Bocas Recap
There is no need to detail my time in bocas del toro but I do have observations to share. We stayed in a casita on isla carenero which is directly across from bocas town. Maybe this used to be a sedate alternative to bocas town, and maybe the leeward side still is, but no longer can one stay on the side facing bocas town and have a “quite” vacation. This is partly because several bocas town bars have insanely loud sound systems and partly because carenero now has several of its own party spots – the most extreme being “aqua” bar and hostel. It’s not the music from aqua that makes the impact – it faces to the water and is more likely heard in bocas town than carenero. it’s simply the mass of people that decend on this place after the day’s water sports (mostly surfing) have ended. I believe we most clearly heard the music of barco hundido which is more tragic for its content than it’s volume :).
That being said, it was still a ton of fun. Would I go back to bocas? Probably not. I first visited 2 years ago april. It has grown exponentially since this (which was expected) and reaches an insane level of activity during the holidays (which was entirely expected). I just didn’t understand the magnitude and didn’t know that so many 20 year olds could be drawn to one place. How can one forget that?
Highlights: having my friends there (!), dona mara restaurant on carenero, bastiamentos town (where I would stay if I went back) and breakfast there at the red rooster, OM indian restaurant, tony the water taxi driver and his encredible friendliness, the “local bar” on carenero who happily served us vodka coktails even tho we ordered seco y coca (clearly gringas weren’t supposed to drink seco! We got this response several places) and the general pleasantness of the local people despite the fact that they have been decended upon by hoards of gringos who have everything while they still have practically nothing……nothing except a beautiful place to live with their family and friends. This seems to provide them with more than enough happiness, tho, which is refreshing.
Places that come with caveats: I did not enjoy the food at el pirate tho they pour a mean cuba libre, the food was good both times I went to the cosmic crab on carenero but I didn’t like the freaky florida boating crowd that was always there nor did I like the way the owner treated his staff, my dinner at hotel limbo had no redeeming qualities nor did our lunch at bongo café. We decided a good policy in bocas is not to wait until you are hungy before you go out to eat. Go at least an hour before because it’s bound to take that long and also don’t expect to all eat together – food comes to the table as it is ready.
Today I left bocas with jaenne and headed to boquete (boe-ket-ay) in the highlands of panama. First, one must take a boat to almirante ($4), then a bus to david (dahveed – $7) and ideally another bus to boquete. All transport is mobbed after the holiday so we grabbed another traveler and a cab to boquete, which is appx 30 minutes away and cost $20 for all 3 of us. Faaaar better than waiting in david for another few hours until we made it to the front of the queue for the bus. Now I know the trip from david to boquete by bus is not as simple as it sounds during big travel times! Or maybe it is always like that.
Anyhoo – we’ve settled into a hostel here, hostel nomba, where my share of our double room is $11. There are also dorms, single and triple rooms. Tomorrow I explore boquete, which is currently most famous for it’s rep as a growing retirement haven for americans because it is beautiful and cool. Right now we are in the middle of an incredible wind storm!!! Crazy, crazy! More later.
Tags: bocas del toro, central america, holidays, panama, Travel
Peggy Rehm