Island Hopping in Panama

First I have to start with leaving the La Tortuga Feliz project. 12 of us left together and couldn´t wait to get to Puerto Viejo so we could get a solid meal and a beer for the first time in 3 very hot weeks. We got there, checked into a hostel right in the center of town and then headed out for dinner and drinks. That was probably one of the best meals of my life. The fresh food and cold drinks were extremely appreciated by everyone. That night we all went out to a beach bar and made fools of ourselves dancing with everyone. A great night!

The next day Kori, Mike, Cedric, Lauren, Erica and I rented some beach cruiser bikes and rode the road to Punta Uva (about 9km). We found many small beaches that we had to ourselves and spent the rest of the day swimming and trying to body surf. We rode our bikes back to the hostel, ate some PB& J´s and were in bed about 7:30. The next day me and a few other people decided to rent bikes again and go all the way to Manzanillo. The ride occasionally had exotic hostels and small style shops that make the trip really enjoyable. We made it all the way to Manzanillo, and started to snorkel. As we were getting out of the water we realized the current carried us to a ¨topless¨ section of the beach. This part of Costa Rica was beautiful and we stayed for hours....haha! We got back into Peurto Viejo around 5 so me and a buddy decided to get a couple surfboards for the rest of the day. It was my first time on a board and I can´t say it was a pretty sight. I did stand on it by the end of the day, but had many scrapes and bruises to show the battle.

The next day Kori, Mike and I left to go to the Islands of Bocos Del Toros in Panama. After crossing the border we had to take an hour taxi ride to a place were we took a 40 minute boat taxi road. The island was hopping and full of colorful businesses and hostels. We checked into the Gran Kahuna Hostel, grabbed out snorkeling gear and took a boat taxi to a different island to go snorkeling for a few hours. The next day Mike started his scuba course while Kori, Angeli and I took a boat taxi to the Zapatillas islands. They were two islands on the edge of the island chain, about 2 km around and covered in white sand beaches and colorful coral. The day turned out sunny and awesome and seemed to fly by. That night we went back to our hostel and got ready to go to the Aqua lounge. Apparently this is one of the best places to go and it only happens on Wed and Sat night. We got there and the place was awesome. They were playing Rhasta music while people were taking shots and jumping off diving boards into the ocean. We definitely stayed a little to long and paid the price the next day. When I finally got up some friends and I got up and took sea kayaks to different islands to go snorkeling. It was another fun day.
Kori, Anjeli and I decided it was time to mix it up so we took a boat to the island of Bastimentos. We stayed in an extremely cheap hostel that was held up entirely over the ocean. The island was very undeveloped and had a strong local feel. We spent some time walking the stretch of town and exploring the jungle (were we found red tree frogs and a lot of bug bites). We spent two nights in Bastimentos and found it to be extremely relaxing. We spent most of the days cooking each other meals and laying in hammocks while we listened to the rain come on and off as it hit the tin roofs.

Today we got back to the main island and found Mike staying at Hostel heike. We all checked in and got our stuff ready to go the the bat caves. The caves only cost a dollar and we got to explore them by walking through waste deep water. Tomorrow were leaving to go back into Costa Rica but were not sure were yet. I´ll be in touch soon.