Isla Bastimentos - Day 3, The Shop
Trip Start
Mar 14, 2008
1
9
12
Trip End
Mar 24, 2008
Bocas del Toro,
Panama
Sunday, March 23, 2008
First, let me announce that the sun came out finally! We have been VERY busy since that happened so I have some catching up to do on Travelpod. The last rain was yesterday (Fri 21 Mar) about noon. Since then it finally feels like tropical paradise here
Isla Bastimentos waterfront
! The high temps have been fairly cool, today was probably in the 80s, with high humidity. The unbelievably muddy, sandle-swallowing dirt paths around Bastimentos are drying out.Yesterday about lunch, we decided to follow some signs we had been seeing for "The Shop," which said something about organic natural products. The signs pointed up the hill overlooking the main town and said it was about a 10-minute walk to get there. We walked up a steep concrete path with stairs straight up the hill, going past 15 or so houses, then the very professional-looking signs said continue past the end of the paths and houses into the jungle. The signs promised it was only 7 more minutes' walk to make it to The Shop! We were pretty suspicious of the sign-maker's time estimates and a bit reluctant to walk into the very muddy jungle to find a shop we knew nothing about.
We dove in anyway, that's how we are. A little ways down the jungle path, we came upon a very nicely built house along the path, in the middle of the jungle. There was a sign on it saying "Island Time Thai Restaurant." Really? Thai food in Bocas Del Toro Panama? In the middle of the jungle? More on that later too.
We continued on, determined to find The Shop, we wanted to make sure the hiking we had done so far would not be for nothing
Bocas water taxi
. In about 7 minutes, we did find the place! What a wonderful, unexpected treat! It's a 10-acre organic farm on a hill in the middle of the jungle, on a sleepy island. It was started about 7 years ago by Javier from Argentina, along with his wife Janet who is from the UK somewhere (Ireland? Scotland?) Janet was not in, so walked around the farm with Javier, who showed us all his fruit trees including citrus, guanabana, avocado, papaya, and several others we don't remember now, along with pineapple and several greens and herbs. They make all their products with stuff from their farm!Javier is a wonderful guy, a gentle soul and someone who shares our love of fresh grown produce in harmony with nature. He's also a surfer and surf instructor, and built his house on the hill with his own hands. He seemed so at home in his jungle island paradise, and he quietly, patiently and lovingly guided us all around the farm that he built with his own hands. We promised him to buy any and all fruit that he had ripe on his trees! There wasn't much in season and ready, except a papaya that we returned to buy the next day.
Finding that sweet little farm was one of the highlights of the trip, though it was not a HUGE event or experience. And it illustrates one of the things I love about travel - the wonderful little surprises you find along the way, things you're not looking for because you don't even know they exist, and the surprise make them all the sweeter!
