Last weekend, I went to a little island off the Panama Caribbean coast. The weekend was a full-on beach trip, where we only did beach and water related things--it was a nice change from many of my other weekend trips. Overall I really enjoyed it. I didn't enjoy it as much as my trip to Nicaragua, but I really don't think that any other place will be able to beat it.Here are some of my highlights from my Panama trip.
1. Starfish Beach.
This was actually the only beach we visited during the trip. We went their Friday afternoon for a barbecue lunch, drinks and to hang out, and took a speed boat from the main island to this little beach. Underwater, near the shore there were starfish littered along the ocean floor. We were able to pick them up and take pictures--it was great. This was the first time I went to a beach and the weather wasn't ideal. Pretty much for the whole weekend it was overcast. Coming away from a weekend not burnt, isn't bad. The beach was absolutely gorgeous--lot's of palm trees, clear water and starfish all over the beach. There were two things though that really didn't add to the beach experience--gnats and sharp particles in the sand. I was walking along the beach taking pictures, and there were points where I just wanted to take the boat, drive away, and get out of there. I walked away from that beach, with tons of gnat bites and clear sharp things stuck in my feet, making it feel like a bee was stinging my feet every step I took. I guess those sharp thing in the sand are common, not sure if they are common in Panama or a lot of beaches in Latin America--either way the Costa Rican's we were with didn't seem phased.
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| Starfish Beach. |
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| The big boat was ours. |
3. Dolphin Watching.
While on the houseboat we stopped for 30 minutes in a pre-determined place, to try to spot dolphins. 30 minutes went by and no dolphins were seen. While I was eating a delicious sea-food lunch on the water though a group of us spotted a fin come up above water, and continued to follow it until it was out of sight. It was exciting! Along with seeing a dolphin, there were these little fish that jumped out of the water in a whole group, and continued to skip along the water for a good two minutes. I don't know how to describe it better than that, but basically those 5 minutes were awesome--dolphins and skipping fish.
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| This is where we had lunch, and docked for the day. |
Saturday afternoon I went snorkeling in the turquoise waters of the Caribbean sea--it was wonderful. I saw coral, tropical fish, sea urchins and tons of other marine life. Other than saying, it tired me out and I saw cool marine life, I don't know what else to say about snorkeling. You all know what it is.
5. The town of Bocas del Toro:
First off the people in Panama, or at least Bocas looked similar to southeast Asians--it was kind of weird. Their were times that I thought I was in Thailand, even though I have no idea what Thailand looks like or have ever visited, I just felt like I was in Asia. The town was touristy but also had some character. The cool thing about the Latin American touristy towns, are they are unlike many of the US touristy towns. In Latin America they are able to keep their personality, and will have lots of street vendors and local restaurants, not just stores with overpriced American goods and restaurant fast-food chains. Otherwise the town had many tour-operating companies, restaurants, bars and hotels--a typical beach town.
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| One of the many docks in Bocas. |
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| A street in Bocas. |
Those were the highlights of my weekend trip! If you ever get the chance to visit Bocas, DO IT! It's beautiful and will be a lot of fun, just pack bug spray.
¡Pura Vida!
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| Me on the boat, with the ocean as my background. |
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| Starfish Beach! |
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