Tuesday, January 30, 2018
Boquete to Bocas del Toro (Isla Solarte)
Time to leave beautiful Boquete. It was hard to go. We absolutely loved this area, and the B&B couldn't be more lovely or the hosts, Dean and Carol, more gracious.
Breakfast was a little different each day at Casa Alegria B&B, and today it was served buffet style, with eggs, sausage, a fabulous fruit salad, breads, a few kinds of juice, great coffee, naturally, and more. The hosts remembered from our first morning that Tom doesn't eat eggs and brought him out a plate of perfectly cooked hash browns. Very nice.
It was a pretty full day of travel today: a drive, a taxi, four hours on a bus, another taxi, and then two water taxis. So here we go...
We left Boquete at 10:00 a.m. for David, stopping on the way for gas (83 cents per liter for 95 octane, full service). On the northern outskirts of David, our GPS led us on an ill-advised detour, and as we were getting back on the main road, we saw a huge, brightly colored iguana crossing the road. We were trying to get a picture, but just then a couple of guys came running out of a warehouse to try to catch the iguana. All of us were disappointed when it escaped into a ditch. Ha!
At 11:10 we returned the rental car to Budget at the David airport, having driven a total of 390 km (234 miles). It was very handy having a car in the Boquete/Volcan Baru/Cerro Punta region, enabling us to cover far more ground that we otherwise could have.
Next we got a taxi to the David bus station for $8. The driver offered to take us all the way to Almirante for $120, but though definitely more comfortable, it's not as cheap as a bus. He got us to the station just in time to catch the 11:30 bus to Almirante ($8.45 each). The bus ride is four hours. A taxi would take three.
It was pretty slow going over the continental divide in the big overloaded bus, but luckily we never had to get out and push. The views were good until we drove into a cloud, then nothing till we drove back out. We stopped for a few minutes upon entering the Ngabe-Bugle tribal land while the indigenous vendors boarded to sell their wares. We stopped a second time about an hour outside of Almirante, where we were allowed 15 minutes for snacks and peeing.
We arrived in Almirante at 3:30. There we jumped in a taxi pickup ($1 each) for a ride to the water taxi port, maybe a kilometer away, where boats leave regularly ($6 each) for the half-hour trip to Bocas Town, on Isla Colon, the most developed island of the Archipielago del Bocas del Toro.
Water taxi, Almirante
Almirante
Bocas Town
In Bocas Town we took a few minutes to pick up some snacks and drinks at a super mini before catching a final water taxi ($5 each) for the one-mile, five-minute boat trip to Bambuda Lodge on the small island of Isla Solarte, finally arriving at 5:00 p.m. at a tropical paradise in the Caribbean Sea!
Caribbean Paradise
The resort: Bambuda Lodge, a budget resort set in a lush rain forest surrounded by the sea. It's owned by a couple of Canadians and hosts the backpacker set from around the world and others with hearts full of fun. Dorm beds, private rooms, and jungle bungalows are available. We chose the thatched luxury of a jungle bungalow for $103 per night, a freestanding double with a private bath, set apart from the main lodge down a long boardwalk. Our bungalow was called “Matambu.” There was no a/c but lots of screened windows and a good fan, and surprisingly decent WiFi. Unlike most of Panama, the water on the islands is not potable, but the lodge provides drinkable water from faucets in the common areas. We stayed here two nights.
Jungle bungalows
Bungalow "Matambu"
Matambu interior
Bambuda Lodge has a nice pool and a sweet 150-foot water slide leading from the bar into the ocean. There's a game room with a ping-pong table; snorkels and kayaks available for rent; and miles of trails leading into the jungle.
Bambuda pool and bar
Meals are available at Bambuda three times a day, so you never have to leave the island. You place your dinner order between 4:30 and 6:30, and the meal is served at 7:00. If you don't order early, you might miss out on your first choice. The menu changes daily. There were five choices today, but they were down to four by the time we ordered – two vegetarian selections, roasted chicken (sold out), octopus, and ham and mushroom pasta with alfredo sauce (our selection). The quality of the food is excellent.
From the bar
Sunset from Bambuda
Sitting on the dock of the bay
We hung out at the open-air bar by the pool after dinner for a couple of hours before retreating to our bungalow. As soon as we got to our room, it started to rain and rained on and off through the night. Very restful. We could hear music (not loud enough to be disturbing) coming from the bar area quite late, though they turned down the volume around 10:30.
Tom
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