Bocas Del Toro, Panama
We leave the never ending blasting reggae music of Jamaica behind us and for the next six days fall into the rhythm of three hours on, three hours off watches - only the hypnotic crushing noise of waves against Nikan is heard. On night watches, under incredibly black sky sprinkled with blazing stars, to keep awake, I interrupt this meditative sound by listening to the Spanish lessons on MP3, trying to etch in my aging grey cells some new vocabulary I will need in Panama. But here in Bocas, there is a lot of English spoken, but nevertheless, I try to practice my new Spanish vocabulary as much as I can. I will get more chance of that once we go a bit inland. We are in marina now on Isla Carenero, just a few minutes by boat from Isla Colon, the main island in this archipelago. We are entering the rainy season here, basically it’s hot, humid, and sand flies, locally known as chitras, are dining on us in full force daily!! Yesterday, I learned they only live for 45 minutes, but believe me, in their short life they get very, very hungry! Real estate seems to be booming around here, and from what we hear everywhere in Panama, expatriates, mainly from USA and Canada are building their fantasy tropical gateways. We have seen some on our walk yesterday, and even here, in the marina, they are boaters looking for their perfect piece of land. For now we are wiping the salt from everywhere, cleaning the sails and next week we are going inland for a little trip - we hear it’s a beautiful area, lush, tropical and even cooler in the mountains. We will also visit David, the main city of this province for a taste of some civilization, although it’s quite touristy here as well, minus the stores. We’ll keep you posted….
