Talk about big trips. After almost one hundred days, I had discovered over one hundred dartboards, from Iceland to Spain to Panama, and back again. I’ve only been home in Oregon for one week, and I’m still trying to recall all that I saw, and prepare to deliver it to you in the Thorn Reports for 2012. Of course, there are plenty of teasers in my travel blog on dartsunderground.com, and I still owe you a summary of the last months worth of adventure through the Caribbean and Central America…

Let’s see. Last time we talked I was in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

The islands I visited in the Caribbean–St. Maarten, Barbados, and Antigua–were, as we all know, paradise. Unfortunately, time didn’t allow me much time to explore–instead, I spent shore leave lounging on beaches, under palms trees, with beautiful women, good friends and ice cold beers. To my surprise, St. Maarten’s darts scene was on the French side of the island, not the Dutch. In Barbados, I just missed connecting with Michael Heal and Wayne Mardle, director and host of the Barbados Darts Festival. On Antigua–a place where I once played darts on the beach–I was on a tour all day and couldn’t find a board in my few spare minutes. No worries; the Thorn Report archives are already filled with Carib dart discoveries…

My cruise ship completed the trans-Atlantic crossing, and arrived in Colon, Panama. Some mates and I quickly crossed the infamous isthmus, paralleling the canal, to Panama City. I stayed in the heart of downtown, explored the city and found The Londoner, a classic English bar. Steel tip is rare here, but there was some soft tip to be found, and I threw my share of hattricks that night.

Leaving for Costa Rica by bus. the first stop was Dominical, a gringo infested surf town on the Pacific coast. To my surprise, there was some sisal in town, and I spent the next few nights playing in the San Clemente Bar and Grill, when I wasn’t paddling mangrove forests or partying on the beach.

Next, I trucked up the cloud forest to an eco-reserve called Cloud Bridge near Mt. Chirripó.  Surrounded by waterfalls and jungle, filled with birds and monkeys, we decided to make a contribution to the reforestation education program by creating a dartboard using some soft cyprus and paint. I donated a set of darts too, and the ‘Thorn Board” will hang in the school room, where students will throw darts to decide what to study or explore that day after their lessons.

Next, I was headed for San jose, Costa Rica’s capital. Again, I was shocked to discover a dart bar, Ozzy’s, just blocks away from my hostel. After one night of play, I met a local payer who quickly connected me with members of the local league, Dardos Ticos. Even more surprising was that I learned San Jose has a thriving and unique darts league, with over thirty bars! Before I knew it I was attending three straight nights of tournaments in parts of the city that tourists rarely see. Greatest of all, I contacted the WDF and arranged to help Costa Rica form its first national darts team!

Heading north into Nicaragua, I had more mixed luck. In Granada, a well known colonial town on the north shore of Lake Nicaragua. I found the Maragarita Bar and Grill with a steel tip board, shooting bulls to the tunes of Jimmy Buffet. Two days later, my search for darts took me to Ometepe, a an exotic island with double volcanoes. And three days after that, I smacked down in San Juan del Sur, another epic beach town. Between counting iguanas and toasting at sunsets, I was darting on one of three boards in the International Surf Club.

After a quick zip back to San Jose for my flight home–and one more night of darts with my Tico pals–I flew to  Los Angeles, Californian, in the United States of America…

Just in time for a weekend with John Lowe, Major League Darts, and Darts Around The World.

And then, I flew home to Portland, exactly three months and seventeen countries later. Over and double out.