A border crossing and a rainy Caribbean island

The border with Panama was the first one I crossed over land and even on foot. I left early in the morning to have enough time for the border crossing. Two young women from Germany and I got on the bus together, so I asked them if I could stick with them until we crossed the border - luckily, they were nice enough to let me.

After about an hour bus ride, we reached the border. There, we had to pay the exit fee of eight dollars at a kind of kiosk that I wouldn't have found without the two girls and a lady who seemed semi-official and accompanied people across the border. The lady also asked us for an exit ticket, and this time I was prepared: I had a copy of my ticket back to Costa Rica with me!

In the queue at the border, I met an acquaintance - Sofi from Sweden. I had met her the night before in Puerto Viejo, and she had been traveling with Katie (the Canadian from Puerto Viejo) the days before. Sofi had actually wanted to cross the border earlier, so I was surprised to see her there, but her border crossing had been slightly delayed. A huge coincidence and lucky for both of us, as it turned out later.

Once our passports were stamped in Costa Rica, we crossed the border to Panama over an old bridge along with the two Germans and an Austrian. On the other side, we had to fill out a customs form and then proceed to immigration. I showed my ticket to Costa Rica, but the border officer didn't want to see it. I needed a ticket to another country or, even better, back to Germany, otherwise I wouldn't get a stamp! So I had to quickly book a ticket. Of course, there was no Wi-Fi and I had to buy a SIM card at a snack bar around the corner first. I was quite nervous because I didn't want to keep the others waiting too long, who were so kind and waiting for me. Finally, it was done, the border officer, whom I reached the second time, accepted the new ticket, and I could finally enter! As often on my trip, I was so lucky to have met the girls who helped me in this situation, and I am really grateful to them! Together, we got on a shuttle that the others had organized in the meantime, and drove to the ferry to Bocas del Torro.

Bocas del Torro - or short Bocas - is one of THE destinations in Panama. It is a group of islands off the Caribbean coast of the country with dreamy beaches. There you can go to crazy parties or just relax. I stayed on the largest island, where the ferry arrives, the 'Isla Colon'. I had also heard a lot of good things about the other islands, such as Bastimientos, which can be reached by water taxi from the main island. But I had enough to explore on Isla Colon.

When we arrived on the island, the sun was shining, which would be a rarity in the next days. Since Sofi hadn't booked a hostel yet, she spontaneously joined mine and stayed there for one night. Together, we strolled through the town on Isla Colon. We also explored the island together in the following days. We rented bicycles, took a tour to Playa Bluff, and were lucky that it didn't rain and we could enjoy the beach for at least an hour. At Playa Estrella (Starfish Beach), where we went by bus the next day, we had less luck. When we arrived, it started pouring rain, and we decided to take the next bus back after two hours.

Although we had some bad luck with the weather, we liked it on the island so much that we stayed there for five days. Not least because we felt very comfortable in our second hostel and got to know some nice people. Sofi and I had realized that we had the same destination in Panama after Bocas, so on day five, we decided to travel together to Boquete.