Stranded on a tropical island..
Here is a post that I actually wrote yesterday but was unable to get up here...the internet on the island that we were on is via sattelite and the connection was pretty bad yesterday because of a storm. We were hoping to leave the island in the afternoon yesterday, but the water was too rough so we had to spend an extra night there. It has calmed down quite a bit today, so we left the island of Bastimentos and are now on the main Bocs del Toro island called Colon. From here we will catch a ferry to the mainland and head south to David to hopefully cross the boarder into Costa Rica this afternoon...hopefully we can make it that far today!!
So again we have been without internet access for a while and there is way more to say on here than I have time to write, but I´ll quickly write about a few of the highlights.
We left Santa Catalina on Saturday morning with heavy hearts because it was such a wonderful place and we had a great time during our short stay there.
From Catalina we headed to Boquete a small little mountain town that was absolutely beautiful! It was a little colder there and for the first time on the trip I actually pulled out a light sweater...which I later lost because it warmed up and I took it off!! Boquete was a very tranquil little town with a laid back mountain feel to it. Quite touristy, with a huge US retirement market booming there...it´s a little sad because it used to be a popular place for Panamanians to retire but it is now far too expensive for most local people as homes are selling for the same as what a comparable one would sell for in the US.We spent a day strolling through the streets and there was a beautiful garden there called ¨mi jardin es su jardin¨ which translates as my garden is your garden. We spent a few hours exploring the gardens and taking pictures of all kinds of flowers. Unfortunately the visit there ended on a bit of a low note because Mom got attacked by some fire ants when she accidentially stepped on an ant hill! But she was ok, they only sting for half an hour or so, so she lived!
From Boquete the three of us (Genny is still with us) made our way up north to the Bocas del Toro province on the Carribbean coast where we are now. We took a little plane that fit about 30 people from a city called David onto the largest of the Bocas del Toro Islands (I can´t remember the name of it right now...starts with a C..) and when we stepped off the plane two of Genny´s friends who she had been hoping to meet were waiting for us. They had been staying on the island of Bastimentos for a few days with about 8 other friends of Genny´s so we took a water taxi out here to meet all of them and we´ve been staying on this little island for the past 2 nights. Genny´s group all know each other from working together in Yosemite National park in California and have a few months off during the off season so they are all travelling around Central America
We arrived on the island at about 10am on Monday morning and the weather was fabulous! It was super sunny and we quickly got changed into our bathing suits and took a water taxi to the beach. The main town on the island consists of a sidewalk on the south side of the island about a mile long with houses all along it. The best beaches are all on the north side of the island, so we had to hire a boat to get to a beach called Polo beach which is named after a man who lives there. We spent a few hours on the beach enjoying the crystal clear water and white sand. The snorkeling there was fabulous and we barely came out of the water the whole time we were there!!
Yesterday we went on an all day trip with the same man who took us the day before, and we spent the whole day traveling around. Frist up was a VERY bumpy ride to Dolphin Bay where we were lucky to see a bunch of dolphins splashing about. They came right up to the boat to check us out and swam beside us for a while. It was very cool!After Dolphin bay we headed to a little restaraunt/bar which was built on stilts above the water. There were three little thatch huts with a pier connecting them were we set up camp for a few hours and snorkeled all around. The sun wasn´t shining too brightly which was actually probably a good thing because it was quite comfortable to sit out in the sun and enjoy the views and watch the fish from the dock.
From there we headed to Red Frog beach which is named for the tiny frogs which are found in the jungle there. They are a brilliant fire engine red and are not much bigger than the size of my thumb! We got some really great pictures so hopefully I´ll be able to download a few of them and post them up here soon! The beach there was really great. It was a little less protected than the last one we´d been at, so the waves were bigger and tonnes of fun to play in! We didn´t quite get the hang of body surfing as well as the Yosemite boys, but it was fun to splash around in the water!
When we made it back to our hostal we were starving and cooked up big meal in the little kitchen Mom, Genny and I are sharing. The little Cabaסa we rented is so great! There is a bathroom and a kitchen on the bottom floor with a great little porch where we have spent lots of time hanging out sipping on wine and cuba libres (rum and coke)...you can buy them premixed in cans here!!! Upstairs in the ´attic´under the thatch roof are our beds. It´s pretty cozy up there, but we are glad to have a mosquito net as its completely open to the outside in a few places!!
Today it´s raining and not all that warm, but we couldn´t be more glad to be here because the annual festival to celebrate the founding of the island is today. There are about 5 different marching bands from the surrounding islands here and we got to see a parade!!! It was very cool to see all the little kids all dressed up in their uniforms. They were so cute!!We were hoping to leave the island today and head back down south to cross the boarder into Costa Rica early tomorrow morning, but it´s nearly 3 and the rain hasn´t let up so I don´t know if we´ll be able to make it back to the mainland!! It seems like we´re just not meant to leave this beautiful country! We meant to be well into our trip to costa rica by now but we just haven´t been able to tear ourselves out of Panama!
Hope all is well with all of you!
Until next time!
Dee and Shelley
So again we have been without internet access for a while and there is way more to say on here than I have time to write, but I´ll quickly write about a few of the highlights.
We left Santa Catalina on Saturday morning with heavy hearts because it was such a wonderful place and we had a great time during our short stay there.
From Catalina we headed to Boquete a small little mountain town that was absolutely beautiful! It was a little colder there and for the first time on the trip I actually pulled out a light sweater...which I later lost because it warmed up and I took it off!! Boquete was a very tranquil little town with a laid back mountain feel to it. Quite touristy, with a huge US retirement market booming there...it´s a little sad because it used to be a popular place for Panamanians to retire but it is now far too expensive for most local people as homes are selling for the same as what a comparable one would sell for in the US.We spent a day strolling through the streets and there was a beautiful garden there called ¨mi jardin es su jardin¨ which translates as my garden is your garden. We spent a few hours exploring the gardens and taking pictures of all kinds of flowers. Unfortunately the visit there ended on a bit of a low note because Mom got attacked by some fire ants when she accidentially stepped on an ant hill! But she was ok, they only sting for half an hour or so, so she lived!
From Boquete the three of us (Genny is still with us) made our way up north to the Bocas del Toro province on the Carribbean coast where we are now. We took a little plane that fit about 30 people from a city called David onto the largest of the Bocas del Toro Islands (I can´t remember the name of it right now...starts with a C..) and when we stepped off the plane two of Genny´s friends who she had been hoping to meet were waiting for us. They had been staying on the island of Bastimentos for a few days with about 8 other friends of Genny´s so we took a water taxi out here to meet all of them and we´ve been staying on this little island for the past 2 nights. Genny´s group all know each other from working together in Yosemite National park in California and have a few months off during the off season so they are all travelling around Central America
We arrived on the island at about 10am on Monday morning and the weather was fabulous! It was super sunny and we quickly got changed into our bathing suits and took a water taxi to the beach. The main town on the island consists of a sidewalk on the south side of the island about a mile long with houses all along it. The best beaches are all on the north side of the island, so we had to hire a boat to get to a beach called Polo beach which is named after a man who lives there. We spent a few hours on the beach enjoying the crystal clear water and white sand. The snorkeling there was fabulous and we barely came out of the water the whole time we were there!!
Yesterday we went on an all day trip with the same man who took us the day before, and we spent the whole day traveling around. Frist up was a VERY bumpy ride to Dolphin Bay where we were lucky to see a bunch of dolphins splashing about. They came right up to the boat to check us out and swam beside us for a while. It was very cool!After Dolphin bay we headed to a little restaraunt/bar which was built on stilts above the water. There were three little thatch huts with a pier connecting them were we set up camp for a few hours and snorkeled all around. The sun wasn´t shining too brightly which was actually probably a good thing because it was quite comfortable to sit out in the sun and enjoy the views and watch the fish from the dock.
From there we headed to Red Frog beach which is named for the tiny frogs which are found in the jungle there. They are a brilliant fire engine red and are not much bigger than the size of my thumb! We got some really great pictures so hopefully I´ll be able to download a few of them and post them up here soon! The beach there was really great. It was a little less protected than the last one we´d been at, so the waves were bigger and tonnes of fun to play in! We didn´t quite get the hang of body surfing as well as the Yosemite boys, but it was fun to splash around in the water!
When we made it back to our hostal we were starving and cooked up big meal in the little kitchen Mom, Genny and I are sharing. The little Cabaסa we rented is so great! There is a bathroom and a kitchen on the bottom floor with a great little porch where we have spent lots of time hanging out sipping on wine and cuba libres (rum and coke)...you can buy them premixed in cans here!!! Upstairs in the ´attic´under the thatch roof are our beds. It´s pretty cozy up there, but we are glad to have a mosquito net as its completely open to the outside in a few places!!
Today it´s raining and not all that warm, but we couldn´t be more glad to be here because the annual festival to celebrate the founding of the island is today. There are about 5 different marching bands from the surrounding islands here and we got to see a parade!!! It was very cool to see all the little kids all dressed up in their uniforms. They were so cute!!We were hoping to leave the island today and head back down south to cross the boarder into Costa Rica early tomorrow morning, but it´s nearly 3 and the rain hasn´t let up so I don´t know if we´ll be able to make it back to the mainland!! It seems like we´re just not meant to leave this beautiful country! We meant to be well into our trip to costa rica by now but we just haven´t been able to tear ourselves out of Panama!
Hope all is well with all of you!
Until next time!
Dee and Shelley
posted by Dee @ 6:43 a.m.
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