Berta’s Travel Shenanigans

We started off our adventures in Bocas Town by taking full advantage of the small bar/restaurant next door, and then heading out for dinner. Though having full intentions of heading straight to bed with my 1.5 L of water, I instead accompanied my partner in crime, Sian, when she told me she (therefore ‘us’) were going to Acqua, a bar on another island.

See, the thing about Bocas is that everyday there are fantastic happy hours (beer less than one US dollar – Panama is a dollarized economy as trusty ´Accountant Ed-the-Money´ informed us) and every night seems to be Ladies Night at any given place…be it free drinks (and we´re talking proper, Caribbean poured drinks) or free tequilla shots. Its a bit of a party town, though the crowd seems mostly 25+ rather than 18 year olds on Spring Break…not to say that this age group behaves any better mind you!

The days were also filled with a ton of stuff, including: taking the $1 water taxi to Acqua and lounging on their dock whilst people use the diving board attached to the bar\hostel´s roof; taking a collectivo bus or bike or sharing a taxi to go to Bocas del Drago beach…here there is a restaurant, lots of coconuts, and an opportunity to walk around to Playa Estrella (Starfish beach) to see brightly coloured starfish 3 times the size of your palm.

Spent a day in Bastimentos, the easiest island to access (approx. $2.50 for a one-way taxi) and still very holds its own ´roots\Caribbean´ identity rather than anything touristy. A 20 minute walk lead Sian and I to Wizard beach, where we were 2 of only 4 other people there. From here, you can walk another 45 minutes to Red Frog beach, although didn´t have the time to do as the rain started to come in on us. Off the main street in the town you will see a sign for Arts and Crafts…a good hike (with proper shoes!) up a hill but at the top there is an organic store (e.g. fresh coconut oils) and an allegedly very, very yummy and very, very cheap Thai restaurant with a spectactual view of the island…top on the return ‘to do’ list!

Spanish school was also on the agenda as I figured that it might be helpful to try and string together the random words that I had learned over the past 3 months.  So, did 3 hours of ‘mini group’ with Sian over 3 days at “Spanish by the Sea”… a really fantastic place – chilled out and offered cheap day trips…allowed for a good trip to the beach and a snorkelling tour; worth a few classes just for the deals even.

Once all the Raleigh crew left, we headed down the main steet to “Gran Kahuna” hostel, which had been opened for only a week.  Decided that a change in location would be very conducive to a step back from all the partying…this did indeed work…for a few days!  In any case, very nice spot – hammocks and hammock chairs on the front porch and in the living room…making comfy spots for siestas and movie-watching.  Alexi (part-owner), Fabio, and Fulo are the surfer guys who work both there and “La Iguana” – a surf bar along the water.  One of the best restaurants, favoured by locals and serving an AMAZING passionfruit margarita, is just down the street and around the corner from the hostel…of course, can’t remember the name but something…fulu?

So, after a 3 day visit that extended into 10, I left Sian in Bocas and headed towards Alajeula via San Jose to meet my darling sister who would meet me at Maleku hostel.  Must say that the walk through San Jose in search of the bus was a bit intimidating, especially after always travelling in a group.  Massive bag, tons of people, a bus ´station´that isn´t a station but a massive area comprised of side streets, and, of course, San Jose´s horrible reputation for theft, etc…but after making an effort to check with the police r.e. directions, I was on the bus and excited to see Joline…

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 at 7:15 am and is filed under April 2008, Bocas del Toro, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.