Santa Catalina, Panama

Chasing the sun, we returned to the Pacific Coast.

Monday morning we got up to dive! I didn’t end up diving but I went out on the boat anyway.

After the first dive we stopped on the most beautiful island for a break.

In the afternoon we lazed on the beach over on the other side of the bay.

Little did we know, the ride rose quite dramatically in the evening!

Feeling lazy, we managed to hitch hike the half hour walk back into town with two Americans!

Just in time to see the sun set by the hostel.

Jitteke headed off to the big City the following day, and I spent a couple of days in the surf before following her to Panama City.

Boquete Panama: fresh mountain air!

Having been sick for the last couple of days in Bocas del Toro, I was glad to arrive back in the mountains! It was a long ride from Bocas: 4 hours to David then another 1 hour to Boquete. I arrived and checked into the first hostel I spotted before sleeping for a few hours!

Feeling a little rejuvenated after some chicken soup, I met up with Jitteke again to plan the next few days.

Today we took the bus to the Baños Thermales in Caldera. After about 45 minutes on the bus we saw the sign and then after another 45 minutes walk along a dirt track we saw some hammocks strung up and heard families laughing. We were lucky not to share the hot springs with anyone but a Panamanian family who were very kind, explaining that we should go into the hot pools (40 degrees!) for three minutes, then the cold for three minutes and repeat four times! That’s when the healing powers kicked in. Good!

The hot springs were just in the back garden of a local family…

… Their chickens and goats just roaming about!

In the afternoon we ventured up hill to the top of the town for the famous Gesha coffee. It’s the world’s second most expensive coffee at $300/kg, coming in after the civet cat coffee.

We ordered one to share (at $9 a pot there was definitely enough to share!)

One of the owners was in the shop and came and talked to us while we enjoyed the coffee. She told us how her grandfather had been a coffee picker and her grandmother had suggested they start their own business. So they started growing regular coffee, always using Gesha coffee but mixing it with other varieties. It was only 10 years ago that someone taster Gesha on it’s own, and since then Gesha coffee has grown! The Asians love it (what a surprise) and it’s imported in the UK only by Harrods and Fortnum & Mason.

I must say it was delicious. The lady said it is almost like a herbal tea. And it is! Very fresh, with no bitter taste. And citrusy…delicious!

Walking back to town the sky was on fire.

Tomorrow, I go in search of the sun again!

Bocas del Toro Panama

The final day in Costa Rica I spent in Puerto Viejo. We biked from Puerto Viejo round to Punta Uva, eyes in the trees searching for those sloths again. And we were in luck!

Next morning I set off for Bocas del Toro, my first stop in Panama.

It’s a little collection of islands, not far at all from the Costa Rican border.

Unfortunately when we arrived it was a little wet.

We took the boat to the main island, Isla Colón, where we stayed for a couple of nights. We went to starfish beach where you can spot starfish on the shore just under the water. The next day we rented a kayak and went over to Isla Bastimentos. We’d been told there was a nice snorkel spot but we didn’t manage to locate it! We had a nice swim all the same and some amazing nachos!

In the evening we had arranged to do a wreck night dive. Such a nice dive and to top it off we spotted an octopus!

The next day we went to stay on Isla Bastimentos on Red Frog Beach.

Unfortunately no red frogs to be seen, just a lot of rain! Needless to say, Bocas has not been my favourite place so far!