Edito : Urgh ! We forgot to post last night ! Text was ready but just didn’t push the big red button… Sorry !
Today, we took care of boring stuff that had to be done, but interests no one. For example, we applied for ESTA, which is the authorization for entering US territory. It should be asked for as much in advance as possible, preferably before buying plane tickets, and costs 14$ per person.
It’s funny because now, we have biometric passports, we don’t need Visas anymore since are electronically trackable. But it wasn’t funny anymore, so they invented ESTA. That, or the American immigrations officers were jealous of all their colleague around the world who get kickbacks so they are making it official and payable online, please use banking cards or Paypal (by the way, well played Paypal for having become an official means of payment for the US government, Elon Musk is definitely in fashion these days).
We also did some laundry, informed ourselves about our next destinations (we’re past the half of the trip now), and did some accounting. Tonight we also ate in a nice restaurant, serving incredible fish, for example marinated in ginger and lemon with coco-fried veggies and coco-milk rice (coco is everywhere around here, but it also grows like a weed and fall on the floor when ripe, so really convenient !). If coco oil wasn’t so expensive in Europe, we should all start to use it more, cause it’s delicious, healthy and prevents the no-see-um from biting, these sandflies that bite your ankles and drink your blood, leaving your legs itchy and red.
Well, the day didn’t exactly start as planned. We had met the tour guide yesterday to organize a day trip today starting at 10pm (well, apparently, it was supposed to be 10:30). But the guide only came around 11:30. Ok, it’s the Caribbean, we know everything takes time out here. And here you’re much better treated than on the Colombian coast (well, I guess the tourist coming here are richer and thus more demanding). The guide offered his apologies and a reason as to why he was late (and it was not because he was hungover!), and immediately told us the trip would last an hour longer to compensate for his lateness.
Old Bank
So we left our small village of Old Bank (on Bastimentos island, for those of you who don’t follow the blog regularly!) to go to sloth island. It was actually a good thing to start late as the sky started to clear up in the late morning, and the whole trip was done under great weather. To get to sloth island, we followed Bastimentos island and some other neighboring islands but also lots of mangroves. So we took the chance to shoot an awesome video for you guys (and for us, of course 😉 ). As you may notice, there is a small finger in a corner of the video at some point. That’s because Alice shot it lying on her stomach at the front of the ship, thus she had to hold on to her Smartphone to avoid any any unwanted immersion of the electronics (no, we’re not hipster enough to own a GoPro :p ).
On sloth island we found… sloths (you don’t say!). Well actually, our guide found sloths and showed them to us, because the sloths are actually very well camouflaged, as their color is very close to the trees they hang on to. So thanks to our guide, we managed to see a few of them.
Do you see the sloth ? This is the easy level!
So for those of you who like Discovery Channel, a sloth sleeps about 20hrs a day (now we feel much less shame about sleeping in in the morning!), but he also only comes down from his tree once a week to relieve himself (well, I guess with 4 stomachs and an average digesting time of a month, it’s never a very urgent problem 😉 ). Sloths also actually swims very well, although they only do it in the mating season and around their island, and not to go from island to island (I guess it would be too tiring for such a lazy animal :p ).
We then went near Hollywood beach, were like in Hollywood we saw lots of star…fishes! For those of you who didn’t know it’s not cool to take a starfish out of the water, even just for a selfie (it seems obvious, but some tourists are quite stupid). A starfish can survive outside of water only about 12 seconds. It will also die if you touch it (even underwater) with your hands carrying a bit of sunscreen. For us it wasn’t a problem, the water was shallow and very clear, so we could see them easily from the boat!
So yes, you can see stars even by day!
After this, we went near the Zapatillas island (the whole national park with a couple islands and most of Bastimentos is also called Zapatillas). There we did some amazing snorkeling, much more amazing than in Sapzurro. Well, the equipment here was much better, but also the corals were far more diverse and colored (I guess the water is less polluted here), and there was an amazing number of fishes, some shy and some less shy.
We didn’t take any picture while snorkeling, so instead here’s a beach 😉
Then we moved on to deep boarding (not sure this is the official name..). It was quick but very fun. You take only the mask, leave the snorkel, and hold on horizontally to some sort of half surf board that’s pulled by the boat through a rope. The board makes it easy to move beneath water and get up for some air from time to time. The only drawback was that if the boat is going a bit fast and your swimming suit is loose, it can quickly become naked deep boarding! Good thing we had the tight swimming suits on today :).
After deep boarding, we landed on one of the two Zapatillas islands. The islands are quite nice although very small, with nice beaches around and a small forest inside with a wooden path. Most of the interesting stuff is found underwater around the island (where we saw lots of corals, fishes and even dolphins!).
The hammock spot of the restaurant
And then it was already mid-afternoon, so we were starving. We stopped by a restaurant on stilts build near a mangrove island (so the only access is by sea). We ate the traditional rice with a mix of octopus, squid, cuttlefish and shrimps with a beer (because it was all they had left 😉 ). And then it was nap time (well, we had done all the planned activities), so we laid back in the hammocks with a stunning view over the sea and the “human construction free” surroundings.
Life is sooo hard!
Once back in Old Bank, after a quick wash up at our hostel, we went for a walk just in time to watch the sunset. Even though the sun itself was hidden behind clouds, it created amazing colors over the clouds above the very calm sea (here too, the island are protected by a coral reef).
Today, we were set to go on an excursion ! But we didn’t anticipate how long it would be to find people and talk to them about itineraries and prices : people around here are relaxed, so very relaxed…
So we took information here and there all morning, looked for a snorkeling guide who, in fact, went back to live in Germany a long time ago, met a diving instructor, and the certification + 2 immersions are tempting but expensive… We walked along the village and then ate. We finally found a nice local restaurant that is not too expensive (until now, we mostly ate at the cabin, considering the prices) so the dining room is on stilts, covered but open, on the sea, with view on the low-flying pelicans and some very tasty creole chicken. It was really nice.
We then walked outside the village to a place where the beach is big round rocks and the hostels are classier, so talk about their excursions, timetables, prices… Turns out they aren’t full enough these days to have reliable information (but at least they are trying !), and it’s true that we can feel the low-season vibe : there are few people everywhere, which is nice, but a lot of places are closed, which is less convenient. On the way back, we found 3 coconuts that looked approximately ripe so we went back for a snack !
We all know the legends of the guys opening and preparing a coconut with a machete in 10 seconds. We also know the stories of drill-accidents and other disasters. Well, we had a machete but no disaster and it took us a long while to get to the holy grail. We hear it’s very healthy and full of minerals, well, good ! Because with all the sport and sweat necessary to eat them, it wouldn’t be worth it otherwise ! Anyway, we could drink the water before opening them completely and get the flesh out, half of which went into piña coladas (are we in rum country or what ?) and the other half is in the fridge for tomorrow.
We then went to talk with a lancha pilot / tour operate, advised by our host, in the bar of another hostel in which we ate on our first night ! This guy isn’t stressed out either, and it was really hard to know how much we were going to pay – well it depends on how many people come – but no we can’t know how many will be there – it’s low season you know – but it’s not expensive either ! We will see tomorrow morning, but if all goes well, we’ll go around in a boat and see lots of stuff ! More about it tomorrow !
We didn’t tell you yet about the frogs ! On Bastimentos island, there is a rare species of tiny colorful frogs ! It’s the Strawberry Poison Dart Frog, dangerous only when eaten. On Red Frog Beach, they are hard to spot despite the name of the place, but on the hillside, it’s another story ! We see a lot of them, and they are so cute ! We find them even better now that we know they make this sound we thought was done by crickets (you can hear it on the wikipedia page)
Last bonus, our cabin among the trees ! It’s not luxury design but still very nice to live in !
Alright, it’s not true, we did do some stuff, but we also did watch a few episodes, so we don’t have much to tell. What we can tell you is that the local food stores are called “chinos”, and that indeed only Chinese people seem to own them.
So this morning we were at the Chinese to buy some food (because we didn’t have anything to eat for breakfast). As expected, prices are high (well, we’re on an island after all…). But there are also some traps! For example, we bought some pineapple marmalade, but actually couldn’t use it for breakfast. We didn’t see it at the shop, but the ingredients include vinegar, cloves and mustard, because it’s supposed to be used on roasted pork! And yes, we do think this is absolutely barbaric 😉.
Luckily, we also had bought some cornflakes, so we didn’t have to cook ourselves a pork roast for breakfast. We also bought a few basic items to cook easy meals, so that we won’t have to move our asses from our superb jungle cabin to eat.
This afternoon we managed to clean the kitchen, because the appliances date back to the fifties, but the place probably hadn’t seen a broom since then either! The task was a bit complicated because there was a power outage most of the afternoon, and we’re running on rain water here, so no power means no pump which means no water!
We were also distracted by some kids form the nearby school that came to get some of the very ripe cacao fruits that grow near our cabin. They were very nice, and at 11 years old they already natively speak their home dialect, but also fluently speak Spanish and are starting to have a reasonable English level. It does seem English is more taught here than in other places we’ve been. But I guess as the island mostly lives from foreign tourism, it does make sense.
Small drawing from Alice for those of you who don’t know the cacao fruit very well (only in French, sorry).
They did give us some of their findings, and we found out that it’s actually quite complicated to open the fruits with your hands to get to the beans. So of course, we cheated, we used our pocket knife 😉. The beans are currently drying, and we’ll roast them tomorrow and let you know how they taste!
Let’s hope they will taste good!
Well that’s all I guess. It’s raining now, so the water reserves are being replenished, and we’re eating on the roofed terrace from the cabin while enjoying a cold beer 😊.
Here we are ! We have found our tropical island with turquoise water and wood houses ! Granted, we also have a party next door and a few mosquitoes, but nothing can ever be perfectly perfect, and we will feel very good here ! We can see the sea from the wifi-hammock space and we hear the frogs from our room, which is inexpensive and still has, hold your pants, a mosquito net, a fan and a multi-socket !
We started this morning by a last breakfast in the common space of our forest-hostel, talking with travelers and volunteers. This place was really super-nice and I think we’ll miss the company (and the themed evenings at the bar with ridiculously cheap cocktails).
So we took another bus with limited reliabiliy and we arrived at Almirante, main harbor of the Bocas del Toro archipelago.
Starting point in Almirante
From there, a lancha with a roof took us to the islands, and by this incredible coincidence the captain was at the front of the boat AND we were much less shaken by the waves than we were in the San Blas, and as a consequence, the ride was much nicer. Bocas-Town (capital of the archipelago, on Isla Colon) seems like a touristy and festive city, and since we won’t be sleeping there, we took another boat.
Seaside Bocas-Town
We arrived on Bastimentos islands around sunset-time and got to our hostel, in which we will stay for a week. The city is separated into two parts by the only street, along which you find only pedestrians and bikes, since there are no cars on this island. The lower part of town is at the edge or on the sea, and the higher part is in the forest, yes, landscape change pretty quickly around here ! All buildings are on stilts, and since tourism only developed recently and towards eco-tourism, you can only find rain-water and solar-power. For electricity, it’s hard to check for now, but every building has a few huge water tanks connected to the gutter-system, so we confirm about rain-water.
Our principal activities for next days will be tourism for one, like saying hello to corals and observe endemic endangered red frogs, and resting : we need to do laundry and maintenance of our stuff, but also needle-work, because our backpacks are getting old faster these days, and some craft and drawings would be welcome, it was complicated lately…
Forest is everywhere outside the city. Do you see how trees are all the same height ?
We also noticed that, even if we could find some cheap accommodations, it’s another story when it comes to eating. We arrived a bit late and found some tasty burgers, in a Belgian-owned hostel, but the prices were a bit discouraging, so we will try to cook ourselves, with what we have here, which isn’t much.
Today, it stopped raining, but it’s still quite muddy around here!
And it’s still really foggy. We were eventually thinking about making a detour to Boquete, higher up in the mountains, because there a volcano you can climb on with a 360° view over both atlantic and pacific ocean.
But that’s only by clear sky days, and the weather around here isn’t going to improve in the next days, so we’ll probably jump directly to Bocas del Toro to tan our lazy asses on the beach 😉 . And we’re also already at half-trip, so we do need to get going.
This morning we managed to finish the Indiana Jones treasure hunt (good thing the last part was only on hostel grounds, because we were to lazy to do the uphill hike again :p). And as we’re so good, we won a free snack by deciphering the “ancient” petroglyph telling the story of the lost gold of the “Valle de la Mina”.
An ancient petroglyph
After a very British lunch (canned beans, sausages and eggs, we make do with what we have!), we did the Sherlock Holmes treasure hunt, based more on enigmas than hiking (so yes, we didn’t leave the hostel ground today!).
At one point we were stuck because one of the clue is hard to see without a black light, and apparently the black light has been “lost”. But as the clue is in the bar’s mezzanine, supposedly the reading place (more likely the shagging place), it’s more than likely that a black light up here is a bad idea (unless you’re a Jackson Pollock fan). So I guess the black light’s disappearance was no coincidence :p
One of the clues, but don’t tell the others !
We did manage to finish the hunt, so we did win a shot at the bar. As you’ve probably noticed, we’ve been writing the last articles the next morning. This is mainly because we’re up at the bar every night, so we’re too lazy to write the articles afterwards 😉
So, that’s all for today. More news in the next post (we’ll try to write it tonight this time!).
Today, we played Indiana Jones again, but we are not claiming it this time, it’s the title of the game !
First, like in the old times in the jungles, here’s a bug collection.
Our hostel organizes games, like treasure hunts, in the little jungle patch around. There are two, the firsts explores the forest around, and the second takes place on the hostel property. We started yesterday morning, going on the trails. The clues took us on the regular path, where we stopped at panoramic points, swimmable spots, a majestic hollow tree and so on… It is really nice to have this little riddle waiting for you when you arrive somewhere cool, even if you would have gotten there anyway, it is a nice touch and it makes us follow a funny map with absurd names (which are all potential answers to the riddles).
After finding all the clues, taking a bath, jumping in a deep pool from a big rock and water-sliding in rapids (for Ben), we crossed at a ford that was more flooded than usual because of the recent rains. If you followed, we changed into bathing suits for swimming, got dressed again, got to the crossing, undressed again, got across, got dressed again (at least to have shoes on for the remaining walk)). After the clues, we doubled back, undressed again to cross, and got dressed again. And that’s when it started pouring (it had been drizzling on and off for a while). We still needed one and a half hour to get back and we witnessed numerous rivers being born under our feet in that time, on the paths, at the bottom of trees… We got skull massages when the drops got bigger and were really happy that we had our Hogwarts sexy rain gear (see old articles about that).
We arrived at the hostel around 4, and it was a big relief to put everything to dry. Our shoes are now 3 times heavier and aren’t even close to being dry soon seeing the ambient humidity. The rain went on all night (which didn’t prevent us to win 3rd place in the Foosball tournament, by an incomprehensible phenomenon). The last clues will have to be found around the hostel tomorrow, if the rain stops !
Kisses to you all, may the wisdom of the majestic tree guide you !
Today was our first day in the Panamanian jungle, and it was a pretty lazy day.
The hostel is pretty nice, with several buildings in the middle of the jungle linked by small paths and stone stairs. The only drawback is that its far from any shop. But it does sell some ingredients for cooking, and also has set meals, with a great “jungle bowl” for breakfast (mainly yogurt, cereal and fruits). At breakfast we even saw 2 monkeys climbing up a tree less than 10m away from the hostel’s terrace!
We were thinking about doing one of the treasure hunts around the hostel today, but it kind of poured all day, so now we’re up to date on the blog and in our accounting. We also took the opportunity to talk with other travelers. The hostel is big and spacious enough to accommodate a lot of travelers (even though the dorm does get crowded). So it’s really nice in the common area, where you can talk to people from everywhere in the word.
At lunch we showed them the extent of our cooking talent (so spaghetti and tomato sauce). And for dinner we amazed them with our great soup and omelette combo. But in our defense, even though we can by some stuff here, the ingredients are quite limited (and it’s been a while since we’ve seen a decent olive oil or even thyme!).
In the evening it’s party time in the hostel’s bar, which is really cool (and has a happy hour from 8 to 9). The available games range from the usual Foosball to the more rare giant Jenga tower. It’s also at night that Rocky, the local kinkajou living here, comes alive (and so you can pet him 🙂 ).
So, yes, not much to say today. But tomorrow we’re definitely doing a treasure hunt and we’ll tell you all about our adventures!
P.S : Cultural info point. The last dictator of Panama, Noriega, was ousted by a U.S invasion in 1989 (which left 2000 civilians dead and tens of thousands homeless… so much for soft power!). During the invasion, Noriega took refuge in the Vatican embassy. As the U.S army didn’t want to invade the embassy (you know, just in case it gets you to hell…). So to get Noriega out, they just blasted loud rock music (including “Welcome to the Jungle”, not very God-approved) non stop for several days towards the embassy. Eventually the diplomatic personal threw Noriega out !
