Bocas Town

Yep, we're OK :)

After two weeks on Bastimentos, we returned to the main island in Bocas Town for the last week in Panama. Bocas Town is definitely faster paced and more touristy than Bastimentos but it was still very pleasant and more convenient for most things.

Paul showing his skills :) on a break off of Isla Bastimentos on a very nice smooth day

Hardly anyone in the water...

The first day back on Bocas, we thought we’d rent bikes and go check out the rest of the island (this one has roads and cars). At the time we rented the bikes, clouds were starting to accumulate but “ah well, nothing better to do, don’t feel like staying in the hotel room, and maybe it’s a false alarm…”… so, as should be expected, we got on our bikes and it started to rain… Pretty soon we were soaked, and cursing that we had worn (yet again!) our slippers (which get so slippery when wet…); but at least we comfortably cool!
The bike ride was nice and easy (the island is virtually flat) until we took a turn onto the unpaved coastal road. The road became a series of pond-sized puddles spanning the width of the road and often a couple of feet deep (I’m not exaggerating!). The game was to decide which option was best: go right through the puddle and hope for the best (since the water was cloudy, there was no way of knowing how deep and how bumpy the ride would be), or attempt the “sidewalk”: around the pond, less water, more mud and more rocks… After stalling ankle-deep in mud on a few “sidewalks” (and again almost loosing my slippers!), I often preferred the ponds: better to stall knee deep in water than ankle deep in mud! All in all we faired well though: no falling face first in a puddle, no broken bike, no lost slipper!
As for the coastline itself, well it was nice but somehow we were pretty sure we weren’t going to come back that way!
When we got back to town, we were, again, caked in mud all the way up our backs this time… and we were all too happy to jump in the shower… ah, but no water! The neighborhood was out of water while they were repairing a line and it never came back on until the next morning. And that’s when you realize how pleasant it is to have utilities… ☺

Nice bruise! Nope, not from surfing or trekking in the mud but from a bad slip on the boat dock...

After that we decided on more relaxed and predictable activities for the following days: a snorkeling tour and surfing, and it all went smoothly and mud free!

Dolphins encountered during the snorkeling tour.

Pretty Bocas...