A beautiful island to the North of Panama and on the border of Panama and Costa Rica. This place is a backpackers paradise. And what a better place to spend my 27th birthday! After a horrendous 10 hour bus journey here from Panama city, where the bus driver kept turning the light on in the middle of the night and making random stops in the middle of nowhere, I arrive in this sleepy town at 7am. I was feeling super groggy and anxious, its always the way when you arrive somewhere new. I managed to make the opening of reception at Mamallenas and took a nap on the sofa. I was told by many to check out Filthy Friday (a pub crawl full of backpackers) and so I bought my ticket and off I went. For $35 it was not worth it seeing as I did not get the free t shirt or bag. Neverthelesss, I had good fun and met some people which was what I intended to do! After 3 bars and partying at Selinas I decided to call it a night and head home.
I wake up the next day and head to Selinas to meet my English friends and we decide to go to Red Frog beach. It was paradise! White sand and palm trees and not a plastic bag in sight.
This is the main difference that I have found so far between central America and Asia-the lack of plastic. In many of the shops in Panama they will refuse to give you a plastic bag and also there are no plastic straws. As it was the eve of my birthday I hung out at Mamallenas where there was such a good vibe- Miguel and the volunteers do such an awesome job. I stay up until midnight and there is also another guy whos birthday it is (17)!
For my actual birthday (21st July for all of you who don’t know) I decide to do a tour. The tour started terribly- pouring with rain and I got completely soaked. Not a great start for the birthday girl. The first part of the tour was stopping by ‘sloth’ island which was super cute. We then stop at the lunch place to cover from the rain and head out to the snorkelling part. The rain finally stops and the tour REALLY starts. I have made friends with the people on the tour and the snorkelling was amazing! Some of the most colourful fish ever- especially a beautiful tourquise fish. We then stop to see dolphins in the water which was another highlight, you can see these throughout Bocas which is beautiful. We then make a stop at Zapatilla island another white sand paradise. The final stop of the tour is starfish island, I have never seen so many starfish stationary in one point. After seeing all this beautiful wildlife in the water I reconsider my decision to be an actual vegetarian and not one that eats fish- watch this space!! I head back to Mamallenas to enjoy some live music- such good vibes at this place!
My final day is spent at Bambuda Lodge- wow this place is gorgeous. Located on Isla Solarte, the Canadian owners have secured a prime location- looking out onto the water with beautiful trees and plants around you. This place is couples paradise. There is a pool, water slide and kayaking. The food is also incredible- I would definitely recommend staying here for at least one night! Morning comes round and I say goodbye to beautiful Bocas- thank you for making my birthday so magical.
Onto boquette now, missing you all lots but will keep you updated soon xxxxx
Romy's Roamings 