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October 25, 2008
Day 3: Bocas del Toro
Monday morning, Adam and I had to wake up early again to catch an early flight to Bocas del Toro. Panama is a pretty small country so even though Bocas is on the western end of the country, it only took an hour to fly there from Panama City. We arrived at the hotel before check-in time but, luckily, there was virtually no one in the hotel restaurant which overlooks the water so we decided to eat breakfast on the veranda. Looking out at the water, Adam indicated he was pretty psyched about being in Bocas.
Not one to waste time, I asked the woman at the desk if she could arrange some private boat tours for us which she did. We still had some time to kill so we decided to check out Bocas town. Bocas town is a pretty small town, consisting primarily of a main commercial street and a bunch of residential streets. Even though it was only about 10 a.m. the sun was quite strong and it was already pretty hot. The main street had one of the old western town feels under the bright glare of the morning sun. We headed back to the hotel after check-in time, grabbed lunch at a nearby restaurant, and got ready for our first boat tour, a tour of Isla Pajaro, a small island occupied primarily by Brown-Footed Boobies and Red-Billed Tropic Birds with Frigatebirds soaring overhead, a local beach called Bocas del Drago, and Starfish Beach.
The distances between the islands was greater than I thought--it's always hard to gauge scale when you look at a map and I had initially thought the islands of Bocas were really close to one another but they weren't but riding along the water definitely brings welcome relief from the heat. Isla Pajaro was great--we circled twice around the island and gawked at the birds perched and flying around the island. Bocas del Drago was lovely--my ideal Caribbean Beach with the perfect mix of palm trees, shade, beautiful water, and sandy beach. We walked around a bit and then headed over to Starfish Beach, an aptly named beach notable for its starfish that line its waters. By the end of our boat trip I was enamored with Bocas. Many of the restaurants along the main street overlook the water and the restaurant we had dinner at was no different. We had tasty seafood and tropical drinks--a perfect way to end our first day in Bocas.
Our hotel veranda
Isla Pajaro
Bocas del Drago
Starfish Beach
Posted by Jennifer at October 25, 2008 10:53 AM