2RetireesInPanama: TWO DAY TOUR OF BOCAS ISLANDS COMING OFF OUR SUPPOSED "FOUR DAY VACATION"

Once we met George and Antwan at the pier (Melinda, George's wife, wouldn't be making the trip with us), we loaded the luggage, George and Ray onto the dingy. Off they went to unload, and to hopefully, come back for the rest of us. No worries. We boarded the Southern Belle, and with Melinda showing us the way in the bathroom (how to use a pumping toilet, no less!), we were also given a safety lesson. We discussed what islands we had hoped to see, and George came up with an itinerary. Antwan, a twenty-six year old native to Bocas Town, would be helping George "man the boat". We dropped Melinda off at the nearest pier, and we set sail for Zapatillas Cay. To refresh my memory, this is where we were at the top on Isla Colon, and we sailed southeast to Zapatillas. We left at ten am, and the drive took close to four hours.

The correct term, I suppose, is Cayos Zapatilla. It is part of the Bastimento National Marine park. This park was Panama's first national marine park and was created in 1988. It stretches 32,000 plus acres, and it protects forests, mangroves, sloths, monkeys, caiman, crocodiles and more. Cayos Zapatillas, meaning "Shoe Cays", resembles a pair of shoes. These two islands are a refugee for coral reefs, mammals, reptiles and birds along with being a nesting place for sea turtles. We had been told to visit here by a girl in the lobby way back in Boquete! And when we mentioned it to George and Melinda, their eyes lit up so we knew it was a special place. On the way to this island, we stopped at a coral reef area to snorkel. As George put it, "it looked like Walt Disney threw up underwater". The colors of the coral and sponge were amazing! I found the best pictures of under the sea at this website--www.shutterstock.com

It truly was gorgeous under the water. Thea, Antwan, George and I snorkeled while Ray and Greg took in the peace and quiet of the sailboat. I was glad to hear George validate my comparisons with what I saw here compared to what I saw in San Blas when snorkeling. There weren't as many large fish (there were many smaller fish nibbling on coral), and this I read later is due to heavy "survivor" fishing in these waters. The coral is deeper so there isn't as much destruction by the fins worn by humans. It was easier to swim among the coral here, because of the depth, also.

Once at Zapatillas, we saw an uninhabited island. There is, however, an island caretaker. George told us we would have to pay $5 per person if we chose to walk the island (which we did). There are sea turtles nesting here, and at nighttime, we could see the ranger with his flashlight. We thought he was looking at sea turtles, but he might have been watching us. While anchored, we took the kayaks to the islands and walked the beach some. We then bought lobster from a fisherman that came up to the boat in his dugout canoe. We bought $25 worth of lobster. They were small, and, we found out later, more sweet than large Maine lobster. We had piña coladas, and we made sure we were lotioned up for the day!

Sail's up!

Catch of the day!

They brought us fresh lobster.

The wench to the anchor had recently broken. It needed to be manually hoisted up.

Antwan at the ready!

Arriving to Zapatillas!

Beautifully clear, smooth water

My headband, again, with a fantastic tankini top!

Lunch was nutty chicken salad (!) and quesadillas with fresh pico de gallo.

My piña colada.

Grilled steak, lobster, baked potato, fresh vegetables and wine for dinner!

The problem with buying $2.50 suntan lotion in a Walmart "wannabe" type store is it isn't necessarily effective even if it contains titanium dioxide. Ray and I first used more of the half bottle of the lotion I had brought from the States, while Greg and Thea used their brand new tube of lotion. They suffered with sunburns. They are from the Keys in Florida. They never burn. Lesson learned to buy the name brand suntan lotion. We then shared the remaining lotion that I had, and George also had some lotion laying around on the boat. After we kayaked, and laid around, and ate dinner, George played his guitar, and we were treated to a private concert. We tucked ourselves in after eating scrumptious lemon bars Melinda had picked up for us at a bakery on the island.

Continuing with the theme of "doing nothing" the next day, we did surprise ourselves and after eating breakfast which was leftover lobster scrambled in with eggs, cheese and bacon (YUMMO!), thick slices of bread, and papaya, we had George take us in the dingy to the center of the island. We walked into the forest and along the beach taking pictures along the way.

The clear, shallow water, and our transportation at times.

Sunset

Under the palm trees on our walk.

Into the forest

Bioluminescence water

More beach

Looking out to the other islands

Nature

Gorgeous water!

They collect their fee.

We sail away.

We then set sail to Red Frog Beach. With Starfish Island being out last stop before heading back to Almirante. Red Frog Beach was the island I really have wanted to see for the past two years. I have read a lot about the resort here. This beach is one of the more popular of the beaches in Bocas del Toro. With luck, we would see sloths or maybe a red frog. George pulled up to the marina and gave us directions. It was a fifteen minute walk to the beach. But the water was rough. We chose to walk the beach, and we decided to head back to the boat. Since we weren't going to swim here, we wanted to get to Starfish Island before dark. And we didn't see any wildlife this day.

Entrance to the resort and beach.

Boys surfing.

Looks more calm than it was while standing there.

Beautiful beach.

At the marina.

The Georgia--one of the world's largest yachts (Georgetown, BI)

The stormy sky chased us. We arrived and anchored at Starfish Island for the night. Ray, Thea and I swam, and while Ray got back on the boat, Thea and I explored the water for starfish. Two tourists from Mexico showed us the way, and we saw about half a dozen under water that night. We knew the next morning we wanted to explore more. That night the sky opened up just as dinner was being served outside. Greg and I sat patiently while everyone else ran around closing up the boat (I wasn't about to get in the Captain's way!). We moved dinner into the kitchen area, and this time we had a feast of salad, garlic bread, mahi mahi and spaghetti. Chocolatey, gooey brownies from the same bakery in Bocas Town were our dessert along with wine. We played cards (a new game learned) with Greg winning the game. Maybe not too smart to beat the Captain? It poured, and we slept peacefully.

The next morning Thea and I took the kayak to the starfish. Thea paddled while I dove for them. I have read not to bring the starfish out of water. We knew we were mostly disturbing their peaceas we collected a few for taking pictures. They were just so colorful with some being tan and others being dark orange and brown. We saw at least a dozen, and they were easily spotted being above the water on the kayak. We had a short trip back to the Port of Almirante, George and Antwan wished us well, we paid $12 for the car to be parked those few nights, and we made the nine hour car trip (with a dinner break in Santiago) home safely. Thanks to Driver Mar-Veen. We were back to the interior of Panama realizing now that anything goes with us. Never say never, and never think that I, for one, can't be spontaneous! Our three night, four day mini-vacation to the mountains of Boquete turned excitingly into a eight day, seven night trip that had us staying in the mountains and on the ocean in two hotels along with a boat. Here's to the next adventure! Here's to some calmness in Chame for the next few weeks. I think.