Bocas del Toro

After a nice relaxing time in Boquete, we decided to hop on a bus for about 5 hours and head to the Caribbean shore. The destination: The islands of Bocas del Toro. And as it is an island, after the bus ride, we had to take a water taxi to reach our final destination. As soon as we landed, we saw a busy street along the shore full of tourists and locals trying to sell to or provide services to the tourists.

It also just so happened that the city was getting ready for Carnaval (Latin America's version of Mardi Gras), so we were able to see some very creative costumes running through the streets. We never quite figured out what they were doing, because they just wandered in the street, occasionally blocked traffic, and tried to prevent people from crossing the street in front of them. It was all just a fun show, though.
Other than the fun and games in the street, the town seemed a bit overrun with travelers and hippies. However, there was one specific reason that we were on this particular island.

The Starfish beach.

These things were literally everywhere. When we first arrived, we had the special surprise of also seeing a small stingray. It was tough to get a picture of him though, because when I got closer, he swam in the other direction. So, stingrays are smarter than crabs.

Here, you can truly see the paradise that we were immersed in. It was a spectacular beach, and place in general, to be. However, you will notice that we are wearing our sandals in this picture. I mention this, because as long as you are not in the water, the beach is painful to walk on. Much of the sand is quite harsh on the feet, as if every other step you take provides another piece of fiberglass to pick out. But you're probably cursing me for complaining.

Above, Laura is playing amongst the stars. Every ten feet or so, you could find two or three starfish just hanging out.

After our trip to the beach, we quickly tired of the town. It was just a bit much for us. But luckily, there was another island we could cruise over two, where we found an environment much more to our liking.

So, here we are, taking another water taxi.

And here is a shot of the next island, Bastimentos. The yellow building is hostel "Tio Tom" which became "home" for the next three nights. It ended up being a really nice little place run by a German couple. They were quite nice, and we even enjoyed a family style dinner of Goulash with them on one night. The meal was really good, prepared by Tom, a former chef, and for a good price as well.

We had decided on having dinner with them because this was a small island, and very little was available. There were very few restaurants, most of which scared us, and slim pickings at the grocery store.

Anyway, this location was much better because we were now staying ON the water, whereas the other island was a 5 minute walk away and had expensive hotels in the way. And by the way, when I say ON the water, that is exactly what I mean. In our room, you could see through the cracks of the floorboards the blue green color of the Caribbean. However, the disturbing part was that our bathroom was also directly above the water. So, yes, straight into the ocean below. So, no swimming. At least not here. We rented a kayak and did some snorkeling at a reef far away. Very far away.

Above, Laura is enjoying the hammocks out on the covered pier. We did a lot of reading while enjoying the sounds of the ocean below.

As I mentioned before, this was a pretty small island, with little infrastructure. Think no roads. There's one sidewalk that connects everything, or at least, everything on solid ground. The other thing that was missing? Television. Normally, we don't bother with television, but it was Super Bowl Sunday. Well, the hostel at least had internet access, and I was able to watch the updates. Just not live action. Oh well. So, our super bowl party consisted of some pretzels, bean dip (just plain old refried beans) and beer.

But, you know what? I was on the ocean, so I could not care less how I was able to follow an incredibly fulfilling Saints victory.

After a few days of moderate rain, we decided to take a hike on the island where the paths became pretty muddy. But luckily, Tio Tom's had rubber boots that you could rent for the day!

Here, Laura pretty much has her feet buried in mud, along a very pretty part of the path.

Our original plan for the hike was to head to a beach that should have been about an hour hike away. However, we took a wrong turn, and had to turn back after approaching a barbed wire fence. Though, if we did not take this detour, we would not have seen what may have been the coolest part of the hike for us.

Which were the tiny frogs. First of all, I never expected these things to be so small. They were about the size of a nickel. And the only way to spot them is if you see movement.

The little brown guy was cool, but in no way did he compare to this yellow spotted frog we saw!

, We also caught a glimpse of a similarly spotted orange one, and a yellow one with black legs. They were so cool. And totally worth the detour, because when we found the correct path, we didn't see another frog.

Also along the path, this neatly colored bird was fun to listen to. We later learned that this bird was called something that included the word Montezuma. Just sounds like a fun name. Anyway, we learned that this bird can actually mimic the calls of other birds, and can learn, and remember up to 50 different calls.

Well, we did finally make it to the beach, and found our appearance a bit funny as compared to the other people there. They were in swimsuits.

And we were in, well......
Hot.

The island didn't have much for groceries, but they had what was important. I honestly don't know the last time I saw Old Milwaukee in Milwaukee even. I don't think I've ever had it either. But it would be fun to think that this beer traveled from my hometown, to meet me again in a country thousands of miles away, for me to have my first taste.
Regardless of that exciting possibility, I passed.