Panama Vacation - Bocas del Toro

Morro Negrito and Boquete down, Bocas and Panama City to go.

I took an early morning bus from Boquete back to David on Monday morning.  Unfortunately there were no direct buses to Bocas because of the terrain (see the map for details).  I was the only gringo on the 5 hour bus ride from David to Bocas which left me to zone out with my music and watch the countryside slowly change from coffee plantations and higher altitude forests to beach shacks and palm trees.  When the ride ended taxi drivers yelled and herded everyone on the bus to get the fare to the port.

Bocas del Toro generally refers to a group of 9 islands, with 'Bocas Town' being located on the largest island named Colón.  Christopher Columbus (Cristóbal Colón en Español) discovered them in the early 1500s while trying to find a passage to the Pacific Ocean.  The archipelago was later used by pirates because of its many natural harbors and lack of nearby Spanish colonization.  In the late 1800s the banana industry started to grow and United Fruit Company (now part of Chiquita) built much of the infrastructure that exists on the islands today.  Many immigrants came from Jamaica and other Caribbean islands to work on the plantations and their culture has survived throughout the years.  So there's your little history lesson about the area and why its different from the rest of Panama.

After a half hour boat ride to Isla Colón I definitely felt like I was in a different country.  I decided to walk from the marina toward my hostel despite the heat - I wanted to get a feel for the town.  I heard a few people speaking English with an almost Jamaican accent.  The buildings were brightly colored but obviously very old.  There were a lot of small food stands and souvenir trinket shops along the main streets.  A lot of people rode bicycles but most were on foot.  The island was small enough to get around without much need for a car (and taxis were really cheap when you got lazy).

I had been warned by a few people in Boquete that Mondo Taitu, the hostel I selected a few days before, wasn't that great.  It seemed to be one of the centers of activity and a friend had stayed there, so I wasn't deterred (and I'm glad I stayed there in the end).  I opted for one of the air conditioned rooms and I'm guessing the backpackers that gave me bad press couldn't afford the extra cost (jumping from $10 to $12 per night for A/C luxury).  The main reason I picked it was because one of the most popular bars on the island was in the hostel.  That made it likely that it would get noisy at night, but I was willing to take the risk.

I went to the front desk to check in and I got a weird look from the guy at the front desk.

"I know you.  Where are you from?"
"Atlanta."
"You play soccer."
"Yeah, I play at the Georgia Tech rec fields a lot."
"No, in the ADASL."
"Yeah..."
"I played against you on the AMG Silverbacks for a few years, my name is Jacques."

Trippy, he totally blew my mind.  After he said his name I remembered him and recognized his face.  Jacques was a top goal scorer for his team and I used to defend him for a few years when I was with the Pelicans.  He told me that he graduated from Emory and had been living in Bocas for close to a year.

I got settled in my room and had another small world experience.  First, there was an Aussie couple from Geelong.  That wasn't too weird.  Then I met a group of American girls from the Peace Corps that had been working in Guatemala for the past two years.  They were on a whirlwind tour through the rest of Central America before heading home.  One was from New Jersey, another from Iowa and two from the LA metro area.  One of those two was from Orange County.  And her parents owned a Thai restaurant.  That I went to when I first moved to California.  Bocas was turning into an episode of "This Is Your Life."

Endangered species

It was after noon and I only had until the end of the day plus another full day before I headed back to Panama City.  Although there were a few good breaks at the islands, surfing was out because the swell forecast was flat for the next few days.  I asked around at the hostel and it looked like Red Frog Beach would be a good place to spend the afternoon.  I took a short water taxi ride to Isla Bastimentos and through my Spanglish and his Englañol I understood that he would hang out on the island and wait for me (otherwise I would be stuck since it was barely inhabited).

On the path to the beach my driver hopped off the trail and started poking around tree trunks.  He waved me over and we saw this strawberry poison-dart frog.  It was about the size of my thumbprint and wouldn't hold still for more than a second. When I got to the beach I had it all to myself. There was a hotel with a few people about 500 yards away but that was it. I took the camera in the water and didn't see much (except for what I got on this video):



I saw a sloth in a mangrove tree on the way back to Bocas town but I couldn't get a good shot of it with my camera. It really just looked like a ball of hair through the leaves and branches.  I went out with the Aussies for dinner at Bambu and drinks later at that night at the hostel bar in what ended up being very low key.  The next day the three of us rented bicycles and rode from the hostel to another empty beach called Playa Bluff.  Sea turtles nest here at certain times of the year but I couldn't tell that any had been there.  I did a bit more snorkeling and hung out in the shallows.  Here are the best shots (story continued below):

The Aussies didn't go out that night so I met up with the Peace Corps crew.  The Mondo Taitu bar was dead so we went to La Iguana, another bar on the island.  The dance music they were blasting wasn't really my thing but their back deck was a dock that you could hang your legs off of (or jump off I guess).  The Bocas del Toro baseball team won their Panamanian league semifinal and the locals were going nuts in the bar.

Bocas Town from the plane

I had an early flight so I didn't push it too hard.  The girls, by coincidence, were also going to Panama City (by bus) and didn't know where they were staying.  I suggested the hostel I had looked into and we agreed to meet up when we got there.  I recommend taking the $60-80 flight rather than the $15 bus ride... that lasts 8 hours.

There were a lot of things I didn't get to do in Bocas.  There were plenty of other beaches, some decent dive spots (according to the girls), you could take a tour of a native/traditional village on one of the other islands, and if the surf had been nice that would've been fun.

The next morning I went to the airport... there were kids walking across the runway on their way to school.  I got on the plane (with no assigned seats) and chose the one right behind the cockpit.  There was no flight attendant, no safety speech, no greeting from the captain even.  They just hopped in, started the propellers on the plane and we were off.  Next stop - Panama City.

A Man, A Plan, A Vacation, Panama

Morro Negrito is near the western town of Tole

I just got back to Atlanta from Panama - ahhhhhhh AC. Time to catch up on all that went on.

Surprisingly, the flight to Panama City from Atlanta was only 3.5 hours. I've been flying out to California a lot lately, so that was a breeze. I landed in PC at 9 pm, picked up my bags and met the driver the surf camp arranged for me. Morro Negrito was a liiiiitle bit harder to reach.  I felt totally comfortable touching down by myself in a Spanish speaking country after all of the time I spent in Chile.

The taxi driver took me on the half an hour to the bus terminal and instructed the bus driver where to drop me off. Luckily the bus was a proper tour bus with reclining seats, although I sat in the very back row and the AC unit dripped on me every now and then. Annoying, but manageable. Steve, the owner of the surf camp, sent a bunch of email instructions that included - do not fall asleep on the bus. Since the bus left at 10:45 I definitely didn't make it without nodding off a few times.

The driver remembered my taxi drivers instructions and dropped me off at about 4 am. I realized why I was warned to pay attention. The bus stop was nothing more than a police checkpoint (for drugs) in the middle of the jungle. I sleepily staggered off of the bus and saw a car flash its lights at me. This was Jefe, the driver that was to take me to the port. About a half hour later, we pulled into the port for Morro Negrito. After a few honks a young Panamanian came out and unlocked the gate. I understood enough Spanish for him to tell me that the boat captain wouldn't be there until 6 am and I could sleep in a hammock on the patio until morning.

About a half an hour later a rooster started crowing, and has anyone actually tried to sleep in a hammock? Honestly, I don't know how. The boat captain finally arrived and I met a few of my campmates that had gotten to the port earlier in the day. They were lucky enough to get rooms since they got there earlier in the evening.

Morro Negrito

We all hopped on the outboard motorboat for the beautiful 45 minute to the camp. So after a plane, taxi, bus, taxi, boat, I finally arrived around 7 am just in time for breakfast. I don't want you to think I'm complaining. I was really tired but so pumped to start surfing.

Morro Negrito is on a peninsula but it can't be reached by road so they consider it an island.  There were a few locals driving the boats and working in the camp along with our surf guides, Keith and Lucas.  Keith is from Redondo Beach and comes to MN once a year to surf, fish and guide the guests.  He was an expert surfer but also brought his spear gun for something else to do.  Lucas was German, not very experienced and was planning to stay at the camp for about two months.  They were both really cool guys.

As for the other guests, it was a Canadian invasion.  The leader of the group was a guy named Warren.  He visited MN a few years earlier and came back with his fiance, three friends (one of whom was a 2006 freestyle moguls Olympic skier) and their girlfriends/wives, plus a few other friends.  Another Canadian couple
rounded out our group of 13.  The guys were pretty good surfers and also helpful with tops on positioning and timing.

The 6 days were spent surfing, eating, sleeping, with a little bit of snorkeling in between.  I surfed Snickers and Chapel with the beginner group and attempted P-Land and Nestles with the more advanced guys.  The swell wasn't big enough for the other breaks and I'd be tempted to come back to see it.  The week after we left they were getting 20 foot waves!



I brought my camera out every now and then to get some underwater shots.  It was no Great Barrier Reef, but I'll take it.  I added a few at the bottom of this post but you can check out the full album on Picasa.  Keith and I went out for some night freediving to try to find lobsters (the ones there have no claws) to eat, but they were all too small.  Keith did get a wicked jellyfish sting and I flirted with danger as I tried to take a picture of it.

Most evenings were really hot and humid until the rain came.  May is the beginning of Panama's rainy season but don't let that discourage you from going.  It provided a cool off period after the long, hot day.  I heard stories about the conditions during the dry season and I'm glad I picked May.  We even used the runoff from the roof to take group showers.  The surrounding community shared the same water source and we were happy to conserve what they had.  The first few nights were really uncomfortable since I wasn't used to the heat.  I was expecting this from the time I spent in similar accommodations in Costa Rica back in 2008.  I ended up popping a Benadryl (or two) every night to help me cope with all of the mosquito bites and knock me out.

Should've gotten stitches - it's deep, trust me

I got to see a turtle, eat sushi 5 minutes after the fish was caught, and gained a lot of confidence in my abilities (the whole point of the trip).  I tried to push myself and surf with the guys on the reef a few times.  The wave faces were between 6-8 feet which were really big for me.  Unfortunately I got taken by a wave I wasn't trying to surf and dragged across the reef.  I gashed my leg pretty badly and spent the rest of the trip trying to superglue it together to keep out an infection.

Despite that setback I kept at it for the last few days.  I really lucked out with the guides and other guests - they could have easily made or ruined the week.  I started this adventure on my own but I was happy I didn't spend the week by myself.  I know have some people to see up in Vancouver on a trip I hope to take in the not so distant future.  I submitted my experience to Trip Advisor as something I'd definitely recommend to anyone that wants an atypical vacation and enjoys surfing (note that there's more to do than just surf, but it's definitely the focus).

Check out parts II (Boquete), III (Bocas del Toro) and IV (Panama City) of my series of posts on Panama to see all of the other places I visited during my second week.

Best of the Great Barrier Reef

As a part of my Best of Australia recommendations, these are my opinions on the Great Barrier Reef. When you go to Australia, you have to go to the reef. That's all there is to it. I took 7 days for my drive up the coast, but you can do quicker if you fly. There is a lot to see between Sydney and the Whitsundays if you decide to drive. Byron Bay is a cool surf town and the scenery is much different than Sydney or Melbourne. I didn't spend any time in Brisbane, but I'm sure there are things to see.

You'll have to balance between time and budget on how you want to get there. You can find one way flights to Hamilton Island from $100 up depending on the season. You'll want to book a sailing trip from Airlie Beach. I took a boat called Summertime and spent 3 days there. It was the best vacation of my life.  There are all kinds of different boat trip packages, styles and formats.  Do a little research on Google and find one that works for you.  If you're into diving or want to be, get your license before you go.  But even if you can't do that, a lot of the boats will let you do introductory dives without one.

If you love the reef as much as me and have even more time to see it, I would also suggest adding Cairns to your itinerary. It's further out of the way from the bigger cities and is only mildly different in sightseeing options, but any excuse to go diving and sailing is worth it for me. #1 is the Whitsundays, #2 is Cairns as far as priorities. If you can do either, you'll have an amazing time.

Summertime - Day III

Curious Priscilla joins our dive

See Days I and II for the other parts of the sailing trip.

Our first dive when we woke up in the morning was in the same exact spot as the night dive from the day before, but it couldn't have been more different. We were swarmed with all kinds of fish. Flo picked up a few pieces of dead hard coral and started clicking them together. The next thing I know, this massive - I mean MASSIVE fish cruises into the middle of our group.  His name is Priscilla - yes his name.  Supposedly there used to be a pair of these Humphead wrasse, Elvis (male) and Priscilla (female).  When Elvis died, Priscilla switched sexes.

On our second dive I set a new personal depth record at 27 meters.  We dropped down a bunch of reef faces which felt like cliffs as you looked over the edge.  I had bought a few disposable underwater cameras for the trip but most of the pictures didn't come out well.  The one you see here was taken by Flo with a professional underwater camera.  As you get deeper bright colors fade out (I won't bore you with the science) and all you are left with is blue and green.  Professional units have a white balance setting that will color correct shots taken at different depths.  The next time I go diving I'm going to get one.  I have wasted over $100 on disposable cameras over the past few years and I'm guessing a good one will run about $500.

Great pic minus the finger

As we wrapped up the afternoon a bunch of us went snorkeling one last time and I got a highlight of the trip.  A Hawksbill turtle glided past me so I started to follow it.  The others weren't close so I waved them to come over.  We followed him for about 10 minutes and he didn't mind a bit.  I dove underneath him and really wanted to grab onto his shell for a ride (though I didn't).  I got one of the guys to take a picture of me but he put his finger partly over the lens.  I would've taken another one had I known before they were developed - another reason to get a real camera.  The turtle finally turned out to sea and we let him go.  We got back in the boat and headed back to Airlie Beach for one more night at Magnum's.

The entire group all met out for drinks with the crew later that night.  I had done five total dives so they gave me a t-shirt and DVD with all of the pics from the weekend.  I really hit it off with Kat (something about the British accent gets me - even Minnie Driver from Good Will Hunting).  We said our goodbyes to everyone and caught the ferry back to Hamilton Island in the morning.  It dropped us off right at the airport and we were back to Sydney.

Summertime passengers and crew back on shore

All in all, this was absolutely the best vacation I've taken as an adult.  From the drive and the surfing up the coast to Surfers Paradise to Hamilton Island and everything that we did on the boat, I really encourage everyone to #1 go to Australia and #2 book at LEAST a sailing trip on the Great Barrier Reef, if not the entire trip that Brian and I completed. Now it's back to the real world where I have 3 weeks of work left before I say goodbye to everyone and go home.

Summertime - Day II

See Days I and III for the other parts of the sailing trip.

After breakfast the next morning the crew unloaded the kayaks from the roof of the boat and we got to paddle around the shallows of Hook Island.  Our main focus was in a mangrove forest because that’s where the juvenile sharks feed.  Brian and I quietly paddled through the trees and roots along with the rest of the group.  After a while we saw 3 or 4 black tipped reef sharks, maybe 3 feet in length, darting in and out of the shallows.  We also saw a sea turtle a little further out but we didn’t get too close.

We went back to the boat and coasted around the edge of Hook Island to our first dive spot.  I went diving once in Cairns back in April, but the last time before that was in 2004.  I had some difficulty with the provided masks that time, so I brought my own on this trip.  I recommend that you bring your own if you snorkel and/or scuba dive.  It's an extra thing to pack but it can prevent a ruined dive if your mask won't stop leaking.

There were only a few certified divers which was nice because it wasn't too crowded.  The water was crystal clear and the colors in the reef were indescribable.  I have never seen so many fish - you will just have to see it for yourself.  My only regret is that I didn't see any sharks or turtles (while diving).  We ended up doing two dives and though I was nervous at first, I started to get comfortable in the water.  One thing about diving - the faster and deeper you breathe, the faster you use your air.  You can extend your dive by up to 15 minutes or more just by taking calm, measured breaths.  Certification classes teach you to not hold your breath because of the damage it can do to your lungs when changing depth.  Also, the dive depth also determines the dive time.  So our first dive only lasted about half an hour because I was the first one to run low on air.  The second dive lasted 7 minutes longer, with dives the next day going even longer.

Brian and a few others interested in diving were allowed to go down in an 'Intro to Diving' type course.  The crew gave them the basic instructions and they went down to depths that were safe even if you shot straight back up to the top.  Brian had difficulty the first time, but after some one on one instruction he got it down and had a blast.  In between dives we could jump off the boat and go swimming or just lay on the deck to rest and catch some sun.

We docked near Hayman Island and after dinner Flo convinced me to go on a night dive.  Everyone else was relaxing on the boat after dinner and we started gearing up.  Some of the procedures are different since it's pitch black in the water and the only light came from our two flashlights.  We tied glow sticks to our tanks and took the outboard boat to a spot fairly close to shore.  Going into the water was so different compared to day dives.  When you go under water it is always quiet - all you have to hear is your own breathing and the bubbles from your regulator.  When the water is pitch black it takes on a whole new level of silence.

I never thought about it before, but I guess that fish retreat to the coral during the night to sleep.  Every now and then we would see a head peek out from the reef or catch a glimpse of a tail fin at the edge of the flashlight beam, but for the most part the ocean was empty.  Flo went to a spot he frequented where a big grouper or cod (I don't remember) hunted at night.  If you shined your flashlight on a small fish the big guy was supposed to dart in and eat it.  Unfortunately we couldn't find him so the dive was mostly disappointing when it came to wildlife.  We did see a crab and a big lobster, but that was it.  I still enjoyed seeing the reef in a different way.

When I got back to the boat it looked like one of the other boats anchored about a quarter mile away from us.  You could tell it was one of the party boats that I mentioned in the last post but I don't remember its name.  We ended up sitting up on the deck and looking at the stars - I have never seen so many, even in the Kentucky countryside.  Cap'n Pete pointed out some of the constellations, including the Southern Cross (also, Orion is upside down below the equator).  There was no way to take a picture without some serious hardware, so you'll just have to believe that I saw the entire Milky Way across the sky.  I found this picture online which gives you an idea, but imagine that it stretches from east to west, all of the way across the sky above you.

Sleeping was pretty easy that night from all of the activity during the day.  We had one more day to get a few more dives in before it was time to go home.

I Bless the Rain Down in... Fiji

For a few months I have been talking about going to Fiji to satisfy my visa requirement.  I'm on a 977 temporary work visa, good for a year but only 90 days at a time (more on that saga in the next post).  I got the approval from my client to make this trip instead of going all of the way home for a week, just to go back again for Christmas and then again when the project ends in February.  I'm glad I could save them the money for the plane ticket.

On Thursday afternoon I flew into Nadi, one of the larger islands of the more than 200 that make up Fiji, on a 4.5 hour flight.  My resort had an office in the airport, so I met with an employee who arranged to have me driven out to the pier.  From there, a driver took me and another late arriving guest on the half hour (somewhat choppy) outboard motorboat ride to Beachcomber Island, pictured at left.  The other guy on the boat, Darren, was from Oregon and in Nadi for a conference.  On a whim he decided to take a few days off.

We got to the island and had to jump into a bit of surf since there was no dock.  As we walked up to the buildings, we were greeted with a drink from the sand bar before we checked in.  I was put in a 10 bed dorm with some other random travelers while Darren had rented a private 'bure'. The resort took up the entire island and you could walk around the whole thing in 15 minutes. There were multiple paths once you got into the canopy of trees that covered the central portion with sand paths to the different buildings.

The first night was pretty quiet for all of the hype I had heard.  The high season doesn't start until 'schoolies' start to vacation in late November, which is a post-high school trip for a lot of Australians.  The next day was sunny and Darren and I took advantage of the boat trip for free snorkeling a few hundred meters off the island's shore.  I got a few pictures with my underwater camera that haven't been developed yet, so I'll post any good ones.  A few of the things I saw: crown-of-thorns starfish, blue starfish, sea cucumbers, clownfish, parrotfish, and unicornfish among others.

We met a few cool people during the day, mostly Brits, and I stumbled upon the second unicorn sighting of my life (unrelated to the fish mentioned above).  I documented my last sighting in this post. This was unicorn 2.0.  Musical taste, height, looks, brains, accent, personality, all there.  The last unicorn I never expected to see again, but did.  This one was a world traveler from London, making it much more likely to be a true unicorn.

The resort provided all meals, which were a buffet mix of fish curry, chicken, fried eggplant, coleslaw, spaghetti, fruit and other random foods.  It wasn't bad, but definitely got worn out over the next few days.  The weather turned bad, as it was the rainy season.  It ended up raining that night (and every night thereafter), but there were enough people on the island to make it a good time.  The DJ played typical songs you hear in a club and we all got out in the sand and broke it down.  There are two types of beer on Fiji - Fiji Bitter and Vonu.  I definitely recommend the latter.

Darren left but I met a few British guys (Paul and Elliott) that came in on a boat the next morning.  The storms really dampened the air and the attitude of the island.  I spent most of the time hanging around with the guys and playing cards or reading my latest book, For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway.  We talked about going on one of the day trips that bounced between other islands in the Mamanuca and Yasawa archipelagos. Castaway and Blue Lagoon were both filmed on islands that you could visit for the day. Unfortunately, the chop was so bad that the boats weren't running. I saw enough surf to know that even if they had the trips, I would've been seasick.  The same went for scuba diving.  They had some great wreck dives planned at a boat and WWII plane, but both were canceled for the weather.  Even though they were in deep water (~26 meters), just getting there would've been really rough.

Piling in a bunk with the pommies

The night was mostly the same as the previous night - literally.  The music was pretty much repeated and most of the people there had been on the island for a few days.  We goofed off on the dance floor as most people weren't really dancing.  I had a nice, peaceful night in my bunk because all of the other bunkmates in my room had moved on and I had the whole room to myself.  They were putting all other guests in a massive 100 bed room that was separated on the guys and girls side.  The next day was spent much like the last, listening to music as we laid around under cover in the rain.  The girls introduced me to a British TV show called The Inbetweeners and I loved it.  I got the first 3 seasons off of Nicola's hard drive, so I'll be bringing that back to the States.  I found out that the guys would be in Sydney for NYE, so we're going to try to meet up.

All in all, it was a relaxing weekend, but the relaxing was forced upon me because of the weather.  I got to snorkel a few times, but no scuba diving.  I'd like to go back and travel between the islands on one of the 7 day passes.  The snorkeling was great right off the beach and at a better time I'm sure the diving would've been spectacular.

I also picked up a few good souvenirs (pictured below).  The first is a tiki mask that cost about $10.  The second is 3 cannibal forks in a hand carved frame.  I had no idea while I was there, but Fijians practiced this all of the way until the late 1800's.  Yum.  So I came back to Sydney on Monday and so begins another story...