Wednesday, June 30, 2010

In the mouth of the bull

Bocas del Toro...what a great place. Bocas is an archipelago which is just a fancy term for a bunch of small islands. The main town is also called Bocas del Toro and that is where we are staying. Its a good sized town with the laid back Caribbean vibe that we love so much. Its a good backpacker spot which means that there are tons of hostels and its got a good nightlife. We dont really participate in the nightlife but are still enjoying ourselves.
Last night, we went to our friend's hostel for some 50 cent beers and to check on the guys doing the 100 beer challange. They didnt seem too enthusiastic about their beers but it was day 3. We found out this morning that they are now up to 85 so I guess they picked up their pace after we left. We only spent $2 on two beers each and a free shot so we left a little tipsy and feeling like winners. We got some dinner and then wandered the town for a while. We passed a nice little parade to honor the winners of a little girls pageant. Then we came upon the most random thing that we have seen yet. There was a guy walking up and down the street pulling a paper airplane behind him on a string. This was not just any paper airplane. He had obviously spent many many hours creating a 3 foot replica of a Leer jet. Rob says it was a citation for those of you who know what that is. It was complete with wheels, lights and spinning engine turbines. Most guys would spend all this time building something like this, finish it and then it would end up in the attic or the garbage. It was certainly way too big to display in your home. This guy decided to show his work of art off to the whole town. He fastened some fishing line to the front and paraded it up and down the main road of his small town. He looked sane and normal and nobody in town even batted an eyelash besides one little kid who came out in the street to look at it.
This morning, after our daily coffee, we caught the bus to the other side of this island to Bocas del Drago. There arent any great beaches around town but from here we can take a bus or a boat, pretty inexpensively to other beaches and islands. The bus was the best we have been on and it even had air conditioning. It took us through the middle of the island, giving us a chance to see the island. Its very green but the greenery was a bit different than what we have been seeing. I cant put my finger on it but it seemed less tropical than other places we have seen. After a while, we got to end of the road and we got out of the bus. We had been told that the best spot was about a 10 minute walk so we headed out. The whole area was gorgeous and dare I say, this is my favorite beach so far. The beach was just a thin strip and there was actually shade into the water. There were starfish everywhere. The best part is that it is completely undeveloped. There were only about 20 other people and not a building or snack stand or house or hotel or anything to be seen. There was nobody walking the beach trying to sell bread or drinks or ganja. We snorkeled a bit and although it was nothing like Roatan, I managed to see some really cool stuff. The best was the manta ray. Of course that was the one swim that I took without my camera, sorry. My only complaint about the beach was the ants that got all over our backpack and the little slivers of fiberglass like sand that would get in our feet. It wasnt too painful but annoying and I think that I still have a few in my right heel.
Thats about it. We will definately stay the week here. There are still a lot of beaches to see. Tomorrow we will take it easy and avoid the sun and then the next day we will take a boat out to another island.



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1 comments:

txdoc said...

I want to see a picture of the guy with the paper airplane.
Dad