3/29/13
I had sort of put Elisha in charge of deciding what to do in Panama as I had no major things I wanted to see there. She had decided that with the time we had, although she had several places she wanted to go to, that we only had time for a day in Panama City and a trip for a couple of days to the cloud forest of Boquette. She had planned on hiking to waterfalls, visiting the hotsprings, and then climbing Volcan Bahru, which can be seen from Boquette. It is the highest peak in Panama at 11,000 something feet. And from the top of it you can see both the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean. This seemed like a cool thing to me, and I was excited for it as I love climbing mountains, especially the highest in the country.
However, on the ride back from the hotsprings, Darren and Miranda invited us to join them to drive to the Islands of Bocas del Toro. We were immediately intrigued as these islands are supposedly a highlight of Panama. However, we were thinking we still wanted to climb the volcano and that there were other things we wanted to do in Boquette perhaps. We also had another night paid for at the hostel. That night at dinner we had a pow wow (as Elisha calls it) to discuss what we should do. A part of me wanted to climb the volcano (a hike that starts at 12am to reach the summit for sunrise) but a larger part of me wanted to see a new place. Plus going by car mean a Road Trip! where we would have the freedom to stop where we wanted. As we sat having dinner, we thought, "What would Lucas Stringfield Do?" as we warmly remembered his trip with us where when offered the opportunity to go farther from the place he needed to be, he happily decided for the adventure and had a fun time doing it. So we went back to the hostel and told Darren and Miranda that we were came. As it was late planning but mostly bc of the super busy Easter Weekend, there was only one hostel left for us to book in the island chain. We didn't know it then, but lucky for us, it turned out to be one of the best things.
So we got up early and headed up over a fun and winding mountain pass over the cloud mountains to the other side of Panama. We went by some beautiful waterfalls and cool villages as the road wound around the peaks and then back down towards the Caribbean. Along the way, we were lucky to spot a 3 toed sloth slowly, slowly making its way across the road. We got out and watched the sloth move at a snail pace across the last part of the road. We don't know how the cute little guy made it across the road without being run over.
We arrived at the coast and we all took a water taxi to Colon Island where the town Bocas del Toro is. This is where Miranda and Darren were staying. From here Elisha and I took another water taxi to Isla Bastiamentos, an island without vehicles. This island was a paradise! Complete with fruit trees, jungles, beaches, and a nice hostel (with aircon) that was part of a fancy resort. Also, the sky cleared and the sun broke free, just as we arrived. We ate a quick lunch of local fish and then headed on a short hike through the jungle to arrive at red frog beach. We checked it out for a bit and then headed overland to the next beach where we played some frisbee and then bodysurfed in the surprisingly (for the caribbean) large waves. We continued walking from beautiful deserted beach to beautiful deserted beach. The beaches were picture perfect with golden sand and palm trees leaning out over the water, which by the way was bathtub warm. And this has nothing to do with the fact that the last time Elisha and I were in the ocean, we were jumping of ice to get into it. We stopped to smash coconuts so that we could drink the sweet nectar inside. We chased ghost crabs around and caught lots of hermit crabs. And we found some shady spots to sit on the sand, rest, and watch the waves with not a soul around. We continued until reaching North Beach and the Marine reserve. We decided we should head back as it was getting late. We took a trail (that we guessed (educatedly) headed back) through the rainforest. Along the way we saw lots of little brown frogs, but more importantly we found 4 of the famous (and endangered) red frogs. Beautiful little guys amongst the rainforest floor. We also saw a couple of turtles in the creek. That night we had more fish and hung out down by the hotel hangout area that had ping pong and billiards.
3/30/13
We got up early to head a different direction to Wizard beach. There was hardly anyone out save for a girl from New York who was in our dorm who went along with us. The path to Wizard beach was super muddy and we waded knee deep at times while in the jungle. Eventually we arrived at beautiful and deserted Wizard beach where we swam for a bit.
We headed back via water taxi to the main island of Colon to meet back up with the Canadians. The town of Bocas was cool. It had a very Caribbean vibe with color and atmosphere. We quickly got some fresh fruit smoothies and explored around the town before having lunch with Darren and Miranda and taking the water taxi back to the mainland and their car.
I had sort of put Elisha in charge of deciding what to do in Panama as I had no major things I wanted to see there. She had decided that with the time we had, although she had several places she wanted to go to, that we only had time for a day in Panama City and a trip for a couple of days to the cloud forest of Boquette. She had planned on hiking to waterfalls, visiting the hotsprings, and then climbing Volcan Bahru, which can be seen from Boquette. It is the highest peak in Panama at 11,000 something feet. And from the top of it you can see both the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean. This seemed like a cool thing to me, and I was excited for it as I love climbing mountains, especially the highest in the country.
However, on the ride back from the hotsprings, Darren and Miranda invited us to join them to drive to the Islands of Bocas del Toro. We were immediately intrigued as these islands are supposedly a highlight of Panama. However, we were thinking we still wanted to climb the volcano and that there were other things we wanted to do in Boquette perhaps. We also had another night paid for at the hostel. That night at dinner we had a pow wow (as Elisha calls it) to discuss what we should do. A part of me wanted to climb the volcano (a hike that starts at 12am to reach the summit for sunrise) but a larger part of me wanted to see a new place. Plus going by car mean a Road Trip! where we would have the freedom to stop where we wanted. As we sat having dinner, we thought, "What would Lucas Stringfield Do?" as we warmly remembered his trip with us where when offered the opportunity to go farther from the place he needed to be, he happily decided for the adventure and had a fun time doing it. So we went back to the hostel and told Darren and Miranda that we were came. As it was late planning but mostly bc of the super busy Easter Weekend, there was only one hostel left for us to book in the island chain. We didn't know it then, but lucky for us, it turned out to be one of the best things.
So we got up early and headed up over a fun and winding mountain pass over the cloud mountains to the other side of Panama. We went by some beautiful waterfalls and cool villages as the road wound around the peaks and then back down towards the Caribbean. Along the way, we were lucky to spot a 3 toed sloth slowly, slowly making its way across the road. We got out and watched the sloth move at a snail pace across the last part of the road. We don't know how the cute little guy made it across the road without being run over.
We arrived at the coast and we all took a water taxi to Colon Island where the town Bocas del Toro is. This is where Miranda and Darren were staying. From here Elisha and I took another water taxi to Isla Bastiamentos, an island without vehicles. This island was a paradise! Complete with fruit trees, jungles, beaches, and a nice hostel (with aircon) that was part of a fancy resort. Also, the sky cleared and the sun broke free, just as we arrived. We ate a quick lunch of local fish and then headed on a short hike through the jungle to arrive at red frog beach. We checked it out for a bit and then headed overland to the next beach where we played some frisbee and then bodysurfed in the surprisingly (for the caribbean) large waves. We continued walking from beautiful deserted beach to beautiful deserted beach. The beaches were picture perfect with golden sand and palm trees leaning out over the water, which by the way was bathtub warm. And this has nothing to do with the fact that the last time Elisha and I were in the ocean, we were jumping of ice to get into it. We stopped to smash coconuts so that we could drink the sweet nectar inside. We chased ghost crabs around and caught lots of hermit crabs. And we found some shady spots to sit on the sand, rest, and watch the waves with not a soul around. We continued until reaching North Beach and the Marine reserve. We decided we should head back as it was getting late. We took a trail (that we guessed (educatedly) headed back) through the rainforest. Along the way we saw lots of little brown frogs, but more importantly we found 4 of the famous (and endangered) red frogs. Beautiful little guys amongst the rainforest floor. We also saw a couple of turtles in the creek. That night we had more fish and hung out down by the hotel hangout area that had ping pong and billiards.
3/30/13
We got up early to head a different direction to Wizard beach. There was hardly anyone out save for a girl from New York who was in our dorm who went along with us. The path to Wizard beach was super muddy and we waded knee deep at times while in the jungle. Eventually we arrived at beautiful and deserted Wizard beach where we swam for a bit.
We headed back via water taxi to the main island of Colon to meet back up with the Canadians. The town of Bocas was cool. It had a very Caribbean vibe with color and atmosphere. We quickly got some fresh fruit smoothies and explored around the town before having lunch with Darren and Miranda and taking the water taxi back to the mainland and their car.
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