Blogs from Bocas Del Toro, Panama, Central America Caribbean - page 28

Our Panamanian journey started in Portobello, so named by Chris Columbus as he thought it was a beautiful port - it was. We only spent a night there after our boat trip and got swept up by the umpteen marching bands that were celebrating Independence Day from Columbia, some were better than others but none really had a good rythum. After visiting many fortresses - once you have seen one fortress you have seen them all - we headed into Panama City. The highlight of Panama City is the Canal, to you readers that sounds very geekish but it was sooooo interesting. It was built yonks ago and was an engineering feat in its day and still is today - it was very cool to just stand and watch these huge boats squeeze through - there ... read more

After a long morning at Wekso we headed back to Bocas - Tio Tom was full so we stayed in a very cute house in Bocas town called Hotel del Parque, right on the town park. We got a hot shower - which was SO very necessary after Wekso! We both smelled absolutely horrible, and didn't have a stitch of clothing that didn't smell terrible. We washed all our clothes and hung them up, and even after that our clothes - and us - still smelled. I guess that's what a couple of days in the rainforest with no shower can do to you! But it still felt great to feel somewhat clean. We went back for ceviche at the place on the water in town (right next to Hotel Bocas), and then ate at a ... read more

Intro to Archipielago de Bocas del Toros The Archipielago de Bocas del Toros, in the Laguan de Chiriqui, is just 32 kilometers from the Costa Rican border. The archipielago consists of six large, mostly forested islands and scores of smaller ones; and the Parque Nacional Marino Isla Bastimentos forms a good-size chunk of it. Isla Colon Isla Colon is by far the most visited and developed of the Bocas del Toros islands. At the southeastern tip of the island, the town of Bocas del Toros is where most of the archipielago's accommodations and restaurants are found. A slow-paced community made up mostly of English and patois-speaking people of West Indian ancestry, Bocas is a great place to hang out for a few days. The town's relaxed,... read more

Although neither of our stomachs were feeling 100%, we decided to head out and take the boat tour. First stop was the dolphin bay where we watched dolphins follow our boat, playing and leaping out of the water. The next stop was snorkelling at Cayo Crawl - although the snorkelling was not the most amazing, it was refreshing to get in the water. We had lunch at a little restaurant out on stilts in the middle of nowhere. From there, we visited Red Frog beach, which is one of those postcard perfect Caribbean beaches - white sand, palm trees, clear water. We played in the surf and lounged on the beach. Our last stop-off was Hospital point, a snorkelling spot near the old hospital where they used to put people with malaria and yellow fever. It ... read more

We figured we had seen the main sights of Puerto Viejo, so we caught the bus down to Sixaola where we walked across the bridge to Panama. It was one of those fun, low tech border crossings - no finger prints or photos required, just lining up in a small immigration office to get stamp and a tourist card from the lady. After being helped out by a guy with one leg, we caught a ride through vast banana plantations to somewhere near Changuinola, where we took a boat out to town of Bocas del Toro on the island of Isla Colon. Quite a busy little town, with lots of buildings on the waterfront on stilts over the water.... read more