Bocas del Toro Archipelago

It had rained occasionally all through the night and in the morning as well. We had thought about going to the nearby National Park Cahuita but decided against it because of the rain and also we've already seen a lot of wildlife 🙂 So we drove the remaining hour to the border crossing to Panama, it turned out to be a good decision as they're in a different time zone and hereby an hour later. The process on the Costa Rican side was pretty quick but weird as you had to pay a fee to exit the country. Afterwards we crossed the bridge to Panama and were surprised by the efficient and easy process for the migration. The import permit of Ruedi and everything around it was then quite slow and it took around 2.5 hours until we've entered Panamá. After about 10 km there was another checkpoint where a guard reviewed out documents and then we were free to roam the country.

Our next stop was the town of Almirante which has not a lot to offer but is the gateway to the Bocas del Toro Archipelago. A huge archipelago with hundreds of little islands (and some large ones) offering something for everyone. So we parked Ruedi and hopped on a water taxi that brought us to the main island and the main town (which I'm still not sure how it's named - I think Bocas del Toro 😅). There we checked out two hostels and found a place to stay for the night. Then we explored a bit the town and informed us about the tours that are offered. Even though they start a little late (10 am) they had tours for exactly what we wanted: Snorkeling and beach 🏖️🥰 Afterwards we went to a restaurant that the receptionist in the hostel had recommended. We didn't check it out upfront, so it was a little surprise that it had a rather upscale menu. But it wasn't that expensive (compared to European standards) and it sounded very interesting as a Panamanian and Caribbean mix. And the food was absolutely delicious! Interestingly enough we had a banana differently prepared in each of the three courses. A well deserved treat!! ☺️

For the evening we wanted to go to a nearby bar for live music. But it was raining so hard and we could hear the music from our porch in the hostel that we stayed there and had a relaxing evening 🥰Read more