Border crossings have become familiar to us now. Even though each one is slightly different, it's just a matter of exiting and entering, paying a fee and getting your passport stamped. They are not as scary as I originally thought of some stories through the grapevine had made it out to be. Although we did have a bit of a hiccup as we hadn't booked our San Blas sail yet and thought we had no proof of exiting the country which was a requirement of Panama too until we realised our flight home to Sydney from Santiago, Chile was sufficient enough. We checked in to our awesome hostel called Selinas which was a huge building situated right on the water where there was a bar/eating area or you could hang about on lounges, sun beds or swinging chairs in the sun and jump straight in to the water from the little dock. It was painted turquoise blue/green and yellow and had some cool lighting/decorations including a yellow hippy combi with flowers painted on it which was gutted and the roof and one side was cut out and had seats and a table on it to eat at. It was only $14US for a 10 bed dorm which were basic (private bathroom and good air con, plus we were with Bridget and Burke so took up most of the room anyway) you could pay more for a private room or less beds in a dorm which was getting expensive, but for how good this hostel was it was a pretty good price, plus free breakfast of fruit, scrambled eggs on toast and pancake. We found out later that Aly and Riley had booked the private room upstairs which was pretty cool!
After we arrived Bridget, Matt and I were hungry and found a little joint that did delicious $5 wraps and smoothies/juices. We bumped in to Burke and went for a swim and hung at our hostel for a bit, then looked in a couple of shops. We decided to get cheese, crackers and wine and have it on the top balcony. When we got back back, we realised Aly and Riley were staying in the nice private room upstairs overlooking the water and balcony. There were festoon lights hanging above the balcony and the cheap Chilean sav Blanc actually tasted pretty good! (Should have taken a photo of it to remember) it was soo good to have cheese and crackers with a glass of wine, talking with friends and listening to music, it's definitely my vice! We all got a bit tipsy and went to a reggae bar which wasn't really happening then caught a $1 taxi boat to another island which had a hostel on it called Aqua lounge which was supposed to be the place to be. They charged a cover charge, it was packed as it was a Saturday night, with techno dance music and strobe lights and people drunk jumping off platforms in to the water etc. it reminded me of a frat party... Wasn't really my scene but we had a good night.
The next day we weren't feeling the best, Riley was pretty sick so they stayed at the hostel while the rest of us went to 'starfish' beach which has big coral colour starfish on it. Unfortunately it was cloudy and We thought it would be a deserted beach as you had to walk to it along a track after the shuttle dropped you off but it was super touristy with holiday goers, music and having to pay for your sun bed. We pretty much all fell asleep once we found a vacant spot on the sand and then went searching for starfish, swimming and taking pics with the go pro. As it was our 'last supper' together we ate at a nicer restaurant and shared a bottle of wine. It was open mic night at a bookshop bar and Burke plays guitar so we went there afterwards. No one was really there but Burke, Pierce (an American bartender who worked at the hostel and we befriended) and Riley (who plays the drums) formed a band and did an open mic session. Soon more and more people started coming in and we were all dancing and singing along to songs. Bridget, Aly and I were the groupies/back up Singers. It was so much fun and a great last night with friends in Bocas del Toro.
It took us a while to get our stuff together in the morning, checking out etc then we all got a speed boat taxi to 'Red Frog Beach' on another island. There was supposed to be (as the name suggests) red frog and if you walked a little way around a secluded beach. Unfortunately it rained as soon as we got there, but we ended up eating at place on the beach with yummy cocktails and quesadillas and sat around and played cards of humanity. I'd never played it before, it was pretty funny. The sun eventually came out after lunch so we went for a swim and sunbake. We took some cool jumping shots with my camera too. It ended up being a good day. Our boat driver even found us a little bright red frog on our way back to the boat. And we got dropped back on the dock of our waterfront hostel! Matt, Bridget and I quickly showed and ate, swapped a few photos before saying goodbye to get an overnight bus to Panama City. It was a good crew so it was sad to part ways but everyone is travelling to South America so hopefully we all catch up with each other again somewhere in South America! The down side to flying through from country to country on a time limit.
Panama City
They like to blast the aircon on the overnight buses so it was a freezing and uncomfortable overnight bus ride to Panama City with very little sleep. We said goodbye to Bridget for a second time, but again hopefully not the last (she was catching a plane to Peru) and Matt and I went to check in to our hostel. It was strange being in a city as we haven't been in one since Mexico City. Unfortunately we weren't really with it, it feels like jet lag the next day after an overnighter plus it was so hot! We did laundry, sent emails and did a couple of things at the hostel then caught a cab to the old part of town. Panama is a really pretty city and this part had all old buildings, freshly painted plus, handcraft markets and really nice restaurants and cafes. You could tell this was the nice part of town. From this side also gave a great view of the city skyline and all the skyrise buildings across the water. A beautiful cityscape. We had lunch in a nice cafe. My sandwich was called Veggie Matt. We then had to run a few errands and prepare for the sail which we were getting on the next day. A 5 day sail island hopping across the San Blas from Panama to Colombia. The way most travellers get across from central to South America as overland is almost impossible and really dangerous going through jungle and the sail is cheaper than flying but you get to spend time on beautiful islands. We had been doing our research on what boat to go with and it was hard to find good ones that left on the day you wanted. This one popped up called La Gitanita. The date it left was good, plus it arrived in Cartegena which is where we want to go but it does seem like a party boat, which I'm not sure if I'm keen on, would prefer to relax. Some boats are really small (was trying to find a catamaran but none were leaving the date we wanted) and some captains get bad reviews saying they get drunk or high, not sure what this one will be like. They say if you've got good people on your boat then it will be good. Here's hoping to a good crew, good captain, good boat, good weather and no seasickness! I'm a little worried about sleeping in such a small space but it does look amazing and most people say it's a highlight. Oh well, what will be, will be :) we just got dinner close by and we are both so ready for bed, gonna quickly post thing blog, coz I don't think I'll have reception for a few days. Here's to the sailing adventure ahead and the start of the South American leg of our journey!
