Is it just me or do you also find I have hella stories for a tiny, unrenowned place I only spent 4 days at? I promise đ¤đ˝ this is my last post about this province in Panama that borders the Caribbean Sea to the north and LimĂłn Province of Costa Rica to the west.
If you havenât already, check out the other blog posts in this series 10 days in Costa Rica and Panama and letâs wrap this ish up:
I woke up bright and early again on Thursday morning. What is it about this place that had me waking up at the crack of dawn? Anywho when I got up, I was determined to seek out African history. And so I did.
I hailed my very own water taxi (big up me) to go to Old Bank, an Afro-Caribbean neighborhood on the western side of Isla Bastimentos, for $10.
I must say, the boats used as water taxis between the islands were really a great example of a culturally inspired innovation. On the way to Old Bank, it shut down twice and we were just going with the waves, really huge waves too, while the captain attempted to restart it, doing the same thing over and over until it finally responded đ¸. I could tell this was like a normal occurrence. Not a reason for panic. But đ¸.
I asked the captain to drop me off at Restaurant Alvin & Kechaâs a highly rated father and son restaurant that served local, creole food. I intended to go explore the island and come right back there to eat lunch.
At this point in my trip, I was mad impress with the network of docks around the islands and how normal it was to hop off at random establishmentsâ docks and walk through to get to the roadside. I said Bueno (lazy form of Buenos DĂas) and walked through the peopleâs kitchen, real normal to see what Old Bank was all about.
Old Bank is said to have a very strong, authentic Afro-Caribbean culture. It is a place known for music, color and passion. I definitely experienced the Caribbean music and color everywhere I went.
As usual, I had no expectations but even I was surprised at what the roadside was. The entire neighborhood had one road which was really a walkway that was beautifully painted. I donât even think there were cars on the island đ¤ or maybe just not on this side of the island.
On one side of the road were the houses rooted in the ocean; on the other side were houses rooted on hills. It was very close quarters. I felt like I was intruding on folksâ privacy. The first house on the hill side had two ladies changing curtains, playing She want the vitamin S while doing their Christmas cleaning. Soooo Caribbean. A few houses down on the ocean side, an old gent shouted, âBlack is beautifulâ as I passed by. I was like âAmenâ and paused to chat with him and a lady on the porch. They all spoke English very well.
In 10 minutes, I made it to the end of the island and turnt around to walk the other direction on the colorful road. There were young men working very hard, repairing a Seven Day Adventist church and ofc I had to chop it up with them for a bit. Honestly other than captaining boats and cooking this was the most work I saw the islanders do.
Along the road, there were signs with information about the people, history and culture. I read everyone. I hope you do too.
There was a young girl selling the best banana cake of life for $1.50, it was so deliciously moist. I had to order another.
I then hiked 30 minutes to Wizard Beach which had a newly completed gravel trail. A guy showed me the entrance to the trail and cautioned me about the roughness of the water. He wasnât joking. The beach was no joke. I donât believe even the locals go out in it although some told me they can handle it.
On my way back, a Rasta, Willy, hollered at me. He shared that the blacks on the island have more of a Haitian background. His favorite beach to swim at is Polo Beach but the ocean all around is rough during Christmas time. And he mentioned they do different water sports based on the season of the ocean. Right now, they usually surf on the reefs by Bibiâs. Other times they fish or swim.
I then lunched at Restaurant Alvin & Kechaâs it was cool. I was more impressed with the professionalism of the son. I didnât get his age but he looked no more than 21 running a successful restaurant. After lunch, I went out on the little extended deck in front of Restaurant Alvin & Kechaâs that the water was really moving despite its wooden stilts. As I observed the ocean and island activity I couldnât help but think that out here cars really did nothing for you. If you want to thrive you needed a boat man.
I then hailed a water taxi, this time I got a driver named PepĂŠ, nicknamed Milo, who was on the way to drop his cousins to surf. His boat also shut down as we drifted towards the crazy surf breaks. The waves were wicked. His words. His cousins ofc jumped out of the boat, leaving me hoping for the best, while PepĂŠ did the same thing over and over to get the boat going again. He did say that these boats never once turnt over. Ingenuity. I must say, I was really happy to see the locals including the black ones surfing and it not just being a tourist attraction.
PepĂŠ dropped me off at La Playita where I walked along La Playita coastline and mangroves for 45 mins and then swam. The water was surprisingly shallow and calm despite the waves looking intimidating from the shore. This was my best beach experience for sunbathing and swimming. I got my Vitamin S. On the other side of La Playita , I got charmed by a 20 year old who made a joke saying he is a big kid, El Capitan of a boat during Filthy Fridays. In the mangroves, I made the mistake of sitting in the sand, and immediately got bit by some sand insect. I also saw seaside roaches. So wild.
After some time, I made my way back to Selina; where I joined Juan, the Argentinian for a walking and photo tour.
This was my last night in Bocas del Toro and I decided to repeat Octo as my final Panamanian meal. On my way to Octo, I came across a brass band practicing Christmas carols. It was really enchanting. And ofc, Octo didnât disappoint.
The next morning, Friday, I woke up, packed my things and checked out. I had a smoothie designed for hangovers and was doing some work when Anthony came upon me and mentioned I better go catch the water taxi quickly because the weather is bad and they may stop running. I gathered myself and followed Anthony to the dock to get a water taxi back to Almirante. On land, I fixated on getting off the island. On the ocean, I learnt how truly tumultuous the waters could be in bad weather and wondered why I didnât even consider the risk involved in getting on a boat right before they stopped sailing because of inclement weather.
At the dock in Almirante, I had a pretty basic empanada carne con queso. I got into a shared taxi with another solo traveler from France and off we went back to the border town, Guabito, to re-enter Costa Rica.
My 3 nights, 4 days trip to Panama ran me a total of $475.05. I enjoyed spending money in Panama more than I did in Costa Rica. And even though the prices of food and accommodation in both places were near on par with the U.S. you get better ingredients, quantity and taste. Or so I told myself as I accepted not having much USD arbitrage on this trip.
Bocas del Toro, thank you for allowing me to discover you. You are eerily special in the way you are hidden yet known. And I loved the two rainbows I saw too!
Bocas del Toro Facts:
It comprises of the Panamanian mainland and 9 islands
Almirante where I took the ferry to the city of Bocas del Toro is a part of Bocas del Toro.
The islands are part of Bocas del Toro Archipelago which is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea in the northwest of Panama.
I visited 4 of the 9 islands
Hurricanes don't hit Bocas del Toro as it is too far south. Once every 100 years there may be an earthquake. There may be heavy rains when a hurricane is blowing up from the Caribbean into the Gulf of Mexico. That's really about it. Nothing to get nervous over. Hurricane Martha was the only known tropical cyclone to make landfall in Panama in 1969. Aka the properties that are partially or all the way in the ocean is a ok ⌠I think.
Other things I didnât get to do but I heard great things about:
This is a great guide for things to do https://solbungalowsbocas.com/best-things-to-do-in-bocas-del-toro/
You can walk along Wizard Beach to get to Red Frog Beach.
The floating bar, Boya de Vida, really cool concept and place to hang
E Bike / bus to Bluff Beach in the morning and do a Horse back ride from 10 am https://www.bluffbeachretreat.com/panamahorsebackriding.html
If I ever return to this side of the world, Iâll stay at The Sea Monkey Overwater Bungalows, on the island rich with Afro Caribbean history.
You truly have the gift of being able to delve into a culture and extract the richness and share it with us 𼚠thank you for the links to the places you visited!! This will be super helpful!! Also love the frog pattern emoji hahaha it says it all đđđ