Bocas Del Toro, Panama

Our time in lovely Boquete was over as we were up early to take a shuttle bus and water taxi to our last stop in Panama. We were going to spend some time in Bocas Del Toro on Isla Colon, located in a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea...

After 4 hours in a packed van we arrived at Almirante to catch our ride to the islands...

Our taxi arrives...

It was a swift ride as the water taxis waste no time getting to their destination...

Our destination was Bocas Town, the largest on the islands...

It is also the Center of activity so there are many shops and services here...

Some of the main streets...

It definitely has a Carribean feel while reminding us of our time spent on Caye Calker in Belize.

Lots of dive shops...

Colourful houses...

And shops...

Speaking of colourful houses, this is where we stayed...

It is located in a local neighbourhood about 30 mins walk from town at the edge of a mangrove in Saigon Bay....

We walked through here on the walkway....

The neighbourhood houses...

And some of the neighbourhood kids...

It was not a boring place!

Island life is all about the beach and there were many of them, this one was across the street from us...

We spent a day on Playa Bluff, a pristine beach on the north of the island...

This was not a swimming beach...

But the surfers were out...

We spent the day relaxing at one of the Beach Clubs...

It was a fabulous day...

Topped off with the best shrimp cerviche ever...

Another day we took a boat tour of the islands with a group of young teachers from Chile...

We saw dolphins...

Lots of starfish, not a great picture because of the movement of the water but loved the colors...

Snorkeling...

And sloths...

Our final stop was Cayo Zapitillas where a season of Survivor was filmed, this place looked like Paradise!

We also enjoyed our time at the AirBnB as we watched the sunsets...

Activity in the bay...

Our host was a chef who treated us to three course evening meals that were worthy of a fine restaurant...tuna tartare, mahi mahi on risotto, chocolate mousse and on this night the appetizer was tuna carpaccio...

We shared wonderful meals and games of Skippo with young people from Germany...

Lots of cervazas with a view...

We really enjoyed our time here, took a short flight back to Panama City and spent our last night with a young couple in an AirBnB near the airport who dropped us off in the morning...

Alan and Elkys...

Now off to Columbia...

The green and cool mountains of Boquete, Panama

It was time to leave our beach casita to move across the country to the mountains, so we were up early to go back to the highway and wait for a bus to come along that would take us to David, the larger city nearer to our destination. We flagged one down and drove about 5 hours on a very comfortable bus. We then were pushed on to a very crowded, standing room only school bus for another hour’s ride up the mountain to our next stop, a town called Boquete.

Here are some pics of our ride that day...

The buses were quite comfortable with ice cold air conditioning, most people had on hats and were covered in blankets.

Some newer subdivisions we passed...

We could see the mountains in the distance as we passed through lots of farms and ranches, lots of cowboys here...

And unfortunately lots of garbage everywhere...

We also began to see some of the people in traditional clothing...

Only seven of the native tribes that inhabited Panama prior to the early 14th century arrival of the Spanish still survive to this day. The indigenous people of this area are called Ngobe Bugle. The women wear colourful dresses that they make themselves and we saw them quite often in Boquete.

I decided to book an AirBnB outside town and up further in the mountains and it was a good choice. We were hosted by a Panamanian-Slovakian couple who owned a huge house with beautiful gardens...

Many types of fruit trees...

We were fortunate enough to be given a studio in the loft with fresh mountain air keeping us cool...

The neighbourhood was quite pretty...

It was around 30 mins walk downhill to the centre of town and the views were awesome.

The river Caldera runs down from the mountains through the town...

This is coffee country so neat little places to enjoy a cup...

Beautiful houses and landscaping...

Boquete still feels like a Panamanian town but over the years it has attracted a lot of ex pats who have settled here either full or part time, and as a result it has a lot of infrastructure which appeals to visitors. In particular there are so many great places to eat...

Italian...

Panamanian...

There was Peruvian,Argentinian,Mexican and lots of American style cafes, our favourite was Sugar and Spice...

Here you can see how windy it was there as this time of the year it is windy season according to the locals. 

Here I am enjoying a pina smoothie, so many good fruits...

This was on our plate every morning with the round one being a tree tomato, first time we ever tasted it...

The annual Flower Show was in town...

It was located on what appeared to be a large fair ground so there were lots of activities as well....

Pony rides...

Lots to buy...

 Some scenes around town...

In the town square

The fish seller...

The tailor...

Enjoying the shade...

Typical house...

Boquete is also known for outdoor adventures so there are many tour operators offering all kinds of activities...

We decided to do some hiking so chose a moderate trail high up in the mountains...

It was on private land so we had to sign in and out as well as a 3 dollar entrance fee...this is the gatekeeper...

The trail follows the pipeline which brings water to the town from the mountains...

The trees were tall...





And old!

Lots of bridges to cross...

The higher up we went the steeper and narrower the trail became...

But at the end we were rewarded with a waterfall, not overly large because it is dry season now...

Many people hike the trails in search of the elusive quetzal...

The resplendent quetzal is an aptly named bird that many consider among the world's most beautiful. These vibrantly colored animals live in the mountainous, tropical forests of Central America where they eat fruit, insects, lizards, and other small creatures. The bird was sacred to the ancient Maya and Aztec peoples, and royalty and priests wore its feathers during ceremonies.  

Unfortunately we did not spot one but If we did it would look like this...

It was a great hike, little tough getting started but a great way to experience the cloud forests of Panama...almost finished...

Boquete was a great stop on our way around Panama.