Panama - Isla Solarte

Goodbye Costa Rica & Hello Panama!

From Puerto Viejo, we headed towards Panama - our first destination was Bocas del Torro.

During our journey in the previous weeks, we met other backpackers who came from Panama and assured us that we must visit Bambuda Lodge for a few nights - thankfully, we let ourselves be influenced because we felt like we had arrived in a little paradise.

There were no roads or pathways on the island, and the few other accommodations could only be reached by boat. So, we ate together at fixed times - this was a great way to quickly get to know the other guests. :-)

The food was luckily the best on our entire trip, since there were no alternatives!

During the day, we joined other guests to visit deserted islands and go snorkeling with a fisherman and his boat, or we explored the untouched jungle of the island on our own - without proper hiking trails, it was quite an exciting adventure. We even encountered a snake or two in the dense jungle.

In the afternoons, we relaxed at the incredibly beautiful pool of our accommodation or ventured onto the self-built slide - unfortunately, I didn't always end up well, as I had to find out myself.. It's not for nothing that you have to sign a comprehensive contract before sliding, stating that sliding takes place at your own risk. Unfortunately, on the last day, I finally got caught and got some nasty wounds, one of which got infected. Luckily, we had met two nurses at the accommodation who were better equipped than us and had a suitable antibiotic for me.. by now, everything is almost completely healed :-) I'll spare you the photos of the infected injury at this point..

The evenings brought the purest natural spectacles: bioluminescent plankton right on our jetty, the Milky Way, and countless shooting stars in the clearest starry sky - we admired all of this with our new friends and a Balboa (the best Panamanian beer).. or simply played a few rounds of classic card games like Uno or Wizard. :-)

The time here flew by, but our next stop was only 5 minutes away by boat..