Bocas del Toro Reflections -

Two weeks have drifted by as we spent our time exploring the archipelago of Bocas Del Toro.  It is a little similar to the San Blas Islands with beautiful islands with long sandy beaches and the gorgeous coastline of Panama with the mountains and the rain forests as a backdrop.  

Overall, this place is very serene and peaceful.  Where Bocas del Toro is different is in the rhythm.  The town of Bocas on Isla Colon is a busy place with a lot of tourists using this as a hub for this area.  The town has numerous hostels, hotels, restaurants and nightclubs and a good variety of grocery stores and other shops.  It is a 30-minute ride by water taxi to the mainland and there is also a car ferry coming once or twice a day.  Because of the well-established infrastructure, it has become popular with foreigners who are buying property here and retiring in this area.  This is of course driving the property prices up much to the dismay of the locals.  The people and the buildings on Isla Colon and in Bocas town are more similar to a typical Caribbean island.  The locals even speak English with a Jamaican accent.  They are friendly and love their music.  We know this because we made the mistake of anchoring a little too close to the town one Friday night.  It started around 7PM where we heard the local band practicing for about two hours.  They need more practice, but it wasn’t too bad.  Then the nightclubs took over.  Their music was a blend of disco, Caribbean and current hip hop or rap or whatever they call it these days played very loudly and until well past 3 AM.

Squirt - the dive boat! 

Fredrik has joined us here the last two weekends.  He drives down to Almiranti, which is on the coast, on Friday night and then takes the water taxi out to Bocas early Saturday morning (6 AM!!!), where we pick him up in our dinghy and then lift anchor and head out to explore another island.  We do a little snorkeling, walking around an island or two and then back to the boat for our traditional sundowners and a good meal.  After a few bottles of wine and a few more good stories we call it a day.  Not such a bad life. 

It seems the rainy season is starting to subside.  We’ve had a little less rain for which I’m thankful and it feels that the evening temperatures are starting to come down a little as well.  Or am I finally getting used to the heat?  I don’t know.  The islands here are very beautiful.  They have not all been turned into coconut plantations as they have in the area of San Blas that we have visited.  And the islands are little larger and more hilly.  We explored a river with the dinghy and visited a local school.  We snorkeled into the center of a mangrove island (very cool – a little spooky snorkeling through the mangrove roots until you get to the center where there is a huge round deep hole.).

Fredrik returned wearing the proper attire and was allowed to take the helm.

A bull and his ladies watching us as we explore the river in the dinghy.

We found some excellent snorkeling sites.  The most exciting moment for me was when I spotted a nurse shark hiding under a reef.  On the reef we snorkeled yesterday there were some amazing caverns and caves.  This is when it would have been good to have some scuba gear.  Hidden in the crevices were some very large langoustes.  And of course the thousands of reef fish and abundance of coral life.  The sea is definitely alive and it seems these islands are just one big nursery for fish of all kinds.   These islands are also protected because they are the breeding grounds for the Hawksbill Turtle, which is a protected species having gone almost extinct. 

One of the many properties for sale - water front - complete with a boat in the house, thus making it a houseboat or a Boat House???  

Can you figure out why I like this place?

Anna and Christian have taken a side trip traveling to Boquete and David where they will hike up to the volcano and then continue back to Panama City before returning to Shelter Bay.  Jens and I will start sailing back to Shelter Bay today and finalize our preparations for crossing the canal, which is planned for next weekend.   I’m really looking to that adventure!  Stay tuned for lots of pictures of the crossing.