Island life

Having heard that Bocas was a fast growing holiday destination I was expecting shiny hotels and the beginnings of over-develpment. What I found was much better. Approaching the harbour of Bocas del Toro, the main town on Isla Colon (with the same name as the island group) after a half hour boat ride by very fast water taxi from Almirante on the mainland we got an excellent view of the waterfront which is also the centre of the town. The bars and hotels which front onto the main drag and back onto the water are all built in traditional style, of wooden planks with stilts supporting them over the water, very beautiful. The town still has a slightly rough around the edges feel, with mostly unpaved streets and a variety of building quality. We arrived early after overnighting it from Panama City and crashed out for a few hours, ony to awaken to the distinctly uncharming sound of very heavy rain falling on tin roof- well it is the rainy season. Not wanting to stay cooped up in our (very small) room we put on our best rain gear (shorts, vest and flip flops) and headed out in search of breakfast, then wandered the town, which didn't take too long! The evening we dedicated to happy hour cocktails, cards and watching colourful fish between the struts of the terrace built over the water- its a hard life :-)
The following day we headed out on a tour of the islands. In our boat also a very nice American couple from Texas who were escaping the kids for a week or so. We snorkelled at Coral Caye which was pretty nice although there wasn't lots to see. Sunbathing on the deck built on stilts over the water was just as nice afterwards!! Next stop dolphin Bay, a lagoon surrounded by Mangroves where we indeed saw dolphins playing, although not very close up- I think they were laughing at the several small boats which would whizz across the lagoon at a sighting of a fin which then disappeared only to pop up across the other side...
Our final call was at Red Frog beach, imaginatively named after the (yes you guessed it) red frogs that can be found lurking in the undergrowth. A really nice Caribbean beach, backed by palms and jungle. with white sand and clear waters- what more can I say!!!
More cocktails to finish off our time here and tomorrow its on to Costa Rica...

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