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.

Sunrise at Starfish Island

Another boat anchored at Starfish Island.

Arrival to Starfish after the tourists had returned to Bocas Town.

Under water and beautiful.

Ray takes in the moment when heading back to Almirante.

This is how we rolled for two days.

When it poured over the mountain, Greg manned the radio.

Make sure we don't fall over the cliff.

So many bananas and plantains

Ending the night with our dessert from Cheesecake Plus.

SPONTANEITY AT ITS BEST!

For whatever reason, when I woke up in our hotel room on Saturday (I think) and while waiting for Ray to shower, I started "googling" things to do in Bocas and that research led me to VRBO (Vacation Rentals By Owner) which then led me to a really nice house on a pretty beach somewhere on another island.  It would cost $450 for two nights for the four of us.  Not exactly $38/night which is what our hotel room would now cost us with it being a weekend.  So I quickly put that thought away.  At breakfast, while eating carrot cake (the Funfetti cake came the next day), after Ray and Greg had paid for our next night's stay and dropped laundry off to be washed while we were wandering the town, Greg made some comment about VRBO homes.  Great minds think alike!  Okay, I don't really remember how it all happened, but the next thing Thea and Ray know is that Greg and I are now looking at our phones researching places we might want to stay for another two nights.  We decided to hang out at the hotel for the day and night, but we wanted to see if we could island hop and find an inexpensive house rental.  We left many phone and email messages.  But first, three of us needed to find bathing suits.  Ray was good to go!

We had to remember though that we are in Panama and shopping for a shirt is difficult let alone a bathing suit, and we were on an island!  From what I remember of the morning (I tried to block it out!), Thea and I tried on our first swimsuits in the back of a small store (she was in the dressing room, and I was just dropping my shorts in the back of the store). She had found a tiny two piece (she is accustomed to wearing two pieces) with bananas on it, and the colors were lovely.  The size wasn't quite right, but she was giving it a go.  I, in the meantime, had no inclination of wearing a tiny two piece, and I had commented at the beginning of my retirement that I was fine wearing tankinis.  Plus, my belly hasn't seen sun in the fifteen years, since I last wore a two piece!  But here I was trying on a THREE piece tropical orange suit.  The top was a normal bandeau style, and it fit.  The top part is never the problem.  The bottom piece was just about a thong (a little more fabric than a thong, but very narrow fabric), and there was a cute little skirt to go with it.  The skirt, however, had a huge slit on the side baring lots of skin.  Thea had suggested turning the skirt, but fortunately, both she and Greg were unhappy with their finds, so I was going to keep looking as well.  By now the sun was intense, so we started looking at bike rentals.  Good exercise, and we will be able to see more of the town with a breeze blowing along the way.  Then we found electric bikes.  Who needs exercise?  Four bikes would cost $80.  While Thea and I were wandering the streets aimlessly, Ray and Greg spotted golf carts for rent.  $65 for the day!  SOLD!  What ground we could cover with this thing.  Driver Mar-Veen was back in business!  We had a plan, but we were still looking for those bathing suits.

We probably went into two or three more little stores (and we bumped into the Shermans and the Smiths along the way) before being told about Todo (not to be confused with Todo A Dollar).  Off the main street and around the corner there was a two story Walmart "wannabe".  On the first floor, this store had food, ice, drinks, electronics, small appliances, aerosol hairspray (!!!), suntan lotion, and trail mix (!!!), and on the second floor (remember heat rises), we spotted clothing and toys.  And bathing suits.  Ocean Pacific bathing suits.  Most were made for ten year olds.  Without my reading glasses on, I had no idea what size anything way, so I grabbed five or six suits, and I grumpily tried on one after the other.  It was hot up there.  They were one pieces and tankinis though!  However, one was too short (think Borat on the beach!), one was too tight, but one was looking promising to me.  The bottom piece was attached for security purposes to the top piece.  The salesgirl told Ray I couldn't try it on.  She wouldn't take the piece off for me.  Sweating and more grumpy now, I stuck my feet into the bottom piece making sure it fit.  It will do.  Sold!  Greg had found one as well.  Thea was still stuck looking at one size too small bathing suits.  Back to the first store to buy the banana suit after visiting a few more stores having no idea where we would be wearing these things.

No worries, Greg came up with a plan while renting the golf cart.  After some light shopping, we put our swimsuits on at the hotel (my bottom piece was a SMALL, so now think Plumber Al for the next two days, but the top piece was good and long!).  We hopped onto the golf cart, and our driver took us to Playa Bluff.  Before committing to a VRBO house, we wanted to see it first.  We set out for the beach.  We found the house.  We also found a restaurant.  At the Playa Bluff Restaurant, there was a sign and a large swimming pool.  The sign said that if we ate lunch or dinner there, we could use the pool for free (otherwise, it was $5).  We were hungry.  What a deal.  The restaurant owner said she had just bought the place (she was from New York), and they weren't planning on opening that day, but they did have food and could make us certain things.  We opted for a chicken, sausage and vegetable platter with french fries and lots of beer.  By now, we had ruled out the VRBO house, because it didn't make sense to be stuck in a house far from town just for the beach.  We wanted to see the other islands.  Greg had suggested a eight hour boat trip for the next day to island hop.  It would include food and drinks.  While in the swimming pool, Greg concocted more ideas.  Pictures first though:

Playa Bluff beach across from the restaurant

The restaurant

Beautiful beach

The restaurant pool (working his magic hooking us up with a place to go)

The beach along the way to Playa Bluff

More beach

Paki Point art work (televisions thrown in here)

Paki Point Bar and Restaurant

Making our batidos (shakes) for the drive back

Our VW bug we used to drive, on the left

Here is Paki Point's lounging area

Ray and Greg check to see if our cart can go over the mud and boards.

While at the restaurant, we ate, swam in the pool, swam in the ocean, drank beers and came up with a plan to charter a sailboat not for the next day, but for the next two nights.  What have we gotten ourselves into here.  Captain George would meet us at Riptide pier the next morning at ten am, and he would be our Captain and Chef for the next two days.  Always good to have a plan!  On the way back to the main part of town, we stopped at Paki Point which is a Bar and Restaurant where locals hang out.  The beach has dangerous riptides here, and the water was a little more rough.  We only stopped for a batido (pineapple shake) and pictures of the crazy artwork.  Driver Mar-Veen was now in the back of the cart with me, and once in town we searched for a restaurant to have dinner.  We chose an excellent restaurant (thank you TripAdvisor) called The Ultimo Refugio.  First we had Happy Hour on the second deck of our hotel.  We drank boxed wine (Clos brand and actually good!), and we ate crackers and snacks we had bought the night before.  We also ate sausage that Greg and Thea had purchased at the Tuesday market in Boquete.  At dinner, we met the owner, Katherine (went to college in DC area) and the Chef Ben.  We ordered appetizers and entrees to share, and the most amazing Snicker Peanut Butter Pie!  We then went back to The Iguana where it was a much quieter night.  We chatted again with our new friends from the night before, and we made promises to see them back in the interior of Panama soon.  Busy few days ahead of sailing, so we called it an early night (midnight again).

An excellent restaurant in Bocas Town!

This is how many menus in Panama are presented.

Shopping our last day before getting on the boat (lovely lady and beautiful store)

The ferry that brings in supplies (notice the jugs of water on the truck)

Greg and I check out the kitchen.  The headband and no makeup will be a given for the rest of the trip!

 The next morning Thea was knocking on our door to tell us that the laundry that had been "done for us" the night before was not clean.  Her dirty laundry looked dirty still.  Greg had to throw his laundry back in and do the wash himself.  Ray's laundry looked clean.  I hadn't thrown much in the load for fear of everything coming back two sizes too small.  This is when we had the Funfetti cake.  We also shopped for suntan lotion (I had half a bottle with me and a small bottle for our faces).  We found clothing and suntan lotion for $2.50 which isn't really a good thing, and we found little children diving for coins.  We then called a taxi, loaded our luggage up and met George at the pier.  It was now time for Thurston Howell IV, Lovey, Maryann and Gilligan to board the boat!  What a day it was going to be in this thing called retirement!

Our lodging for the next two days.