Bocas del Toro

Internet's back! It was out for a couple days, so my apologies for the delay...

So, every 90 days my (tourist) visa expires and I have to leave the country for 72 hours. While this is rather obnoxious and expensive, I do love a good excuse to travel. Since my arrival in Costa Rica, I've heard all sorts of lovely things about Bocas del Toro, a bunch of islands (archipelago, if you will) off the northeast coast of Panama. Basically, it's paradise.

Sunday, Nov. 28, I flew out of the itty bitty Pavas airport (yes, I went the more expensive but significantly faster route via plane - so worth it) directly into the airport on Isla Colon, the main island of Bocas del Toro. There were something like 12 people on a tiny plane that was loud and cold and had big windows to look out of. I am currently kicking myself for not having taken any pictures.

Anyway, I arrived, stumbled upon a cheap place to stay (hostel Heike), put on a bathing suit and headed for the beach. The one thing I dislike about Bocas? For the most part, you stay and eat and drink on Isla Colon, but to get to a beach, you have to take a water taxi to another island. Lame, but water taxis cost $2, so it's not really that bad. So, I grabbed a water taxi and went to a beach. Watched the waves, spied on some crabs, took some pictures, it was a gorgeous day.

I came back to the main island when the sun was starting to set and as I was walking to my hostel to shower/change, I ran in to one of the California boys I met while in Monteverde. While Bocas isn't exactly big and it's easy to run into people there, Kevin is a giant (6'7" or something ridiculous) and sticks out in Central America like a sore thumb, so it's not all that crazy that I found this kid. What was crazy was his leg - apparently he had gotten bitten or scratched or something and his leg was swollen like crazy and bright red/purple. It was also his birthday.
Kevin and I walked down the street and found the rest of the crew I was to spend my short time in Panama with: Kevin & Mike (from California), Keegs (short for Kieran, from England), and Tamara & Amy (from Canada). That night, we all went out for drinks to celebrate Kevin's birthday before he took off to Panama City to get his leg checked out at the Johns Hopkins hospital there. It was a ridiculous evening of debauchery, complete with the boys taking poorly poured beer bongs and tequila suicides.

The next morning (Monday Dec. 29) Kevin left for Panama City and the rest of the five of us went out for a boat tour around the islands. Unfortunately the tour took off late because of some morning rain, but it was a pretty great day nonetheless. It started with a stop in dolphin bay, where we got to see, you guessed it, dolphins. Dolphins are pretty neat, so that was cool. Then there was some snorkeling, which is always a good time. Especially when you do it where there are so many beautiful, colorful fish to see. It was awesome. If it weren't for the salt water in my eyes/contacts, I could be happy snorkeling all day every day. We then stopped at a place for lunch before moving on to a beach. Sadly, by the time we got to the beach it was pretty overcast. It was, however, warm with a nice breeze so it was still worth the trip. When it started raining, we all went back to the main island to clean up and get ready for the night.

That night, the five of us + one other guy from the tour went over to the local Indian restaurant (Om Cafe) for dinner. They didn't accept cards, and the only ATM on the island was out of money, so the girls had to go to the tiny grocery story down the street and pay a ridiculous amount of money so they could get cash for dinner. Quite the expensive process. But it was SO worth it. Om Cafe was fabulous. The woman who owns it is Canadian, but her family's Indian, so all the food is made from her family's recipes. She, and her food, were awesome.

The next day (Tuesday, Dec. 30) Tamara and Amy headed out to get to their farming thing back in CR, and Mike and Keegs and I were stuck inside for the day due to rain. Sadly, it didn't really stop raining for the rest of the time we were all there, but we had a good time anyway, not to mention we saved a bunch of money by not spending it on boat tours and such. The day consisted of some walking around when it wasn't pouring, lots of reading and lounging around. That night we made friends with some fun people in the hostel and spent the night drinking and talking.

Keegs took off early Wednesday morning, while Mike and I slept in. It was still raining when I finally got out of bed, and didn't stop at all before I left. After doing nothing in the morning, Mike and I grabbed lunch and he walked with me to the airport. Yes, you can walk to the airport. My flight took off super late, so I ended up not getting back in time for my night class like I had planned, but Kerensa saved me and covered.

One thing I do love about traveling, especially when you travel alone, is you meet lots of great people. I had a great time in Bocas. Though I could have asked for better weather, I couldn't have asked for better company.