Jay & Nicole's Trip to Panama - Nov. 2006 

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    Panama City & Canal      Southern Beach      Boquete Mtn      Bocas Del Toro     Islands     Trinidad Mtn & Return
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We left Boquete & the mountains with excellent memories.  Our next adventure would take us to the area called Bocas Del Toro, located on the northern coast. 

To get there we had to return to David and take a windy road through a high mountain pass.


Outside of David we turned onto a bigger road that wound through the lush countryside.


We ascended into the mountains and could look backwards to see the Pacific coast line.

At the top we followed the ridge for a while... the road was nice and the views were excellent.

At times the road would make a turn and offer us an unbroken view of the valley below; the peace & tranquility was amazing.

Below is a look to the west, towards Costa Rica ... which we really want to visit next year.



We came to a big reservoir and I expected to see resorts and boats all over the place ... but there were none. 

I guess the tourist industry has not expanded up here ... yet!


The descent went quickly, as the Caribbean side of the mountains was much steeper than the Pacific side; mainly due to heavier rain. We got periodic glimpses of the coast; there were many islands.

We came across fields of pineapples and bananas ... the major agricultural products for this area.

Nearer to the coast we came upon pasture land and villages.

These folks live more like their ancestors did; the area was quite interesting.  There can be bad storms and hurricanes, so the homes were built on stilts to protect from flood water ... and it helps keeps the bugs out!


We got to the coast and saw un-inhabited islands; this area was declared a reserve many years ago.

Most tourists fly directly to the main island, so the only traffic came from local supply trucks.

We followed the coast until Almirante, which had 'water taxis' to the islands.  It took a while to find the taxis and a safe parking area; we were not impressed.

We made a hotel reservation but we didn't have any instructions on how find the hotel, or even the island it was located on  ... which made this part of the journey quite stressful.

Few people spoke English, so Nicole had to use her Spanish when she bought the tickets. It seems that there was only one taxi destination, Bocas Town ... from there we would need to get further directions.


After getting the tickets, we boarded a converted fishing boat with about 20 locals ... most of them were transporting produce.

The boat had a cover, but it didn't help much after we started. Thank goodness there was no rain, as all of our luggage would have gotten wet!


We were not impressed with the housing conditions in the port area; it was quite dirty & unsanitary.

The 'native' structures along the coast were in a little better condition ... but still not very nice.

We passed the deep-water port where produce was loaded.

We headed out into a big bay ... this won't be short ride!

Another water-taxi bringing people back to the coast.

We passed various islands and saw some local fisherman. Some islands had indigenous villages and rustic buildings... ... whereas other islands had big homes and nice sailboats.

We got to Colon Island and passed the airport, industrial area and then the harbor/marina.

We began to see hotels and felt much more comfortable, as this is more like what we expected.

After passing many hotels built along the water, we realized this was a major tourist destination.


We offloaded in Bocas Town at the taxi area near the police tower ... a good landmark.

Our first action was to have a nice cold drink and relax a bit ... it has been a travel-filled day!

Bocas Town was a bustling place, but there were only a few tourists as it was still low season. 

The architecture of the downtown buildings was clearly American, but from 50 or more years ago!

We walked off the main road and saw how the locals lived.  The further from town the nicer it got, probably because the foreigners who managed the hotels lived in these areas.

It was getting dark and we began to worry about finding the island where our hotel was.  We were directed to a taxi near the place where we had been dropped off.  We boarded along with some other tourists who were dropped off on one island.  We were taken towards another island ... and dropped off at the pier of our hotel!

It turns out that the water taxis constantly go back and forth between the islands.  To hail a taxi, you walk out onto the pier of your hotel and wave your hands at any passing boat.  If a taxi driver has room, he will stop to pick you up.  Waiting time averaged only about 5 minutes and the cost was $1 per person.

To see the rest of our Panamanian island experience ... click here.



Isla Carenero and our hotel


    
    Panama City & Canal      Southern Beach      Boquete Mtn      Bocas Del Toro     Islands     Trinidad Mtn & Return
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