Blogs from Bocas Del Toro, Panama, Central America Caribbean - page 4

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

Zapatilla II (or minor) island is one of the two beatiful Zapatilla Keys. These two islands are located on a coral platform that is defined, toward the open sea, by the breakers that are formed as the waves crash on the reef. Zapatillas Keys lie inside the Bastimentos Island National Marine Park. They are famous for their beautiful beaches, crystal clear waters, coral reefs and small but shady forests. We took a picnic lunch and boated out there to do some swimming, relaxing, beachcombing, and walking through the forest on a trail raised above the swampy forest floor. The weather is hot even though the day was mostly cloudy, and we were careful to wear t-shirts to protect our backs when snorkling and to apply lots of sunscreen. The sun is strong even through the clouds, ... read more

Dolphin Bay Hideaway is the name of the place we are staying at. It is located on Isla San Cristobal, which is one of the smaller islands in the group. It feels like the end of the earth here. Everything here comes by boat - people, food, water, other supplies. Bocas town on the main island of Colon is the "big town" where Erika and Jose (the owners of the B&B) do their shopping, and "big town" is a stretch! Guests like us are picked up in town, and Erika always sends a list with Jose of things she needs him to pick up. Erika is Hungarian, and speaks spanish and English perfectly; she runs the show. Jose is Indigenous and knows or is related to just about everyone around the islands. He speaks spanish and ... read more

Monday 6th Feb - Bocas The day before, we'd booked ourselves into a nice German hostel that was extremely clean, had TV in the room and had an excellent shower (a rare luxury on the road). It's funny that probably the 2 best places we've stayed at so far in Latin America are owned and run by Japanese and Germans and although you get plenty of weirdo krautz about, they are the countries of the people we've felt most akin to since we've been gone. We'd also bumped into a dutch girl on the way to the border who then stuck to us like glue for 2 days. The previous afternoon, we'd surfed round town looking for someone to take us on a discovery scuba dive and today was the day for our 1st taste of ... read more

Hello my friends. In my final night in Bocas del Toro. Fantastic place, highly recommended. Bus driver F'd me and didn't tell me my stop. So I went 30 minutes too far and had to get another bus back. Not a big deal. Had an early dinner at an over water bungalow, fantastic lobster sandwich. Met some Brazilians at the hotel and joined them for dinner. They are here for 3 weeks surfing twice a day. Called it a night after dinner. Friday was a fantastic day. Rented a beach cruiser and rode 7 kilometers to a sweet beach hut restaurant, half of which was riding on the beach and dirt road. Passed some amazing surf and saw a sloth hanging in a tree. Half way back I turned and rode another 5k up and down ... 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