Days 93-96 - Bocas del Toro, Panama

Early Monday morning, Gretchen and I headed to the border with Panama. The border crossing was not as intense as the others I´ve done so far, but it was a bit odd. We were to leave Costa Rica, walk across a rickety bridge and enter Panama. Before we could officially enter Panama, we had to prove that we were indeed leaving the country. We hadn´t made official plans at that time, so we had to buy fake bus tickets back to San Jose. It was really a random scenario that happens quite frequently from what we understand.

Once we were across to Panama, we hopped into a van which took us to the boat to Isla Colon, the main island of Bocas del Toro. The boat was full of Argentinian travelers which was nice for us because they were all in such good spirits. We arrived to Bocas around noon and searched high and low for a hotel. We ended up at Casa Max which was pretty simple, but right in the heart of the action.

Bocas was a really interesting place as it is the most touristy place in all of Panama. In order to get between the islands and to various beaches, there were water taxis of plenty for a few dollars. There were alot of opportunities for tours and such, but we found that most people were not very accommodating. No one was able to give us a straight answer on how long we were able to stay at a hotel, or if our tour was on for the next day. We ended up having to move our hotel room twice in one hotel and then to another, better hotel (Bocas Inn) later on in the week.It was a beautiful place with very rustic scenery, but the overall vibe was much more of a backpacker scene than the typical Panamanian culture.

We were able to hire a water taxi to take us to Red Frog Beach for one day which was in the middle of a nature reserve and gorgeous. We also hung out at Aqua Lodge which was pretty much Pinocchio´s playland with swings into the water and docks to dive off of...a very young scene. I have the feeling that the reason we came away feeling the way that we did was because the town was so busy preparing for Carnaval that all of the reservations were getting extremely full.

On Thursday night, we were in touch with Erin about plans for the morning and getting excited to spend Carnaval in the small town where she´d spent a year after high school. From what we understood, it would be a great time although a great distance to get there.