Wednesday, April 1, 2016
Today was our first day without biking. Instead, we chartered a boat and went snorkeling. We began by visiting a dolphin habitat. It was fun to cruise the area with them circling around us.
Next we cozied up to the mangroves where lots of big, fat colorful starfish dotted the sea floor six feet below us. I'd never seen them that big before; a far cry from the dried up dead ones on the beaches of the outer Cape.
By mid-morning we were diving off the boat in the first of two coral reefs. The fish weren't as colorful or plentiful as I expected. Nonetheless, if you dived deep, you could see plenty of sea creatures living amongst the shelves. The water was bathtub warm and it was a gorgeous day. It was a nice change of pace.
We docked at a small island restaurant for lunch. From there we went to Bastimentos Island for a swim and quiet at Red Frog Beach. A beautiful beach that cost us $5 apiece.
Unfortunately, I had heard of the island before for all of the wrong reasons. In February, the 23 year old daughter of a childhood family friend was attacked and murdered on the trail to the adjacent beach.
It was a difficult place to visit. I couldn't stop thinking about the terror and pain she must have experienced during the attract. I'm told that she was an accomplished, adventurous, spirited soul with a zest for life. The world lost a beautiful soul that day. My deepest condolences to her loved ones.
We got back to our hotel around 4 where we had some down time before dinner. The dinner might have been my favorite yet. The restaurant was a run down
shack of a place but its pork burger with avocado, coconut, ginger and an assortment of other goodies was to die for.
We ended the night at a nearby bar where a couple from Minneapolis, maybe in their early forties, joined us. I sat next to the woman who had had way too many beers. At one point she referred to the story of the American woman being murdered on Bastimentos. Her hypothesis was that the story was fiction, created by the locals to keep tourists way. When I assured her that it was real and how I knew so, she turned ten shades of red. She profusely apologized. Within seconds however, I swear she forgot the conversation ever happened. She was quickly rattling on about hockey in Minnesota, wanting to buy a place in Panama and a bunch of other random stuff.
Tomorrow we head to Boquete. It's supposed to be amazing. Google it.
Getting there will involve a really tough 50K ride ending with a 1,700 meter ascent over 7K. Yikes.
Until then.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Bocas Del Toro,Panama
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