Into the Mouth of a Dragon and then to the mountains

Today I write from Boquete, Panama but am writing on stops over the last few days. Starting back in Bocas del Toro on Monday morning...

I had heard about Bocas del Drago (Mouth of the Dragon), a beach on the island with Bocas Town, that was worth seeing when Bocas Town was just too hectic for you (relatively speaking, of course...). I had seen a sign for a "collectivo" taxi - a minibus that is less expensive because they make stops along the way for pickups and drop offs, was going Mondays starting at 6:45AM. That said, I rose early and made it to the pickup spot. After confirming he was indeed going, I prepared to pay my two dollars for the approximate 45 minute to one hour journey to Bocas del Drago. I had remembered one thing while walking to the taxi, however. My money was either in the form of a $20 bill - meaning lots of change - or gold Sacagawea dollar coins. Now, back in Ecuador where they seem to love them it would be no problem to use the coins. Even back home they would be grudgingly accepted but accepted. However, towards the end of the journey I tried paying with the coins. The guy collecting money looked at them and really wasn't ready to take them. I tried telling him they were dollars and to just give them to some other gringo as change. He wasn't too keen on the idea... It appeared they would have taken them as they did read the "one dollar" part. However, long story short is I then asked if they had change. They seemed to be more receptive to making change so we did that.

Anyway, I got to Bocas del Drago and got out. There was three buildings: a small camp type center for students studying ecology and such for some school (which seemed empty but did later find two students), a restaurant with the owners house, and another house in process of being built to add to a house already there. That was about it as this end of the island. Otherwise, it was the beach and the palm trees. Yes, when you want to be away from just about everything here is where to go - at least on Isla Colon. I had some breakfast once the restaurant opened (8AM), and then proceeded to walk a little ways down the quiet sand road path. There was a little noise from the construction of the building and the radio, otherwise the noise consisted of wind rustling palms trees, birds, and the waves lapping on the shore. Every once in a while, you also heard a motor boat way off in the distance. It was still cloudy at this point so the green of the trees and such wasn't popping out quite as much, though it also wasn't as hot either. After some pictures, I wandered back and spent some time in the restaurant's hammocks. Eventually, another collectivo taxi came with a few people and they wandered towards the other buildings. At first, I wondered if those houses were private property but when people walked that way, I decided I would walk over there. Ultimately, if it was private property and I got yelled at I would be the dumb gringo tourist who didn't know any better and didn't bother to know much Spanish.

I ended up walking along the mostly undeveloped shoreline, soon being away from basically everything except ocean and nature. Well, there were the two friendly dogs that generally followed people. At first I thought they were homeless, but then noticed one of them had a chain loosely around his neck seeming to imply he had an owner. They also looked reasonably well-kept so I guessed somewhere was home. I walked for a while and the sun was starting to come out. At one point, the alarm on my cell phone I brought for a clock went off to warn me if I wanted the 10:45 taxi back to Bocas Town, now was the time to start back. I figured three hours would be enough, but when the alarm went off I turned it off not much caring when I got back. I walked some more and was happy I did...I continued to see the brown sandy shores holding the water of various colors of blue and green, saw the others islands off in the distance, and even saw what ended up being a number of starfish in the water near the shore.

While it was serene and beautiful, and you'd be able to do some laying on the beach if so inclined, it is also completely undeveloped. You will have seaweed along the shore. A little inland, where I had to walk some as the water came up too far to avoid getting my shoes soaked, there is a mild smell of wet and decomposition. There was also the little land crabs that you could see inland when you walked - if you looked carefully. They were small and moved quickly into the sand so you'd miss them if not looking. Overall, it made for a great quiet stay...

I eventually made the taxi back to Bocas Town and did some "business". I paid for one last night at the hotel, tried getting a flight out of Bocas (to avoid boats) but failed as they only flew three days a week and were sold out 'til Friday, and looked at a few of the nicer hotels to see if there were "nice enough" for groups. I then spent some time online in my air conditioned room until cooler, and then went for dinner after happy hour at a nearby bar. Dinner was pasta, which sounded good Monday night and I ended up sharing with a little kitten that appeared and pitifully meowed for something. Of course, when I fed that one another showed up. I ended up feeding two cats as the second one was otherwise going to bully the first for penne noodles. I then wandered down to get my last "meat-on-a-stick" to send me off right. I will tell you, there is no better way to spend a dollar (or $2, or $3) than to visit "Meat-On-A-Stick" guy. He's an older guy and who knows how long he'll be there, but when you get to Bocas, look for him in the evenings. You won't regret it!

On Tuesday, I woke up and had some breakfast on the rainy morning. When the rain seemed to be letting up. I decided I would go on some faith and "man-up" and brave the boat. Ultimately, I guess it was fine. The boat was bigger and sturdier, but was over much more open and choppy waters to get back to the mainland. In fact, the boat bounced off the large enough waves to make for bone-jarring drops and the water went quickly from the more shallow and pretty blues and greens to the deeper murky gray/black waters where there's no light reflection. Even when the waters calmed as we moved towards land, the ride was loud as the water hitting the boat (or is it boat hitting the water?) sounded a lot like rocks going through a large grinder. We did have one interesting point where I saw the one guy motion to the driver about a canoe off in the distance. I first assumed it was because they should slow down to help the canoe not capsize. No...it was because like a collectivo taxi we were stopping for a pickup - on the open water! Who would have thunk this? There were two people in the canoe and we pulled up to the canoe. The older guy hopped on our boat and then the younger guy starting paddling away with us starting the motor back up to continue the journey.

Soon we were back in Almirante, the port city. Frankly, it is only a port city and nothing more for a tourist than a transfer point between bus and boat to Bocas. But, I caught the bus and 3 1/2 hours later was in David, a larger city. I actually spent little time there, only transferring buses, as I heard there isn't much in David anyway but also didn't really want to get stuck somewhere when it was now later in the afternoon. I also had to keep in mind I did little research ahead of time on this part of my journey towards Boquete. I had really no idea where to catch the next bus or what kind of bus to look for. I ended up on a local school bus trip journey that was cheap at a $1.40 but was clearly the only gringo on the bus. I also had some little girl looking at me like I was out of my mind for being a gringo on the local bus. I also wasn't entirely sure how long the journey to Boquete was or what to expect to know I made it. I managed enough Spanish to confirm I was taking myself in the right direction and 1 1/2 hours later I was in Boquete, a large enough town and with enough other gringos to make me feel better.

I still had to find a place to stay. I ended up walking to a group of gringos and then suggested some places. The one I ended up at is basically someone's house. It's really basic and I share the bathroom, but it's my own room and reasonably clean. I even can use their kitchen and washing machine (which I used earlier today...I need to go get my clothes off the line. Not too often you'll see me hanging clothes on a line!). All that said, at $6.80/night, it's hard to beat the value...

In the coming days, I'll have pictures of Boquete, including the coffee tour I plan on taking and the "canopy tour" where I expect to be hooked onto a cable and fly through the mountains. It will be a blast! I also want to make it to Volcan Baru, the highest point in Panama where on a clear day you can see both the Caribbean and Pacific oceans. Finally, I will try to get a little more information on real estate here for those groups that may be interested in their piece of paradise in the mountains of Panama.

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