bocas del Toro, Panama, we took a shuttle for $28.00 + per person. (Definitely worth the money – I’d have no idea how to get to where we were going without it.)
Anyway, I know that Jonathan already talked about most of this, but I do want to say a few things about the “bridge”.
The shuttle leaves us off to get our “stamps out” of Costa Rica. Then we cross the bridge over the river Sixaola to get into Panama.

At first the bridge is nothing to look at, but then you realize that you HAVE to look at it continuously as you’re crossing, otherwise it’s possible that you’ll fall through.

I’m not kidding on this.

At one point, a semi started to cross. Notice how I said “a” semi (singular). They only let one vehicle on the bridge at one time (otherwise they’re afraid it will collapse – literally).

I had to move off the main part of the bridge and onto the pedestrian path when the semi crossed. It turns out that there’s a reason why no one uses the pedestrian path. It was thin sheets of *rusted* metal over a center bar. How do I know that there was only one center bar? Because I could see it. The metal was honestly rusted through. I was very very careful to walk only where I knew I was supported underneath.
I’ve never really been afraid of heights or water before. But, I was definitely afraid of both on that bridge.

Oh, and did I mention that the wooden boards in the middle of the bridge (where the semi drove) would lift up as you walked on the end of them?
So, as I was crossing over the border, I was a bit concerned that I might actually cross over to the other side…
Jonathan did some research, and came across this article. How’s that make you feel?

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