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May 2000
Boquete, Bocas del Toro, Panama City
Brett Voegele2005-11-13 10:25:54
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Boquete
From Golfito it was a 2 hour bus ride to the Panamanian border, a 1 hour shuttle bus ride to David, and a 1 hour bus ride to the mountain village of Boquete. Very quaint setting, as it reminded me of a small Swiss village, complete with small, cloudy river, and lots of colorful flowers. Enjoyed my few days in the region, and did a lot of hiking in the cool mountain air. Evidently the coffee plantations in the area are profitable, as I saw several nice cars, trucks, and SUV's.
Bocas del Toro
From Boquete I took the 1 hour bus back to David, and then caught a shuttle for the 3 1/2 hour ride north to Almirante. The drive was quite spectacular, again reminding me of Switzerland. I promptly caught a water taxi out to the island of Bocas del Toro, which only took about 45 minutes. Rather than stay in the main town, also known as Bocas del Toro, I decided to stay on the opposite, more isolated side of the island, so simply hitched a ride in the back of someone's truck. The place where I stayed, Bocas del Drago, consisted of only a few buildings, one restaurant/bar, and one place to stay....very peaceful. For the 3 nights I stayed on the island I essentially had the place to myself, and enjoyed the water, beach, fresh fish dinners (complete with head/eyes), and hammocks.
Panama City
After reversing the water taxi/shuttle trip to David, I hopped on the bus for the 6 hour ride to Panama City. The hotel where I stayed, the Hotel Central, was a grand hotel during the late 1800's/early 1900's, when many of the key figures in the canal's history stayed there. However, a quick check of the calendar showed it to be 2000, and the hotel considerably less grand....pretty run-down, and in what I was told was a dangerous part of town - San Felipe, or Casco Viejo. Found this strange, since the presidential
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See photographs from:
Panama Gallery
