Wednesday, January 31, 2018
Bambuda Lodge, Isla Solarte
Breakfast is served from 8:00 to 10:45. I got eggs, bacon, hash browns, and fruit for $6 and shared the hash browns and bacon with Tom. It was enough for both of us. Refillable coffee is $2 each.
View from bed
Jana's first coffee of the day
Snorkels are available to rent for $1 each. The hike to the snorkeling site at Hospital Point, on the tip of Isla Solarte, takes over an hour. Instead, we opted to take a water taxi over for $2 each, but when we got past our little peaceful cove in the tiny boat, the seas were ROUGH. At Hospital Point the water was so rough and cloudy that we had the driver turn around and take us back to Bambuda. It was a pretty scary ride. Rather than the $8 it should have cost ($2 per person each way way), the guy wanted $20, which was bullshit, but we gave him $10, considering we felt like we all almost died.
There's a small reef you can snorkel off Bambuda's dock, but with all the rain, the water was murky, so we returned the snorkels and moved on to plan B. We borrowed some boots and walking sticks and went for a muddy, muddy, muddy hike to the other side of the island. Did I mention it was muddy? We hiked over a treacherous log crossing near the beginning of the trail and through the dense jungle to a dock just beyond Hospital Point. It rained at one point, but we hunkered down under some giant leaves and waited it out. There were tiny red frogs all over the trail.
Jungle trail, Isla Solarte
Muddy, muddy trail
Tiny frog
Soggy Tom at the trail terminus
The hike took a couple of hours, and we missed lunch (served 1:00 to 3:45) when we decided upon our return that showering was more important than eating. We had some cookies and wine in our room, so we were okay.
After cleaning up, it was finally time for the water slide! The 150-foot water slide from the bar into the ocean is a blast! I slid many times! We immediately followed up the water sliding with some happy hour beer and a dip in the swimming pool. Woohoo!
Jana slides
For dinner we ordered the pork ($14 each), huge, thick, perfectly cooked pork chops with carmelized pineapple, roasted vegetables, and mashed potatoes/plantains. Absolutely delicious! For another $5 we shared a brownie with a Bailey's reduction sauce and a small scoop of ice cream. So good!
Dinner at Bambuda
We returned to our room right after dinner tonight rather than staying for the social scene, and it started pouring down rain as soon as we got to our shelter. I mean absolute SHEETS of rain this time!
