It's been awhile since I have last updated about my trip. This past weekend was definitely fun but interesting. At 4 am on Friday, our bus departed for Bocas del Toro, Panama. The ride wasn't too bad; it only took about 4 or 5 hours. What was bad was the customs and immigration line. Leaving Costa Rica was rough. Friday, July 25 was a national holiday in Costa Rica so that might explain the long lines and just because it was a Friday. After 2.5 hours of waiting in line, we finally walked across the border (a run-down bridge) to Panama. We waited in another line in Panama that was only about 30 minutes. We got our passports stamped and were on our way. We took a bus to the water taxi station and from there took a boat to Bocas del Toro (it is an island). I was excited to swim in the Caribbean Sea! Our accommodations for Friday and Saturday night were in a hostel. Honestly, I had no idea what to expect. My only idea of what a hostel was came from movies and books. Our group was staying in 2 different hostels because there weren't enough rooms in just one. The one I was assigned to reminded me of an outdoor hotel/motel. It seemed pretty nice at first. When I went to use the restroom, I was extremely confused because I saw a sign with a girl and a boy on it. I thought to myself , "well it has to be both and whatever that's what there is so I will use it." I walked in and there was a guy peeing with the stall door open. I turned around and walked right back out. Have guys no respect these days? Anyways, Friday we went out for lunch and dinner and had some well-needed American food (chicken fingers and pizza). We grabbed some drinks and played cards for the rest of the evening. I went to bed without a sheet to cover up with because I couldn't find the man who worked at the hostel. That was my second complaint about it- the first being the guy in the bathroom.
On Saturday we were up early and had pancakes for breakfast. I looked at my snack bag at breakfast and realized that something got into it. The bag was all chewed up and the snacks were open. I'm assuming it was mice. At least I didn't see them because I would have had a conniption. My bag was in a cubbie type storage unit that was at least 4 feet off the ground. So the fact that mice got into was pretty repulsive to me. We left to go on a dolphin tour and snorkeling. I have seen dolphins before in the Outer Banks, but the dolphins we saw in Panama were so close to the boat. Of course I couldn't get any decent pictures though. Then, we went snorkeling near some mangroves. It was my first time! I got to see brain coral and some blue, yellow, and purple coral. After that, we rode the boat to Starfish Beach where there were (you guessed it) a bunch of starfish. I tried to get some pictures with my underwater camera. They turned out alright. We swam a little and took more pictures. Then, I went tubing in the middle of the ocean with Bailey. It was a little frightening because the guy was going so fast. When we got back from the beach,we went out to dinner again. I was heading back to my hostel with another girl staying there and we noticed that the lock was completely off the door. The manager had been fixing it before, but I thought he would somehow secure our stuff. He didn't and our room smelled like pot and there was either a cigarette butt or joint in my bed. I wouldn't know the difference. At that point, I knew I had to leave that hostel. I wasn't about to risk getting in trouble in a foreign country due to someone else's negligence and stupidity. I'm so lucky no one took my backpack that had my passport and money in it. It was locked but that was going to prevent someone from taking the entire bag. I ended up staying with Bailey in the other hostel for the night. Her hostel was basically a hotel. It had a bathroom connected to the room, not a unisex one. If you ever stay in a hostel, you should probably research it first. Unfortunately I couldn't because this trip was planned for me.
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| Coral & Starfish |
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| Holding a starfish for the first time |
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| Brain Coral |
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| Parrot chilling on the beach |
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| Starfish Beach |
Sunday was a blast. We went to Red Frog Beach where, of course, there are red frogs. I didn't get to see any but some other people did. The waves on the beach were so strong. I didn't go out very far. It was raining at first, but ended up being a perfect day. It's hard to believe that such beautiful places like Panama and Costa Rica have so much poverty. From what I've seen, Panama appears to be worse than Costa Rica. Although my weekend was crazy at times, it was still a blast. I enjoyed traveling to my second foreign country. It is nice to be back in Costa Rica where I can drink tap water.
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| Red Frog Beach welcome sign |
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