Bocas del Toro to David

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This morning we had our last Tesoro Club & espresso for breakfast (addicted!). Matty got up early to make it for us. Thanks Matty! Our cab arrived, we said our goodbyes & he left us with these parting words, we'll have great travels because we're Carebears! He he he! Love it.

We headed into town & straight to the dive shop. A different dive shop than the one we went with the other day. They weren't super impressive so we'll give someone else a shot. We figured we'd dive our way out of town. May as well make the most out of a travel day.

We did two dives. It poured down rain in between dive 1 & 2 & it made us so cold. By the time we finished our second dive it had cleared up a bit. At least it wasn't raining anymore. Brrr...The dives were ok. The water isn't super clear & there is not an abundance of fish life. But it was fun, as always. On the second dive Geoff found a Lettuce Sea Slug. Look it up on Google. They are soooo cool!! They are like little slugs but with the most amazingly vibrant colors. The one we saw had purple "lettuce" with bright teal green spots on his back. We stopped & stared at him for some time. The little creatures are sometimes more amazing than the big boys....

After getting dried off & changed, which wasn't easy since we essentially could only find a handtowel in our bag to dry off with. Oops. Forgot to leave sarongs out to dry us off. We managed. We had some delicious lunch across the street. Fried rice & chicken & fries. Carb overload as usual after diving. We caught our water taxi & headed to Almirante. The clouds had parted & the sun was shining again so we could dry out a bit & everything is so much prettier with sunny blue skies. As we got off the boat this man told us to come with him in his cab. Ok. So we did. We lucked out with our cab driver because just as we pulled up to the bus station he says "oh, there goes your bus up the road." We're thinking shoot, now we have to wait. But no, he backs up, hits the gas, & chases the bus down. He's driving behind it honking & flashing his lights & when that didn't work he sped up past the bus, got in front of it & put on his brakes. Super! We caught our bus thanks to him. People are so wonderfully helpful. What would we have done without so many kind people?

On the bus & back toward David. We're revisiting the same town we stayed in on our way to Bocas. This will be our first time for a repeat visit on our trip. Pretty good really. The bus ride was nice because there were barely any people on it. For awhile we had the entire back row all to ourselves (it's a mini-bus, not a huge one but still, space is space). It was a beautiful ride too. I slept through it last time so I didn't know, but the mountains are so dense & green & we went through a cloud forest where it was raining. We finally made it to David & caught a cab to Purple House Hostel again. Fortunately they had rooms, well dorm beds again, so we took them. We got our laundry done thankfully. Things were dire & stinky & still wet from the rain & diving. It was funny after our laundry was done Geoff folded it & had it spread out on the couch like we do at home. It's easy to get comfortable anywhere at this point. Home is home for that night. Wherever we are.

We headed out to find some food. David is kind of a dumpy city. It's pretty big but smells like exhaust & is noisy. Although in the morning there are still Green Parrots flying overhead. Interesting how the jungle creatures can remain insistent even when the cities move in. We found a great little place that only served roasted chicken. For $3 we shared half a chicken & patacones & an orange Crush. It was so delicious & so much food. We are so dehydrated from diving & traveling. We never drink much on travel days because you never know when a bathroom is in your future. Plus, you sweat all day long, so there's just no winning. We just drank a ton of water at the hostel all night.

Back to our dorm room to sleep. We're catching the 5:30 a.m. but to get us on the road early to Santa Catalina tomorrow. It's really funny sleeping in a dorm room. Everyone walks around in their underwear like we're all roomies & it just doesn't matter. It's really too hot to care. Plus really, it's not like it's much different than a swimsuit. Comfort sometimes wins over modesty. I popped in earplugs & slept well. It was way too muggy tonight but that's the only complaint, at least my twin bed mattress (top bunk) was super comfy.

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Photos

Bocas Water Sports
Love the "Gone Diving" sign on the front door!

Aboard our water taxi to Almirante.
Definitely sad leaving Bocas

Coconut Lady
She was selling fresh coconuts outside the grocery store. Do you think QFC would let someone sell produce in their parking lot?