Blogs from Isla Colon, Bocas Del Toro, Panama, Central America Caribbean

Mom and Dad Kemmerer Visit & Boquete – Erin After an overnight stay in Panama City, my parents finally arrived to Bocas landing strip via Air Panama! We were so excited to see them, and also very excited to get checked in to the house they rented for ten days Old Bank on Isla Bastimentos. We were not disappointed with my mom’s choice of Casa Roca! The property was a 5 minute walk along the ocean’s edge outside of Old Bank, and overlooked the water, private beach area, and rock jetty. The best part of the house was that the large doors lining the kitchen and living room area opened up to the big deck equipped with a hammock and comfy sitting chairs. We all immediately felt very at home J Our first priority was to ... read more

Det nærmer seg hjemreise. og allerede i morgen tidlig setter vi oss på flyet fra Bocas til Panama City. Her får vi hele dagen før flyet går hjemover kl 19 i morgen kveld. Vi har hatt en topp ferie, og vi har som alltid kost oss i massevis. Vi koser oss i hverandres selskap, å ingenting er vel bedre enn det :) Etter to dager med øsende pøsende regn har vi de siste dagene hatt herlig vær. Dagen i går lå vi kun ved bassenget og slappet av, leste bok og nøt livet. I dag startet vi dagen kl 08, Aleksander leide seg en båt og dro for å snorkle ved noen av revene i nærheten. Jeg lå ved bassenget og koste meg der. Når Aleksander kom tilbake dro vi sammen ut til Red Frog beach. ... read more

For to dager siden kom vi tilbake til Bocas del Toro. Siden vi reiste fra Popa har det karibiske regnet fosset ned. Dagen vi kom og i går ble derfor deretter. Vi fikk ikke dratt på noen av utflukten vi hadde tenkt. Vi dro heller inn til byen og koste oss i hverandres selskap med god mat og drikke. Å dra fra Popa ble trist, og lettrørt som jeg er tørket jeg en tåre når jeg fikk klem fra Daryan, en av managerne ved hotellet (han så det ikke altså). Dagene der ut kan beskrives med få ord, perfekt, øde og idyllisk. Været var med oss alle dagene her, og vi koste oss fra start til slutt. Akkurat i det vi gikk på båten og skulle til Bocas kom regnet, og det øset ned, vi ble ... read more

Bocas Del Toro, Panama –Erin After a wonderful visit from Mom and Dad Deren, Jeff and I were on our way to Bocas Del Toro, Panama for a couple weeks until Mom and Dad Kemmerer arrive. As always, the goodbyes in Costa Rica were accompanied by tears. It is always so hard to leave Jeff’s Costa Rican family, and then Pat and Linda returning home was a double doozy for us. It was just such a special time for all! Jeff and I caught the 6 a.m. bus out of San Jose, Costa Rica hoping to arrive in Bocas early that same afternoon. It was an uneventful bus ride to the border minus the steady rain, which made crossing the bridge into Panama rather daunting. The bridge itself was the scariest I have ever had to ... read more

Our first experience of the Caribbean .... Arriving in style in the water taxi is somewhat reduced in glamour factor by the town of Almirante, the gateway to Bocas. It's quite grimy a fact that was intensified by the very dull weather. Don't get me wrong, it was really hot but there was still drizzling rain!!! The crossing itself from the mainland, saw me leave my black fleece in the taxi, so those who are fed up of seeing it in every picture along with my second most worn item, my pink rain jacket, you'll be pleased to hear unless you visit Boquete anytime soon, you've seen the last of it.... But after all that's what everyone thought when I had the identical black bench fleece lets call it 'mark one' stolen by some random girl ... read more

Another day in Bocas and it is still hot and humid. Still partly cloudy too, and windy in the afternoon. We took a trip out to Bird island which is really several small islands located just off the northwest coast of Isla Colon at the farthest tip away from Bocas town. Bird Island (also called Swan Cay) is the only home in Central America of the Red-billed Tropicbird and is also one of the most important nesting sites of the Brown Boobie. For this reason you are not allowed to go onto the islands, but tour boats can venture close enough for you to see these birds. As our boat got close to the islands, the birds circled around and around, giving us a fantastic show and a good opportunity to get some great pictures. Unfortunately ... read more

We stayed in Santa Teresa for three nights. Santa Teresa is nothing more than a dirt road which jungle on one side and jungle, beach and sea on the other. Apparently they did pave it but it rained so bad last year it washed the road away! Either side of the road there are hostels, hotels, supermarkets and surfshops. I saw and heard loads of howler monkeys in the trees. There were also loads of big Iguana type lizards skulking about. Most people get about by quad bikes with surf board racks built onto them! The apartment was great and we were able to cook our meals which saved us money. We also had a TV so we watched films in the evening. Rich spent most of the time surfing, I just took the time to ... read more