La Veranda Bocas Town

Today was a good last day in Bocas. We woke up refreshed, grabbed some breakfast, bought our plane tickets, dropped off some clothes to be washed, and jumped on the bus to Boca del Drago on the north end of the island. The ride was about 45 minutes through the interior of Isla Colon. It was very beautiful, but rugged and impoverished. The people we saw gave us a renewed sense of appreciation for where we live. It also ...

... being quite pl*yful *nd coming f*irly close to the bo*ts *ll circling them for photos. After *bout * h*lf hour we he*ded out to the rest*ur*nt we were going to h*ve lunch *t to put in our orders *nd then we went to our first snorkelling spot. As soon *s I dived in, I s*w *nother world. The most be*utiful cor*ls *nd fish swimming *round, * lots *nd lots of jelly fish, r*nging in size from teeny tiny to some bigger th*n my he*d. I *lso m*n*ged to see my first b*rr ...

... would also like to note that I did not go straight from Ometepe in Nicaragua to Bocas but spent one night in San Jose, CR en route. I decided to skip Costa Rica because of the higher prices on everything and the higher numer of American tourists. But back to Bocas. After getting of the lancha I was brought to the Gran Kahuna Hostal which actually was probably one of the better parts of Bocas. The hostel was frequented by well for lack of a better word local ...

... sunset photos and then Ed joined us and we all shared a cold beer, took a "salute" photo and the MOSQUITOS WERE OUT, the humid wet air brought the entire population right where we stood. Despite the language barrier, I enjoyed trying to converse with Jose, I tried and he did as well but the experience was more important than learning a phrase or two. Thank goodness for CNN, Ed enjoyed watching the news and trying to find ...

Woke early at 7am to sound of fire alarm. Still not sure why it went off. Headed out of Boquete at 8:45 toward Caribbean side of Panama. The drive over was amazing. We passed through lush rainforest in a national park, I can't remember the name right now. You were really able to see the extent of the November floods here. Whole hillsides slid off the mountains - with so much tree and ground growth it really had to be a lot of rain to move that hillside. I was ...

... and snorkeling. after a day in the sun i went back to the hostel and took a nap. woke up and started drinking again, went and comped 2 sixers. me /austrailia /hungry /diego /sweden and isreal went to town hit the party hostel mondo thietu after ours closed and then we went to like a dance club for after hours drinks. me auzzy one and auzzy two got plum fukkard.. ate some street meat and passed out after a good stumble back to the hostel.. auzzies rock!

After spending a few days in Pavones, Costa Rica we decided to head over to Bocas Del Toro, Panama. Its a small group of islands with a very carribean feel. Our time there started out really great, had good food, stayed in a nice place, and the island had a lot going on all the time...Then one day we met up with some friends and headed to a beach on an island about five minute baot ride from where we were staying. We jumped in the water as soon as we got there, me and ...

... girls getting virtually unlimited free alcohol (more extreme than the UK where it might be free entry or one free drink) ... I guess it has some business sense to it as naturally lots of girls getting free alcohol means lots of guys wanting to be in the same bar & buying lots of alcohol ... or else just stealing the girls free drinks :) Finally everyone rounds the night off into the early hours at one of two places , either ...

Random day in a random place. Luke and Chris went out surfing and Katie and I went with them. We took a short boat ride the the island across from us and hiked for about a mile or so on the beach, with nobody around. I remember passing only one guy on the way. Guess we were looking for some kind of epic surf spot. I wish I actually could surf.<br><br>Bocas del toro is such a unique, beautiful, weird place ...