Wednesday April 2, 2024
The best way I can describe our transfer from Costa Rica to Panama was what I imagine being human trafficked feels like. There are basically two ways to exit Costa Rica and arrive at Bocas del Toro: fly or take a bus and boat.
We opted for a semi-private transport on a mini-bus shuttle through a tour company and we are SO glad we chose that route rather than going with public transport. The company took care of E.V.E.R.Y.thing. They had someone to meet us at each transfer point. We could tell this was their business. The mini-bus picked us up at our Airbnb then made a couple other stops for passengers. The first stop, no one came, but the second stop, a couple from Norway climbed on. Then we drove for about an hour, reaching a town called Sixaola, right at the border.
When we arrived to Sixaola, we were "handed off" to a new guide who was Panamanian. We unloaded all our bags, which was ALOT more than the average traveler to Bocas, and we walked some ways down a partially dirt road under an interstate bridge to this street where we could pay our taxes and get our passports checked. There were some guys pulling these large metal handcarts they would use to help people carry their luggage. While Clark was "down in town" paying the tax in a Claro shop he described as sketchy, we waited near immigration and unbeknownst to us, our luggage was skillfully packed into a cart. When we got back to our guide, we were shocked to find this guy was ready to pull the cart full of luggage across the river for us. AWESOME! I regret not getting a picture of the way he got ALL our luggage in that cart!
Looking down the street on the Costa Rica side.
Immagration on the Costa Rica side. We had to pay an exit tax.
We went up a couple ramps onto the bridge and walked across the river via the bridge.
Looking back to Costa Rica.
Happy to move onto our next adventure.
VERY happy to have only 6 weeks left until home!
Panama mountains
The halfway point right at the border over the river. Barely still on the Costa Rican side.
The guide pointed out a family in the distance washing clothes in the river. He explained in Spanish this was a daily thing to witness.
A truck crossing into Panama is stopped on the bridge by the Panamanian police, which, by the way, don't EVER look friendly. I think they took some lessons from the Marine Corps. Once we got off the bridge, we went to get stamped through immigration (think DMV demeanor) then loaded everything into another mini-bus and were on our way for another hour-ish ride.
Crossing a river in Panama.
Other side
This is a funny picture for me. I saw the sign and thought I would snap the shot really quick. Less than a minute later, our van pulls off the road at this crude building that is a river dock, and we are very quickly herded, with our bags, through a shack and onto a crowded boat. No one really tried to explain anything to us. Once I went back and read through some more info. about Bocas, I read that this is the town where you catch the boat for Bocas. At the time, I didn't realize I had unknowingly documented our destination for transfer. Glad I did though!
Slightly culture shocked.
Pulling away from the dock.
Arriving to Bocas town.
The water is pretty and nearly clear.
I guess I was feeling some culture shock myself because at this point, I stopped documenting. When we got off the boat we were pushed through another building out onto the street deck where a lady, among other people, were asking if we needed a taxi. The lady still had on a shirt for the company we came with. Then there was this guy talking to us too, about how his friend was coming, all the while the lady is on the phone.
After maybe 10 minutes, a van pulled up and we loaded into it. The driver asked us where to, and we told him "La Cabana" having no idea what that even meant. It was the instructions from our Airbnb host. Also, I was trying to get my cellular connection to work. I had purchased an e-sim ahead of time but hadn't figured out how to switch over. It is a nerve racking to have Clark asking me where to go and the driver talking to him in Spanish to find out where to go, among all the noise of the vendors on the street trying to hook you into tours and what not. It was chaos, to say the least.
Once we arrived about 5 minutes later to the area of La Cabana, we waited a few more minutes for our host to come out to the road to lead us down the trail to the house.
This concludes our trip over the border. Read more about our Bocas adventures in the next few posts.
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