I am sitting at a hostel on Isla Bastimentos in Bocas del Toro, Panama as I write. I am in another beautiful place and my eyes are opening even wider as I enjoy new experiences.
Nikki and Scott arrived on Saturday and it has been adventures since the moment they got off the plane. They actually arrived about 7 hours later than they were suppose to because Scott had some passport problems in Houston (they wouldn't even let him board the plane), but with some perseverance and a very long day they finally made it to Costa Rica. Let me also say that my waiting skills are phenomenal right now. I sat at the airport for 10 hours and I wasn't even really bored!
We went straight to Puerto Viejo on the caribbean when they arrived and stayed at a hostel called Rockin J's. It was huge and had everything a backpacker could possibly ask for. It served its purpose but I did feel a bit like another traveler getting pumped in and out of a gringo hostel. We rented bikes on our first day there and explored the little beach towns. The roads were pretty good actually (and by that I mean paved!) so it was easy to cruise around. On our second day we went on a canopy tour, which ended up being one of the best things that I have done since being here. I actually almost didn't go on the tour because of the cost but changed my mind at the last miute. It was SOOO much fun. There were 9 of us in the group with 3 guides. It was really the 3 guides that made the day. I would recommend it to everyone coming here.
On our third day we caught a shuttle that took us to Bocas del Toro in Panama. I got a new stamp in my passport, which is always exciting when you are traveling. The border was easy to cross. They don't really seem to care about tourists coming in. They didn't ask any questions, only for $5. The interesting thing to me is that I can feel the difference between Costa Rica and Panama even though asthetically they are very similar. It is much more conservative here. In Bocas men have to wear a shirt at all times and women cannot walk around in their bikinis. This may sound normal if you are in North America reading this but it is pretty standard in the beach towns of Costa Rica to wear nothing but a bathing suit everywhere that you go - and barefoot as well. And when I say everywhere I literally mean everywhere!
Our first night in Bocas we stayed on the main island in a little hotel. We arrived in the evening so we went for dinner and then for a walk. Our walk led us to a bar as is our trend right now. And so the night began. The hilarious thing about the bars on this coast so far is that they play all of the 90's music that we listened to in high school. And they love it!
Yesterday we took a boat tour around all of the islands. It is an archipelago of 6 islands called Parque Nacional Marino Isla Bastimentos. The tour itself was not all that it was cracked up to be but it's one of those things that you just have to do so that you know. We are now on a smaller island called Isla Bastimentos that takes about 10 minutes by boat to reach from the main island. It is pretty empty here but there is some development happening so I think that the face of this place is changing quickly. Today will be a beach day, which I haven't had in nearly a week now. A beach day means that I lay in the sand, work on my tan and swim all day long. I know - life is rough :)
We will stay here for two more days and then head back to Costa Rica. Nikki and Scott fly out on Sunday so we are over halfway through their visit now. Time flies when you're having fun. Actually, time flies regardless! Life is good though and this experience is everything that I imagined it would be and even better. I miss home but it is going to be hard to leave this place. Oh yeah - on that note I am not going home early. I know that Mom is bummed about that but it was only two weeks early anyways.
Hope everyone is well and enjoying life as much as I am at the moment. We are on east coast time here so 3 hours ahead of home. It is now 9:30 am and I am about to head out to the beach to get the day started. I will be in touch again soon.
Nikki and Scott arrived on Saturday and it has been adventures since the moment they got off the plane. They actually arrived about 7 hours later than they were suppose to because Scott had some passport problems in Houston (they wouldn't even let him board the plane), but with some perseverance and a very long day they finally made it to Costa Rica. Let me also say that my waiting skills are phenomenal right now. I sat at the airport for 10 hours and I wasn't even really bored!
We went straight to Puerto Viejo on the caribbean when they arrived and stayed at a hostel called Rockin J's. It was huge and had everything a backpacker could possibly ask for. It served its purpose but I did feel a bit like another traveler getting pumped in and out of a gringo hostel. We rented bikes on our first day there and explored the little beach towns. The roads were pretty good actually (and by that I mean paved!) so it was easy to cruise around. On our second day we went on a canopy tour, which ended up being one of the best things that I have done since being here. I actually almost didn't go on the tour because of the cost but changed my mind at the last miute. It was SOOO much fun. There were 9 of us in the group with 3 guides. It was really the 3 guides that made the day. I would recommend it to everyone coming here.
On our third day we caught a shuttle that took us to Bocas del Toro in Panama. I got a new stamp in my passport, which is always exciting when you are traveling. The border was easy to cross. They don't really seem to care about tourists coming in. They didn't ask any questions, only for $5. The interesting thing to me is that I can feel the difference between Costa Rica and Panama even though asthetically they are very similar. It is much more conservative here. In Bocas men have to wear a shirt at all times and women cannot walk around in their bikinis. This may sound normal if you are in North America reading this but it is pretty standard in the beach towns of Costa Rica to wear nothing but a bathing suit everywhere that you go - and barefoot as well. And when I say everywhere I literally mean everywhere!
Our first night in Bocas we stayed on the main island in a little hotel. We arrived in the evening so we went for dinner and then for a walk. Our walk led us to a bar as is our trend right now. And so the night began. The hilarious thing about the bars on this coast so far is that they play all of the 90's music that we listened to in high school. And they love it!
Yesterday we took a boat tour around all of the islands. It is an archipelago of 6 islands called Parque Nacional Marino Isla Bastimentos. The tour itself was not all that it was cracked up to be but it's one of those things that you just have to do so that you know. We are now on a smaller island called Isla Bastimentos that takes about 10 minutes by boat to reach from the main island. It is pretty empty here but there is some development happening so I think that the face of this place is changing quickly. Today will be a beach day, which I haven't had in nearly a week now. A beach day means that I lay in the sand, work on my tan and swim all day long. I know - life is rough :)
We will stay here for two more days and then head back to Costa Rica. Nikki and Scott fly out on Sunday so we are over halfway through their visit now. Time flies when you're having fun. Actually, time flies regardless! Life is good though and this experience is everything that I imagined it would be and even better. I miss home but it is going to be hard to leave this place. Oh yeah - on that note I am not going home early. I know that Mom is bummed about that but it was only two weeks early anyways.
Hope everyone is well and enjoying life as much as I am at the moment. We are on east coast time here so 3 hours ahead of home. It is now 9:30 am and I am about to head out to the beach to get the day started. I will be in touch again soon.
