A 3 adventure day

Bocas June 5, 2012

An adventure day in, around and on the waters of the Panamanian Caribbean coast.  The smell of Central America is all around us, diesel fumes, only not from the vehicles of the road.  This time from the boats which prevail throughtout the islands of the region of Bocas del Toro.  The boats are our transportation all around the islands, and take us to meals, to the mini super, into town, and on surf outings as well as our daily adventure expiditions.  The usual fee for the taxi is $1 per person.  Tonight after leaving the restaurant, the taxi was hailed, and glided up to the dock in mere moments, arguably faster than a “land” taxi could be hailed.   In keeping with the water theme, many of the structures of this island paradise are built on stilts over the water, or on the end of docks, making for a very pleasant dining experience, or also for the travelers who choose those lodging abodes for their accomidations.

We had 3 separate adventures today, first surfing, then a cave exploration,  followed by snorkeling.

At 6:30 this morning, Dylan had me awake with the suggestion to surf.   Actually, a boat was already waiting, so we loaded up with Michael,  Zac, and their dads to head to Caranera Point.  The crowd was minimal, mostly us.  That made for some fun head high peelers, breaking left over the shallow reef.  The takeoffs were mellow, and the transperancy of the water made the coral formations below your board seem like they could reach out and grab your fins as we surfed over the inside reef.  We did have some board casualties as both Dylan and I  had some impact with those underwater coral tendrils.

Not wanting to miss our next item on the agenda, we cut our surf short for the day.  It was back to Tierra Verde for a quickie Continental breakfast, prep to head out, and yes, jump on another boat.  We had the boat for the day, with our guide, Cuba.  He came complete with dread locks, a Bob Marley knapsack, and a tattoo of Che on his shoulder.  A very good guide who kept us informed throughout the day’s excursion.

Our destination for most of the rest of today would be the large island of Bastamiento.  It is located directly South of our island, and our dash across the bay to the mangrove canal was about 30 minutes, at a slower speed than normal Panga speed, due to our heavy load of 15.

We got to our entry point, and slowed for the passage through a mangrove canal.  The canopy was very close to the top of the boat’s sun awning, and it brought to mind a scene from Apocalypse Now, as the riverine crew worked its way up the Viatnamese jungle.  We observed many hummingbirds, and Cuba stopped the boat to point out a “lazy monkey”, in Spanish he shouted that out, as we scanned the trees for a sloth.  Lazy monkey!!  Good one!!

We got to a small dock up the canal, deep in the steamy jungle as the canopy and banks of the canal narrowed around us.  We took a small hike, and met another guide who was to take us into the cave.  We had seen this cave in a tour book, and due to it’s bat inhabitants, we began referring to it as the Bat Cave.  On the way to it, there were many references to the 70s show Batman, as we belted out, “to the Bat cave” in our best Bruce Wayne imitation.

The actual bat cave greeted us at the end of a muddy path through thick Panamanian rainforest foliage.  Our guide, Renaldo gave us a quick brief of the rules, in Spanish as Rebecca translated for our crew.

Inside the cave, we made our way into a narrow tunnel with a creek flowing across the bottom.  At times the creek was ankle deep, and other times, shoulder deep.  It was during those deep sections that Rachel would cling to my neck as I barely kept my headlamp out of the water.

The clearance was minimal as the stalagtites hung low.  The bats were definitely claiming their home, as many higher cavern type roof sections housed many many black creatures clinging to the rock ceiling above. 

We made our way to the end of the navigable section of the cave at a pool and a waterfall.  The reverse route seemed easier, and we were glad to have had the spelunking adventure in the Panamanian cave!!

Back to the boat, out the mangrove canal, and off to lunch on Bastamiento, at the restaurant Cuba was to purchase for a nice lunch.

Next, we opted for some snorkeling.  When it was pointed out that the reef was just off the well travelled area in front of Bastamiento, our hopes were not very high for a great experience, thinking we were getting the turista brush off.  However, it was spectacular, as we suited up into our gear, and dived into the shallow water to see soft and hard coral, brain coral heads, colorful tropical fish, sea urchins, sea anemones, crabs, sand dollars, starfish, and a full live coral reef that lighted up the undersea world for us.

Having completed 3 separate and remarkable excursions, we made it back to our island for a little adult dock party and planning meeting.

Once it was time for dinner, and the cocktail hour was complete, we made our way around the perimeter of our island on a decent sidewalk, through the local waterfront neighborhoods, and went to a nice dinner, in a restaurant over the water, named the Cosmic Crab.  A full day for sure.

Sidenote:

Last night’s nocturnal adventure was a sea turtle watching tour.  We took a van ride on Isla Colon all the way up to the Northern beach past the surf spot called Bluffs.  We arrived at a sea turtle sanctuary, and felt as though we had stepped into Jurassic Park.  Under the drizzly skies, with thunder and lighting off on the horizon, we were guided to 2 absolutely gigantic leatherback turtles on the beach.  One was just finishing laying her eggs, and covering them with her huge flippers, and the other was just digging her sand hole on the beach to deposit her eggs.  It was awe inspiring seeing these huge (4 meter) tortugas practicing their annual ritual.