Hope you are all well @ Lyons Hall

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Hello eveyone,

Here is a big hello from Panama, well a small island called Bocas Del Torro. It is very relaxed and hot here. Which means i am very chilled out buut slightly burnt!!! I did rememeber my hat but Dave forgot to remind me a bout my sun lotion. I am not sure how much i can blame on him these days...

Well since my last installment, we (a group of us that keeps getting smaller from Raleigh) have been travelling together. After finishing up at field base we all travelled by bus to a beach town called Chauita, it is great and is Famous for producing a coconut rum.

We spent two days there relaxing in the sun, pool and eating beautiful sea food before moving a little further down the coast to a small village called Marazanillo. It was one of the best places i have been to. Great snorkling, we saw many varieties of fish, including some of Nemo´s family i am sure. We also saw a barracuda and a nurse shark but we kept our distance from them.

Then we took a bus from there to the Costa Rican and Panama border where we had to get our passports stamped. Another stamp for the collection. To get to Panama we had to walk across a railway come road come foot bridge. we had to dodge a few cars but thankfully no trains!!! Although im sure that would have been pretty exciting.

Once through border control we secured a ride for all the group in a mini bus, one of the scariest rides of my life, you couldn´t pay for that at altono towers. We made it safely and in one piece at all i can say was the friend of our driver, because im certain it wasn´t the regular ferry. It all turned out well our boat was extremely quick and as we were hurtling across the water all the stress disappeared.

All that travel which consited of 5 hours, 2 buses, one mini-bus and a water taxi cost us (there is no pound symbol on this computer keyboard!!!) seven and a half pounds....

Well that brings us up to date for now. Tomorrow we are off on another tour in the islands before working out where our next stop will be.

I hope you have all had a safe summer and i am looking forward to seeing you all when i get back in December.

Heres Royston (another long story!!) saying goodbye for now and Dave is waving a paw...

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