Shaking it for Happy Hour
Day 91
We spent the night in an OK hotel on the Panamericana in Santiago, a city in the middle of Panama. The only reason to come here is to break up a journey and that’s what we did. This morning felt a bit like we were on a road trip in the U.S.A. The highway here is lined with motels, restaurants and strip malls. Of course that mostly means American fast food joints, something Jordana and I never do at home let alone while travelling. So it was a rare occasion today as we went to McDonalds for breakfast. Let the record show it was mostly Vikki’s idea although I will admit to eating one egg McMuffin.
After breakfast we were off again, we should be in the Caribbean tropical paradise of Bocas del Toro by late afternoon. We drove through some stunning mountain scenery and then descended to the lowland jungle with the Caribbean in sight down below. Finally we reached Almirante, a scruffy banana growing town on the coast. Here we would leave our car and take a ferry over to the island. Bocas del Toro is actually an achpelago consisting of several islands, the largest being Isla Colon. This is where we will spend the next 4 nights.
I parked the car in a secure lot and then found Norm, Vikki and Jordana waiting for the ferry. Well not so much a ferry but more a large motorboat with several rows of seats. Jordana and I are used to this sort of transportation, actually this boat looked safer than most we have ever ridden on. I could tell that Norm and Vikki may not have been thinking the same. As we boarded and pulled away from the town I commented to Jordana how smooth a ride this was. Just around that time Norm commented to Vikki how bouncy the ride was. Hey, they wanted to travel just like us for a bit. Mom, dad….welcome to the adventure.
As the boat neared Isla Colon we passed over brilliantly clear green and blue coloured water. With the wooden clapboard buildings of Bocas Town in sight it finally felt like we had arrived in the Caribbean. We walked less then 1km to our hotel, Casa Max. A beautiful wooden building with a real island feel. The building felt like the islands, the dutch owner seemed more concerned with collecting his $35/night from us. Island friendly he was not. After dropping off our bags we searched for a dinner spot.
After some searching we finally agreed on a spot that sat out over the water. Many of the restaurants here are built on stilts right over the water. Tasty fish for Norm, Jordana and I and ribs for Vikki. It was a great first meal on the island. The setting was absolutely beautiful with the sun setting over the water. After dinner we moved next door for the happy hour, $1 beer and $1 rum and cokes. I was liking this town more by the minute. While the others found a table I ran over to the hostel where Jonathan was supposed to be staying. Not one to turn down a cheap beer he soon met us for happy hour. Soon after that we were joined by the Calgary group, Mike, Daniel and Jody. It was like we had met up with old friends, a reunion from Ometepe in Nicaragua. After several beers we moved on to the main street of Bocas Town to catch the Carnival festivities.
Different groups of dancers and musicians paraded down the street ending at a main stage. The dancing was crazy, people of all ages and girls moving in ways you never thought was possible outside a Fifty Cent video. Eventually Norm and Vikki had enough and headed back to the room leaving Jonathan, Jordana and I to consume more 50 cent beer from the street vendors. It was a fun first night on the island and a great way to experience Carnival without the massive crowds in Panama City. Although with 2 more nights of Carnival I wondered how much more 50 cent beer I could consume, stay tuned to find out.
Tags: Panama
Michael Coroneos
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.