Panama, Bocas del Toro

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We crossed another incredibly relaxed border on the from Costa Rica into Panama to reach Bocos del Toro. It's quite a pretty little route across a rickety old bridge, that doesn't like it should still be standing, let alone carrying coaches across it!

Once into Panama, we took a short, speed boat trip through the canals and over to Bocas Town, Isla Colon. Bocas has a pretty, developed water-front, with restaurant and hotel decks jutting out into the water for the perfect view or paddle in the sea.

The weather in Panama was much more in line with time of year we went - rainy season. There were a couple of big storms, a few overcast days, and a few lovely sunny afternoons so we hired some bikes and explored the island of Isla Colon and sampled some great food in the restaurants. Ben ordered spaghetti with lobster and got an entire lobster with his spaghetti - one happy fella!

You may know that Ben, also known as, Dr Doolittle, has a following of dogs and cats wherever he goes in the world. It takes nothing at all for an animal to drop his owner or the person currently giving him attention and come running to Ben. This day, very hot from our cycling around Isla Colon and crying out for a dip in the sea, we dumped our bikes on the beach and ran into the water. A few minutes later, a stray (but nice) dog came running into the water and swam all the way out to us - well out to his depth - straight up to Ben and into his arms, one paw on each shoulder. It most amusing watching Ben try and stay afloat with this big dog lummoxing on him. Better still, when Ben tried to get the dog back into the water, the dog simply bit him on the nipple and swam off back to the shore!

Bocas Town really seems to be aimed at a young audience. It's very much the party town, with free drinks for the girls in specified bars each night of the week! A few days of this was enough for us so we then headed for Basimentos Island and took day trips to go snorkelling, visit Red Frog Beach as well as some less well known beaches.

We found an amazing place to stay - Rafael's house. We must have been so relaxed we forgot to taking any pictures so I shall try to explain. Isla Colon and Basimentos are nice to visit but are not amongst the prettiest or most adventurous in the world, so the accommodation is all important. And we very happy with our home from home. It was low season so we rented a room in a 2 bedroom house and had the whole place to ourselves. It was built by a carpenter so it was all made from wood with beautifully carved furniture, kitchen, decking, terrace etc. It overlooked the water and we could lay in our hammocks, read our books ... watching the sun glisten on the water, or listening to the rain patter on the roof!

As we had the whole place to ourselves we cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner most days, invited friends we met on our day trips over for drinks and took full advantage of staying in and relaxing on the sofa, flicking through the TV channels and calling out for one another to put the kettle on! It really felt like a treat!

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