Blogs from Bocas Del Toro, Panama, Central America Caribbean

Getting to the Bocas Islands from Boquete was simple, but it took about five hours. We all gathered at Hello Travel at 8am but it was a frustrating wait for departure as we finally left about 45 minutes later. The best part of four hours was spent on a minibus through spectacular mountain and forested landscapes. About three quarters of the way we stopped for a comfort break and grabbed some snacks, before the last hour of the journey to Almirante. It was chaotic at the port but soon enough we were all on a boat. It felt slightly overcrowded but not as bad as we had feared and it was about half an hour on the water over to Bocas Town on Isla Colón. Back on dry land it was a ten minute walk with ... read more

I wake up thirsty and walk to the bar to get a drink - always a nerve racking experience as I’m unlikely to be alone. This morning there is a toad on the step and a cricket the size of a bus on the bar (OK so I’m exaggerating slightly). I can cope with those. Yesterday, the religious Germans found crocodiles and a boa constrictor. I don’t want to run into either of those on my quest for caffeine. Today is our last day on Bocas del Toro – the question is how to fill it? Our flight isn’t until 5.45 pm, but the somewhat chaotic nature of public transport here means we don’t want to risk going too far and getting stuck. First, breakfast and a swim – breaststroke as the pool isn’t very big ... read more

We wake up at – who knows? My iPhone is struggling to work out where the f*** we are and keeps randomly swapping between Panamanian and Costa Rican time. My watch is Bluetoothed to my phone, so the only way of finding out the time is googling ‘What time is it in Panama’? No matter, it’s impossible to sleep past dawn when the howler monkeys wake up anyway. So I get up and sit on the veranda and watch the monkeys, who are in the tree above the bar, until breakfast is served. It’s a very civilised affair – the owner lays the table on our veranda and brings pancakes with banana and chocolate, followed by eggs and toast. The old man is in 7th heaven as the fact the pancakes are covered in nutella means ... read more

Sun 9-Mon 10 December - Day 44 to 45 - Bocas del Toro My next story is very’ interesting’. Leaving our San Jose, Costa Rican hotel at 5.30am to catch the 6.00pm bus to Panama we travelled through some mountainous area through the fog before coming out the other side onto rural plains. We travelled for 5 hours to the boarder where we were required to pay a departure tax of US$8 and to enter Panama, we only had to show our departure arrangements from Panama before getting our tourist stamp in our passports. Australians don’t need visas to visit Panama. All was going well as we got off the bus and was walking to pay our $$ to leave Costa Rica. We noticed that the whole area was a building site. Backhoes, cranes, trucks, you ... read more

A rather smooth bus- and a short boat ride brought us to Bocas Town, the main town of the Bocas del Toro archipelago, on Isla Colon. Here we wanted to spend some time to take our Spanish to the next level. We booked five days of Spanish lessons for the next week and another quick water taxi to get us to Isla Bastimentos, another island of the Bocas del Toro.Everything at Isla Bastimentos is a bit more Caribbean than Panamanian, the creole people, the mixed language, the Caribbean food, the very loud music, the speed of life in general. We stayed in a wooden house above the water, which was really perfect, relaxing and had a ... read more