We are having a great time on Bocas del Toro. We spent Friday island hopping but we really only made it to one island. We played in the sand and water, explored the island and then stopped for snorkeling on the way back. The water is warm and very blue, the sand is soft and the air temperature is awesome. We saw a sting ray, lots of fish and coral and a jelly fish during the snorkel time. We also saw multiple sets of dolphins from the boat. It was a great day and we definitely got lucky with the weather. We’ve heard reports of people coming to Bocas and having non-stop rain but so far our sun breaks have been long enough and timed well enough for two great days of activities and multiple sunburns. We are finding the local coconut oil that is bottled here works wonders for healing sunburns.
Yesterday we rented 4-wheelers and explored Isla Colon. Each adult had a vehicle and a child passenger and Dan led the way. We stopped at a few swimming holes and cleaned off the mud that was pervasive. We took a trail called “monkey trail” and it did not disappoint. We saw multiple groups of howler monkeys and we understand now why they are called that. They are LOUD. We were expecting high pitched shrieks but instead they have a low roar. We thought we’d see a gorilla or a dinosaur busting through the trees at any moment, but it was just the monkeys in the trees.
Jared and Zoe are in the hotel pool at any free moment and we are making good use of the hotel restaurant. The hotel is not conveniently located to town, but the room and the pool work so well for a group of 8 that it’s worth the extra work to get into town. We are lucky that our hotel room has no neighbors nearby because we found a card game that all 8 of us can play and it gets loud. Louder than howler monkeys!
We still have two more days in the Bocas del Toro area and we are hoping our sunshine luck holds out. And the coconut oil too.
