Isla Colón - Bocas del Toro

After a short night in David, we continued to Almirante the next morning. This is basically the last stop before taking a water taxi to the islands of Bocas del Toro. We covered the nearly 180 kilometers and about 3 1/2 hours of travel once again with a colectivo. In the middle of the journey, we were amazed when a woman with unusual luggage got on. She was holding a large plastic bag in her hand, in which a live rooster of considerable size was housed. For all other passengers, this was nothing out of the ordinary, but for us it was something new. Upon arriving in Almirante, everything happened quickly. We had barely gotten off the minibus when we were already in a taxi and a few minutes later in a water taxi, which took us to Isla Colón, the main island. The people here really know how to transport tourists!

Shortly after checking into our hostel, we also noticed that the operator is from Germany. So, communication for any questions was taken care of this time. Because contrary to the widely held belief that Panama is very American, you can hardly get by with English here. Very few locals speak the language, so once again we often communicated with minimal knowledge of Spanish and with hands and feet.

Unlike Holbox, Mexico, the Bocas del Toro archipelago offers significantly more options. From the main island of Isla Colón, we went to the surrounding islands almost every day. This is easy, cheap, and quick with the water taxis. So, for short distances, we paid only $2 per person to get to the next island. This also included our trip to the nearest island, Isla Bastimentos. There we visited Old Bank, a small neighborhood on the island inhabited by locals and has a very Caribbean feel due to the many colorful wooden huts and palm trees. Following numerous recommendations, we then headed to Wizard Beach. This beach is known for its dreamlike beach with high waves and no mass tourism. However, getting there is a bit of a challenge as it leads right through the hilly jungle. While the initial incline is still climbed on a relatively solid surface, later it goes over tree roots that serve as steps down to the beach. The morning rain shower hadn't exactly made the narrow path through nature more passable. So, we climbed over stones, huge tree roots, and numerous mud puddles. Especially for Roman with his torn cruciate ligament in his right knee, it was not the best hiking trail. Just before reaching the destination, we were greeted by one last big mud puddle. We arranged the wooden planks that the locals had dragged here in such a way that we hoped to arrive at the beach with dry feet. But then it happened! Roman slipped off the plank and landed with both legs in the mud, all the way up to the knee! The previously highly praised flip-flops were now ruined, but at least his knee was fine. Well, completely muddy, we went the last few meters to the beach. The beach was indeed beautiful, but in our opinion, it's not worth going through all that effort a second time, considering that we still had to go back.

Aside from short trips, we also took advantage of the good location for a day trip. We stopped at one of the smaller, uninhabited islands called Zapatilla Island and spent the afternoon on a dreamy, secluded beach. On the way there, we were able to observe some dolphins. The boat also stopped at Estrella Beach, which is known for its numerous starfish. And indeed, right near the beach, there were various small and large starfish in the water. However, due to climate change, the population has noticeably declined over the past years and decades, as back then, you could hardly set foot on the ground because of the abundance of starfish.

On our last night before departure, the disco across from our hostel provided us with some entertainment. We were awakened for the first time around 10 PM due to a loud argument between two men. The argument ended shortly after in a fight that attracted more onlookers from the surrounding hotels and hostels. People stood on their balconies or on the street and watched the two as they fought, which ended shortly thereafter. Throughout the night, the mostly local guests of the disco continued to have various loud confrontations in front of the establishment. Since we didn't leave the island until the afternoon, we had some time on our last day for a short trip to the nearest island, where, after a brief stop at the rather less beautiful 'beach', we went to a small restaurant with typical Panamanian food. On the employee's recommendation, we opted for the barbecue menu with half a chicken, a small fish, salad, and plantains. When we saw the huge portions being carried past us to the grill, we joked that hopefully, that wasn't all for us. 20 minutes later, we realized that it was all for us. The chicken was probably fed very well during its lifetime and was accordingly large, although by no means as big as the fish. This whole meal would have been enough to feed 5 people. Only a shame that it was our last day and after hours of carrying it on the boat and the overnight bus ride without refrigeration, we had to throw it away in the end because it had gone bad. If we had known beforehand how big the portions here are, we would have only ordered one. Nevertheless, the last meal in Bocas was delicious and above all a wonderful conclusion to our time on the island.

We set off from Bocas del Toro to Panama City by night bus. Convenient, we thought. This way we don't lose a whole day to get from Almirante to Panama City and also save ourselves accommodation for one night. More about the bus trip in the next report :)