We stopped off in Boquete for a few days R&R after the previous Colombia tour. To get there from Panama City, we took a 6 hour bus journey to David, then hired a car for 3 days to travel to and from Boquete. Boquete is a small town around 1,200 metres up in the mountains, and is yet another coffee region.
We rented a couple of apartments with spectacular views.
We took a scenic drive around, stopping for coffee at a plantation café of course, and discovered an interesting rock formation. I’m sure climbers would love the challenge.
Then back in town Ronnie discovered a craft brew pub so he was happy with that challenge.
After returning the car, we took another bus to Bocas del Toro on the Caribbean coast in the north of Panama. There was a short, but bumpy boat crossing to Isla Colón, the main island in the Bocas del Toro archipelago. Colón was named after Columbus who explored the area in 1502 looking for a short-cut to the Pacific. He would have to wait over 400 years until the Panama canal was built.
From Bocas town, we caught a water taxi for the 2 minute crossing to our hotel on another island (Caranero). Water taxis are constantly criss-crossing the water between the islands.
The next day, we took a walk around the perimeter of Caranero island.
It felt a bit like a reality TV series with Bear Grylls. Michelle then informed me that “The Island” is actually filmed off the coast of Panama, albeit the other (Pacific) coast.
We took a trip (by water taxi of course!) to Red Frog beach. We heard lots of frogs, but didn’t see any. It was worth the trip for the beautiful beach though, and as a bonus we saw a dolphin from the boat on the way back.
Next we took a tiny plane from the main island to San José in Costa Rica – country number three of the trip. Bocas del Toro airport was tiny. We checked-in in an office. We had to weigh ourselves holding our carry-on bag.
At the end of the runway was a football pitch where some boys were playing. There wasn’t even a fence separating the pitch from the runway. I know pilots have to deal with bird strikes but ball strikes must be pretty unusual.
The flight was pretty smooth, so Michelle’s fear of flying was subdued, and Ronnie’s arm escaped without further scratches or bruising. Now in Costa Rica, country number three of the trip.
