Bastimentos is on My Mind

We’re not very good at keeping up on this blog. It’s been too long. 

We’re now in Panama. In the island chain of Bocas del Toro. It’s much different than Costa Rica. Costa Rica is not a fully developed country by any means, and it’s dirty and some places aren’t very safe, but it’s nothing like Panama. Everything is a bit rougher here. Buildings are either falling apart, abandoned or in some stage of chaotic construction. Naked children are a given. Yesterday we saw a little boy bathing in a 50 gallon drum in his front yard. It’s also much more conservative here. In Costa Rica you can smoke and drink just about anywhere you want and people ride their bikes around the streets nearly naked in beach towns. Here you can’t smoke inside, you can’t drink outside and it’s illegal to walk around the streets without a shirt on. It’s very different, but so far we like it a lot.

We spent the first few nights on Isla Colon, the most populated island, in Bocas Town. Most tourists go to Bocas Town and boat to different sights around the island. Our first day in Bocas we took a tour of the archipelago. 

They took us to Dolphin Bay, which is exactly what it sounds like: a small bay full of dolphins. This is the best picture I could get.

After Dolphin bay we went to a kind of crappy snorkeling spot, and then drove by Sloth Island which is, obviously, a small island covered with sloths. After sloths we saw Red Frog beach. The red frogs were absent, but the beach was lovely despite how crowded it was.

We finished at a much better snorkeling spot than the first before heading home. The boat ride back had some amazing views.

The day after our tour we went to Starfish Beach, which is one of my favorite places we’ve visited so far. No one knows why the starfish gather here in huge numbers, but the effect is stunning. The beach was deserted, the water was perfect and the starfish were beautiful.

The next day we rode bikes a few miles out to a pretty deserted beach. Took a hammock nap.

Now we’re on Isla Bastimentos, in the town of Old Bank. Bastimentos is a different world. We hear very little Spanish. Everyone speaks English or Guari Guari, and English/Spanish Creole language. There are no roads, just sidewalks. One local came to welcome us to the town when we were first walking around and exploring. ‘No cars, no stress’ he told us. We instantly knew this was a good place to be. We’re staying in a small hostel built on stilts over the ocean. It’s a relaxed place that just happens to be filled with weirdos like us. There’s a group of Argentines here that have been on the road for six years. They fund their travels by selling handmade jewelry. One of the girls has a Cramps tattoo, and she and her boyfriend have hairstyles similar to mine, but even crazier. We’ve spent some time bonding.

Our first night here we met a Peruvian girl named Cecilia who talked us in to going out to find a party but  all we found were empty bars and a wandering Dutch guy who met up with us on the street. We had heard there was a party on Red Frog beach, but we didn’t have money to pay a boat ten dollars to take us out there. Then a miracle happened. We met an old crazy guy who told us ‘Don’t worry abou’ the money. We make it happen, man. Tonight is a special night. We are spreading love!’ so we followed him. He took us to his friend’s house and introduced us. ‘Dis is Scooby Dukes. He is my son. He could be my son. He gon’ take care a you, aright? Scooby Dukes, you take care a dem people. Don’ let anything bad happen to dem people.  It’s a special night. We spreadin’ love.’ So we paid him five dollars and got in the boat. It wasn’t until after we got in the boat that we thought we might get robbed and forced to walk the plank. Our luck is better than that, though, and everything turned out fine. The party totally sucked (Think frat boys dressed in spandex Halloween costumes) but Scooby Dukes stayed good on his word and even offered us some drinks when we got back home at 4 in the morning. We politely declined.

Yesterday we mostly just stuck around the hostel and hung out with the Argentines. I have been trying to track down a haircut for some time now and yesterday I was successful. I asked the owner of the hostel (who we know only as The Jaguar) where to get a haircut, and he yelled to some lady on the street ‘Olivia! Wheer you get dem heers cut?’ Olivia sent us to see Cresto, the local barber. Cresto’s barber shop consisted of a broken barber’s chair propped up on a cinderblocks on a patch of hardened dirt under his stilted house. Normally I go to a super fancy salon where I get offered juice or sparkling water before a woman who looks like a super model massages my head and consults me on various moisturizing products. Trusting Cresto with my hair was a big step, but I ended up being pleasantly surprised. It was the best 4 dollar haircut anyone’s ever gotten.

 In the evening The Jaguar got his calypso band together and played us some songs. My favorite was one called ‘Bastimentos is on My Mind’. Others were called things like ‘Bocas del Toro’ and ‘No one Want to Leave from Bastimentos’. I sure don't. Bastimentos is my favorite place so far. I can't imagine anywhere as relaxed and beautiful as here. The Jaguar really loves where he lives for good reason.

Nate, Los Jaguares and me.

Á bientôt

K