So after the bus was booked out, I 
arranged for a flight today. It ended up being one on a small turbo prop plane, 2 seats on either side about 40 people in total, but its only about an hour flight. Unfortunately the baggage restrictions place checked bags at 25 pounds, mine was 36, so add another $9 to the ticket...
arranged for a flight today. It ended up being one on a small turbo prop plane, 2 seats on either side about 40 people in total, but its only about an hour flight. Unfortunately the baggage restrictions place checked bags at 25 pounds, mine was 36, so add another $9 to the ticket...I got to Bocas, walked from the airport through the town to the hostel (all of 20 or 30 minutes). I stayed at a place called Casa Verde which is on the water. it was a few dollars more a night (12.50 as opposed to 8 or so) but had air conditioning in the rooms, WiFi and a dock you could swim from.
Bocas is another place I came to years ago. Its a group of islands on the Caribbean side, near Costa Rica. It has changed a lot, as expected, including more development, more expats (retirees and travelers) and slightly higher prices. Definitely more foreign travelers, its become one of the
most sees in the guide books for Panama.. Its a bit of a Mecca for wanna be rastas and American retirees and divers. There are lots of beaches, good surf and dive spots.
I did have some cool, Chilean rastas in my hostel. They played great reggae, most of it in Spanish but one of them could play just about any song. The other actually could play the sitar too!?!
Most of the days it rained some - it is rainy season... So I decided
to take a SCUBA class. This is the cheapest SCUBA I have seen in my travels - anywhere between $195 - 225 for Open Water. There are three companies and there are new classes every day. My class was 2 and a half days with four dives. We dove a small wreck, a reef or two and a wall. Saw load of fish, a seahorse, lobsters and lots of cool stuff. We got through all of the drills and exercises... hate swimming without a mask!!
Well after about five days, I decided that it was enough. Besides one I had completed my SCUBA class, the rain put a damper on most other things. There were some good nights dancing on the dock at Barco Hundido and diving into the sea from Aqua Lounge. The water taxis are cheap and a great way to get between islands, also about the only way... But I'd figured my time was up. Its a great place and all - but I can only take so much partying and lack of sun at the beach!
But fate struck again. The bus directly back to Panama was sold out. So I went to Almirante on the mainland, caught a local bus to David ($8 - standing up for about 2 out of 3.5 hours) then got the midnight express from David to Panama ($15), got to the terminal about 5:30 am and got a cab back to Ramon's... Then slept most of Sunday.
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