The Bull's Mouth!

Right off the bat I made an amateur travelers mistake, booking a ticket that landed late at night. This meant I would be spending the night at the bus station waiting for the first bus the next morning. I have traveled quite a bit and I am pretty used to spending nights in bus stations, airports, or wherever I can to avoid paying to get just a few hours of sleep in a nice bed, and I use that term loosely when talking about Latin American hostels and their beds. Nevertheless it still is the part of traveling on a "shoestring" that could be better, at least I saved 7 bucks! Here are a few Norwegians joining me at Hostel Albrook Bus Station.

They were on day one of a year’s trip, and already they were doing the dance of trying to sleep in public and avoid being accosted by the ever present security forces that presides over these types of places.

Anyway I made it through the night and caught the 6:30 bus to David, a town in western Panama on the route to Bocas Del Toro, the archipelago of islands that I was headed for. From there I had to take a collectivo, which is a van of sorts that acts like a small bus, to the town of Almirante. Finally, from there I was ushered by Panama's youth into a miniature motor boat for the 45 minute ride out to Isla Colon, the main island of Bocas Del Toro. Finally after 2 planes, a taxi, 2 buses, another taxi, a boat ride, and over 36 hours I was where I wanted to be!! I checked into the first hostel I could find, grabbed a bottle of Nicaraguan rum from a nearby store, and kicked back to enjoy a few Cuba Libre’s.

The next morning I woke up and headed out to the beach. Boca Del Drago was the destination, and after a 45 minute bus ride across the islands only real road I was there and ready to relax. The ride was really not too far, but the condition of the roads on Isla Colon are, well, less than great. Here, the pictures can do better than my words.

Isla Colon is on the Gringo Trail, and after 1 day and 2 nights I was ready to find another island that looked less like the boardwalk in Ventura, and more like Panama. So the next morning, day 3 now, I left Isla Colon and headed to Isla Bastimentos. This was much more laid back, more of a local flavor, and not a single road or car on the island. I relaxed there for the next 3 or 4 days, I cannot really remember, but I played on the beach, drank coconut milk, navigated the ocean in a dug out canoe I found, got muddy exploring the rain soaked jungle looking for dart frogs and sloth, and found ample time to lay around and read a book. All together it was an amazing first week. Have a look at the pictures!!

(These are my friends Margot and DP, they are on the road for the next 4 years! Good Luck you guys!!)