Livin' it up in Bocas del Toro

• Sarah_brody's Profile
• About this blog
• Entry from Bocas del Toro

Trip Start Jun 24, 2008 Previous
Entry Trip End Jul 22, 2008 Next
Entry

  Bocas del Toro, Panama
Saturday, June 28, 2008

Where to start!!?? Since we last left you in San Jose, we've been to two new places! Cahuita, Costa Rica and Bocas del Toro, Panama. While we were at our hostel we met 3 other teachers. Funny enough, that was one of the last things we found out about each other... strange coincidence! One of those is Karen, our friend from Ireland. She has traveled with us since San Jose. As our first venture into San Jose we were trying to get to the bus station to leave for Cahuita... CRAZY SCARY streets! It's true what you hear about traffic in Costa Rica. We had to cross the street to get to the bus terminal - sprinting with our heavy backpacks - but we made it in one piece.

On our way to Cahuita....
We took a long bus ride (3.5 hrs - not that long) and saw much beautiful scenery. It was lucky we even had seats on the bus because it was about to pull out of the station when we were walking toward it. Our seats were in the back, and we each got our own double seat. Room for us and our backpacks. Apparently, that wasn't enough for Sarah. Thanks to Sue, Sarah's embarassment in barfing while on the bus was diminshed because we had extra large plastic baggies. Yum.

We made it to Cahuita in one piece and without any more dispelling of body "deposits" (Tony). Next job - find a place to sleep - Cabinas Jenny. Beautiful view of the ocean, it was only about 20 feet from the building! Between the hammocks and mosquito nets we felt like princesses.

At the white sand beach along the Cahuita National Park we found some sun, sand, water, and crabs. Lots and lots of crabs. Sorry Frank, you missed out! They were everywhere and quite courageous, popping out of small holes in the sand all around us. We were probably closing some into their cabins with our towels on the sand. The sand crabs were only one part of the adventure on the beach. The tide almost swept us away a few times. Thanks to Karen we saved ourselves and our towels from getting absolutely soaked.

Here's the craziest part of our day. Among cats, dogs, and geckos roaming streets and inside restaurants, we happened upon a fallen sloth. It is one of the strangest things to see a sloth moving along the ground, kind of like a new-age alternative dance move. A little doggie almost followed Brandi home from the restaurant - he kept licking her calves, but he was a bit too stinky and mangy for us to hang out. He'd be adorable with some TLC.

Morning came and we found ourselves on the way to Bocas del Toro, Panama. Sarah got her first bug bite - eek! There was a little confusion with some men trying to get us to take taxis frustrated both of us, but we still ended up where we wanted for about the same money. Our hostel is nice, very "Rasta" and full of surfers. It is a very laid back atmosphere here and we're looking forward to exploring more of what it has to offer...

sending love to y'all!
xoxoBrandi and Sarah

Print this entry Share

Previous Entry Next Entry