Islands

Since my last update three weeks ago, I spent a week traveling while Jared hung out with his visiting familia. I decided to go to a place that would be sunny unlike the rest of Costa Rica right now during the rainy season. So my friend Janet and I went to Panama. Here is the soundtrack to this post:

After a bus, shuttle, and water taxi, we ended up in Bocas del Toro, a chain of beautiful islands on the Caribbean side of Panama. It’s kinda of like a Latin American/Rastafarian version of Venice. Very touristy, but the tourist demographic was a little different. There were a lot more European travelers, Costa Ricans, Argentinians, and Panamanians. The only cars on the islands are taxis, and everyone takes boats to get around to the other islands. You can get to a lot of places by kayak. It would have been nice to have a SCUBA certification, but I did get to see a whole lot of sea life with just a snorkel and mask.

The best was a boat tour that took us to a bay protected by mangroves and getting to explore the shallow water coral beds. The coral and the plants were indescribably beautiful like some kinda psychedelic tapestry. Sometimes I would find a parrot fish or another big fish and follow it around all the different coral beds. It was like visiting another planet. There were so many metallic and florescent colors. I couldn’t believe that it was real. I would have preferred if the boat just left me there with my snorkel for about 8 hours.

It scares me a bit how much I enjoy it underwater. I could really see myself getting obsessed with self contained underwater breathing apparatus diving if given the opportunity.

The following day Janet and I went on a kayak and free diving/snorkeling adventure by ourselves to seek out good spots. The water was deeper so the plants and sea life were different. Saw a bunch of scorpion fish hiding within coral beds, which really scared me at first (they are very poisonous), but I quickly realized that they didn’t seem interested in attacking me.

The kicker is that I don’t have a single photo to prove that I was ever there. My camera battery died before I even made it out of Costa Rica.

It was pretty amazing to take a kayak around the islands of Bocas and be able to look underneath you and observe the vibrant ecosystem below. I wished that Jared would have been there to see it.

Jar and I did a kayak trip around lake Arenal before we left the area. It was fun to be out doing something active, but this artificial lake is not exactly teeming with wildlife.


There were a few islands in the lake where you could get out and explore.





The new spot is downright posh. It’s right near the beach and has 2 bedrooms! So when are you coming to visit?

-L

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