Bastimentos: chocolate up in the hill

More pancakes for breakfast (plus apples to make it a tad healthier). We checked out and went over to the docks to get a 10 min boat ride for $5 each to Isla Bastimentos. As soon as we stepped foot onto the dock it started pouring and despite having raincoats and ponchos we were drenched by the time we checked into our next hostel: Bubba's House ($40). BH is a lovely big wooden house built on stilts over the water. There are hammocks on the balconies and the back opens out onto it's own dock.

We waited a while for the rain to die down...ate my left-over pizza...then got ready... then waited some more as it started to rain some more. The lady in our last hostel said September was usually nice but maybe El Nino was messing with the usual weather patterns.

Finally it looked safe and we set off up the hill for a supposed 15 min walk through the rainforest - it took us a bit longer as the whole path was a muddy mess! Anna whinged the whole way as she was wearing flip flops (despite me telling her it'd be slippery) - from the girl who does mud runs! She agreed our destination was worth the effort though.

We arrived covered in mud at 'Up in the hill' and were hit by the most wonderful smell of cacao. It is a small house surrounded by a jungle garden that makes and sells 100% organic cocoa, organic beauty products and various other hippy things. Anna had her coffee fix (sadly burnt) and we shared some vegan truffles and a brownie, which had a lovely, rich taste ($9). We bought some coconut oil, natural bug repellent and cocoa face cream ($19). We also saw a teeny red poison-dart frog in the garden which is only found on this island.

On the slippery walk back down the hill we saw some more red frogs, dragonflies, and a hummingbird. We walked along the concrete path that goes through the town, Old Bank, to either end (no roads but many houses).

We went back to Bubba's and sat at the back overlooking the water and played some chess (from the many boardgames here). As we walked to a small place, Marco's, that we'd found earlier, we could hear really loud animal calls - unsure if they are the frogs?? along with some cicadas. We sat out on the deck over the water and were the only customers, likely because the hostels seem to try and monopolise dinners - BH offers a set meal each night, which nearly everyone seemed to have, but we thought it was overpriced. We shared some good, spicy nachos and enchiladas ($15), watched some lightning and got a little damp on the walk back. We lay in the hammocks, watching the lightning, and I wrote my blog as Anna serenaded me with her guitar.Read more