Because there was no hot water, Craig and I avoided the "metal" shower closet. That sounds bad but we knew we were staying at a different place on Friday where the facilities were better. After we returned on Saturday afternoon, Clark offered to consider checking out early from the treehouse. By Sunday night, after all the rain and half dry clothes on the line, new mozzie bites and sleeping on a damp, uncovered 80's era mattress without a hygiene cover (the elastic on the sheets was too old to stay on), I took him up on the offer and made reservations for a room in town.
After we returned from our excursion to Dolphin Cove and Cayo Cano, we quickly grabbed our bags we had prepared that morning and hauled it out of there. We enjoyed laundry service, hot showers, and AIR CONDITIONING. It was a Eureka kind of night. We woke up rested and ready for our transfer to Panama City that afternoon.
Funny side story: when we hired our cab to help us move our luggage, we asked the cabbie, the one who brought us back from our boat excursion, if he would wait for us to bring our luggage and then take us back downtown. When Clark went to pay the guy, Clark only had a 20$ bill. Technically, the ride should have been $4 one way so maybe $8 but Clark would tip him a little. The guy said he didn't have change and that the cost was 20$ anyways. We were talking it over when we checked into our room. The lady was confused and thought we were discussing something else, and we told her what it was. She said we definitely got ripped off and used some choice words I will leave to the imagination.
The next day we went out to grab some lunch before heading to the airport. We were a few streets over from our hotel and some guy stops Clark to book a taxi. Clark agreed and arranged the time and place. We ended up deciding not to eat since none of us were hungry. I gave the leftovers of my 3-gallon jug to the waitress, and we headed back to the room. By the time I caught up to everyone they had most of our luggage already loaded in the pick-up bed except it was the same taxi as the day before. The guy who booked the taxi was there, but he wasn't the driver. The driver was the young guy who ripped us off.
I asked Clark if he had noticed the cabbie was the same as yesterday and if he would please negotiate the price in advance. Clark hadn't even recognized the guy but then he looked and realized it was the same taxi. Clark immediately asked the price, and the guy said 20$ then quickly downgraded the price to10$ except the cost should have been $4 maybe $5 if you count the luggage since the airport was just 5 minutes away. Clark said, "Heck no" and started to take the luggage out. Everyone unloaded the luggage in short order, and we hailed another cabbie who happily hauled us to the airport for the going rate.
Rainy weather
Calm seas but still cloudy
Dinner Sunday night. Clark bought these little weenies, but they had to be peeled individually to cook and eat.
Our attempt at USA dinner. Haha!
We booked an excursion on our final full day in Bocas del Toro. We wanted to travel to Dolphin Cove, snorkel at Cayo Cano, and go to Cayo Zapatilla, the marine park reserve. Our first stop was to view the dolphins. I think the break in the water about in the middle of the picture is a dolphin.
There are dolphins are there. They come to this bay to eat the jelly fish.
My effort to snap a picture of the coral we snorkeled among.
Another side story before the next pictures...When we first headed out that morning, we knew where we wanted to go. The tour director confirmed he could secure a boat for us to take us there. We negotiated a little on the price but ultimately, we all agreed on the plan for the price. Once we got out on the boat, it was still kind of cloudy, and the sea was a little rough but not too bad. I thought the driver pointed out towards the Zapatilla Cayo and said we wouldn't be able to go there (even though that was the plan) because of the rough sea but the boat is loud and we have a language barrier. Once we saw the dolphins and snorkeled, we headed out towards Zapatilla. Zapatilla is purported to be the best beach in Bocas del Toro...the most pristine with the tallest palm trees and few visitors or maybe there is alot of space to spread out. Anyways, it is inside a protected marine reserve.
As we headed out, the driver pointed to a green building and asked if we wanted lunch there. You have to order the lunch before going to Zapatilla so there is time for the food preparation. We declined and as we are getting closer to the twin islands, a security boat passed going back towards the main island of Colon. The driver pulled up the boat and asked us if we had our tickets. We asked, "What tickets?" and expressed that we were unaware we needed tickets. He said they just started requiring tickets to the reserve area and we could go back to the restaurant to use the Wi-Fi to get the tickets. We debated about whether to take the time to do that. To me, it all seemed phishy, since the I thought the guide said we wouldn't be going anyways, even though we were assured by the booking agent we were. We ended up deciding not to go and he took us to another island where we took a short hike to a well-known Bocas beached called "Red Frog" due to its many sightings of the red poisonous dart frogs that reside there. To say the least, I can't help but feeling we were cheated in a way but maybe that's just part of the overall jaded feeling I have from our stay in Bocas. The following pictures are of Red Frog beach.
The trail to Red Frog beach.
Some palm tree foliage...the leaves naturally look torn.
Ginormous bamboo
A pretty beach.
I've never seen sand like this. It was the texture of flour and oh so soft.
At the central park in Bocas Town.
Interesting architecture. This has the French Caribbean style of Charleston, SC.
Another view of town.
Our salamander resident at the treehouse hopped onto my leg.
Ismito Beach across the street from the treehouse trail.
Lunch on our last day. Adds new meaning to the name "catfish".
Smallest airport we've flown out of.
This is the totality of the airport. To the left is the ticket and baggage check. Behind that glass in the background is security and from there is a door leading outside to the runway.
Looking out the window as a plane comes in from Costa Rica.
I was a little worried we were taking a plane this size to Panama City but when only ten people climbed off, I knew we were getting a Cessna because about 40 people had gone through security.
Our Cessna for Air Panama.
It's always fun to board from the runway.
There was a security dog to sniff out the arriving people's baggage on the runway before it entered the airport.
Bocas Town from the air. Wow!
That is Ismito Beach from the air.
More islands.
Over mainland Panama.
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