Bocas del Toro, Panamá
6/13/19
We left for Panamá earlier than we ever have before, at 6am. This time, we traveled on a larger tour bus, so there was more space. I was excited because I managed to get my own two seats. As we started driving, I heard from people closer to the front of the bus that we had to take a different route to Panama than usual due to a recent mudslide. This route that we had to take was much curvier and a little longer. I wished so badly that I had bought and taken some Dramamine before-hand. Because we took an alternate route, we were running a little behind on time too. We finally reached the border, which we had to walk across. The whole process of checking our passports and paperwork was pretty smooth, especially considering the amount of people in our group. However, it did take a while and it was very hot outside. Finally, we got back on the bus, which took us to the boats that we would take to Bocas del Toro. We finally arrived around 6:30 pm when the sun was about to set and we walked to the motels we would be staying at, which were pretty close-by. After we got checked in and everything, I went with some friends for dinner and we got to see the island a little bit. I was very glad to finally be able to sleep because it was a LONG day.
6/14/19
Today was the trip to “Playa de Las Estrellas.” It was on the island, but we had to take a small bus there, which seemed to act as a sort of taxi around the island, even for the locals. I actually enjoyed the ride there because of the scenery outside. Panamá is so beautiful. I was also interested to see how different the culture is here in comparison to the US as well as Costa Rica (which my 323 professor asked us to look out for for discussion on Monday). Once we got to the drop-off point, we had to walk a ways to get to where we were going to stay for a while. I also enjoyed this part because the beaches in Panama are what you imagine when you think of “paradise” without as many tourists as beaches in Costa Rica. We were warned before-hand not to touch the star fish when we got to the beach because apparently, they die when this happens. I was expecting to see a ton of starfish, but there were not very many at all. However, as you looked closer you could see some. They were bright orange and fairly big. The water was so clear that you could see them perfectly. We spent quite a few hours here. There were bars, some of which had food (seafood mostly) as close as 10 feet away from the water. When the time came to leave, I took my time walking back, noting and enjoying all of the beauty of this place. Getting to enjoy it made the long trip here completely worth it. When we got back to Bocas, I went with some friends to dinner. We went to this really good pizza place. It was a relaxing and fun day.
6/15/19
Today, we spent more time on a boat. We left around 9 am for the dolphin tour. We drove for a while until we reached this sort of bay area with a large area of open water. It took a while, but we were able to see some dolphins. We also got to see some sloths in the swampy areas between the ocean and land. The tour guides were good at finding them and pointing them out to us. Eventually, we made our way to Isla Zapatilla. The boat ride seemed like it took forever, but it was completely worth it. We stop at this gorgeous little island. Ro had explained to us that it was a national park/reserve, so nobody lived here. He also told us that we could walk around the entire island. As soon as we got there, I took off solo to walk around the island with nothing but a bag of chips in my hand (I was eager to get some alone time). It was cloudy, but there were hardly any people because it was still early in the morning. I am not exaggerating when I say it was one of the most beautiful and peaceful experiences I have ever had in my life. I even wrote an essay about it in my online SPA 304W class. After I made a full circle, I ate more snacks and did another loop or two. It got sunnier as the day went on. Eventually, it was time for us to go back to Bocas. This was my favorite day of the entire trip thus far.