Day 93-95 Bocas del Toro

After we flipped a coin and decided to head to Panama we were now on a mission to get to Bocas del Toro by the afternoon, a group of islands off the Caribbean coast of Panama very close to the boarder. We caught a bus to the border and then had to walk across a very old bridge that was just wide enough for one truck or car and had a pedestrian walkway to the side but it was blocked most of the way by steel and other construction bits that had been left behind from an obvious hard days work . Brendan and I walked across the border from Costa Rica into Panama, in the rain, trailing behind trucks as they cautiously drove across the bridge and feeling alittle like we were in 'Stand by me' again. It was probably the coolest border crossing so far though. Until we then had to line up on the other side to get our passports stamped, still in the rain for a good 40 minutes.

Finally we got another shuttle bus which took us straight to where the boats left for Bocas del Toro and in a few hours we were there, no probs at all. We passed so many enormous Banana plantations that you just couldn't tell if they were in Panama or Costa Rica, probably both in some regions. We kept passing trucks and factories with the blue and yellow Chiquita sign. This was the very familiar sticker that we see on alot of our bananas back home. The driver of one of the shuttle buses informed us that this was one of the biggest banana growing regions in the world. I can't believe how far away from home we are yet we get these bananas in our supermarkets back home.

The island we were staying on was Isla Cologne and consisted of a main street with hostels, restaurants and grocery stores owned by competitive Asian families all vying for your business but not by giving you a welcoming smile in any respect.

We found ourselves in a great little hostel that for $15 a night got us a private room with a double bed, bathroom, fan and a TV which Brendan was very impressed with. We wandered the streets, checked out a few options for activities for the coming days and enjoyed being in Panama.

We went on a day trip which consisted of us and one other lovely German girl cruising around the islands in a small wooden boat. The day started out with some fairly decent rain until we reached our first stop, Dolphin point where we sat silently and waited for pods of dolphins to swim past. We were lucky enough to see quite a few however we were all pretty keen to get into the warm Caribbean water now that the rain had stopped and the sun was attempting to shine through. We cruised around to where we were to snorkel and still the sun had not come out and the cloud was thick and grey but the water was warm so I thought I would be right without donning the usual thick layer of Aussie sunscreen just for the 30 minutes I would be face down in the water. Well no I wasn't, but I will return to the consequences of my decision later. The snorkelling was really great. Although there weren't many fish, the ones we saw were brilliant in colour and fit perfectly within the setting of purple, blue, red and orange coral. The water temperature was just amazing too, so warm.We jumped back into the boat and headed to the next stop, Bastimentos Island where the famous Red Frog Beach was. We got dropped at one side of the island and then caught the shuttle or ute with seats in the back, across to the other side where we walked down to the white sand beach. It was beautiful and we were very impressed after the black sand beaches of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. The water was blue and green and there was one man under a make shift shelter cooking burgers on the beach and seeling beers from an esky. We had 2 hours to kill so we pulled up some of the golden sand and rested our bodies. The sun by now had won over the clouds and was peeking through in parts, the day was turning out to be perfect. I lay on the beach with our new German friend while Brendan frolicked in the sea. We finally headed back to the boat ramp on the other side and was lucky enough to see our first Sloth, I was suitably impressed with its laziness and the fact that I could tick it off my list of things to see.So we returned home after a great day out to discover that my back had a nice red glow to it and I now had a lovely bikini strap line. The aloe vera gel came out again and it was all good.

The next day we hired bikes and took a road trip up to the north of the island to the beaches. The bikes were like old cruisers, or new cruisers I should say as you see more and more people riding these groovy yet completely impractical bikes around the city, trying to look trendy as they struggle up the slightest inclination in the road. Well that is what we were on, but luckily we had no hills to compete with, they were really cool bikes and Brendan's even had a basket on his. The chains came off a few times while going over some of the holes in the road but nothing a few greasy fingers couldn't fix.

We rode for about an hour until the road turned into dirt and then sand and we were dodging coconuts on the path and there was no one around except a few little homes. We came across a few beautiful golden sand beaches with green water and no one around. We had the beach to ourselves. The sun also came out for the first time in a long time and if it wasn't for getting burnt the previous day while snorkelling in the most overcast conditions ever, I would have been out frolicking in the sun but instead we lay under the shade of the beautiful trees, enjoying the beach to ourselves. We checked out a few different beaches, chosen by where the break in the trees allowed us to take the cruisers through onto the sand. The scenery was so beautiful with no one around, golden sand, warm Caribbean water, coconuts and mangos everywhere and now the sun, what more could you ask for.

We jumped on our bikes to head home and not long into the journey Brendan's bike started making interesting noises that we thought weren't as simple as the chain coming off. A good hour from home we decided to just take it easy, although I don't really think we could have gone any faster on these things anyway. We finally got home and Brendan attempted to tell the bike guy that his bike was useless but after passing over only $6 for the bikes and having a great day we weren't too fussed in the end.

Bocas also served as a place for some great food. We have to mention the winner 99cent hotdogs that Brendan found but there was this one restaurant called Lillies Cafe which we frequented a few times while on the island. They were famous for their 'killin me man' sauce which went over chicken, eggs and really anything. The fish there was amazing and we spent our last night with our German friend as well as another Aussie couple we met along the way, eating dinner and sharing a few drinks over the water. Bocas was a very cool place and we would recommend it to others for sure.