Island Getaways and Fire Ants

We've switched hotels as the Bocas Inn had other reservations for our room. The Hotel du Parque is lovely and looks like something out of the Garden District in New Orleans. Dark, polished wood, deep shaded balconies at each end of the upstairs corridor are scattered with hammocks and gaily painted chairs with overstuffed floral cushions. The balconies overlook lush gardens and create an oasis of calm. It's much less expensive at $33 per night but isn't on the water. Instead, it overlooks the central park area by the Municipal building in the middle of Bocas Town. Books and magazines are left behind as visitors finish them and are available for taking or trading. It's more like a lovely home than a hotel.

Robert's appointment is at 8 am to go over web work and then on to look at the properties. Again, we leave by boat, this time from a house that the realtors are renovating at the far end of town. They have 2 monkeys in a cage on their dock that they have rescued from the Indians and are in the process of rehabilitating them for release into the wild. It's doubtful they'll be accepted into a troop, but possible. Max is a 1 year old White Faced monkey and quite the flirt! He loves women and when I approach the cage, sticks his hands through the wire and holds on to me for dear life. His little hands have leather palms and he is adorable! They're not so cute when the get older.... as proven by the photos in our gallery.

Off by boat to see the property that is purported to be about a 1/2 acre but proves to be smaller by a good amount. Most property measurements in Panama are suspect and we're told to get proper surveys done if we decide to buy. We're heading to a property that is about 3 hectares subdivided by the owner of a butterfly farm. Also, it's not on the water nor can we get concessions to build over the water. The frontage is a mangrove forest with a small cut-through for a potential dock that may or may not get built. We arrive at the butterfly farm dock. The farm is under construction and will be exquisite when finished, but the property abuts it and privacy will be at a premium once the tourists arrive. Living next to a tourist attraction leaves us cold, naturally!

We head to another island within an island called the "lollipop" due to the lollipop shaped tree at the front of the mound of the property, of course. It's another ROP and is backed by a mangrove swamp, it tall and rounded, has no dock (we squish through the muddy muck and lose flip flops several times. Yuck!) I'm wearing shorts, so Munro heads to the top of the island for the view - which is stunning, but the title is in dispute (so why are we here, I think, but say nothing) and the Indians live on all the surrounding mainland, which could also be problematic for title and concessions. Heading back, I step on a nest of fire ants and about 20 of them attack my big toe! Tricky little bastards - they're so tiny you don't feel them walking on you and they swarm and send out a signal to BITE!!! "OH F*&%" is becoming one of my favorite phrases as the buggies decide I'm the best treat they've had all season.

We tour a couple of other properties on Isla Bastimentos but don't debark as they're just not what Munro has in mind. We do get to see the Wizard Beach surf break even though it's flat, you can see the potential.

Back at the office, we thank Don and Walter for their time and head off to find a water taxi to take us back to Bastimentos for a trek through the rain forest to another beautiful beach. If you think there's a bit of a theme developing here about difficult treks to beautiful beaches and potential surf breaks, you are correct. My life with the Albatross consists of hikes, rides, and treks to pieces of paradise. In his defense, it's always worth the work to get there!

We find a taxi driver to drop us off in the 'town' of Bastimentos. This is an interesting and unusual island in that much of it is already a national park devoted to the red frog, which only lives there. While we didn't get to Red Frog Beach, we did get to Wizard and the trek was amazingly beautiful.

About the town of Bastimentos - there are several settlements around the island and it's basically the island where the black workers on the other tourist islands live. Our taxi drops us off and we head into the settlement and find a local bartender to change our $20. NOTE: If you go to Panama, bring singles! You'll need them and quarters for tipping and just to buy things. There is an ATM in Bocas town, but no bank (odd but true) so changing money from large bills is a chore.

We are in a scene from the 50s in the South - colorful homes, blaring music, 4 middle aged black ladies with their hair in curlers and wearing housecoats playing cards while small children play at their feet. As I scratch and swat at the buggies, I'm amazed that none of the islanders have a bite on them. I envy them and can see them staring at my bumps and bites. One of these days, I'll offer myself up to medical science (or at least the DEET people) for experiments in bug repellent. Our driver agrees to come back to get us at 6:45 PM and off we go. This is another key thing to do - otherwise you may find yourself abandoned in a remote area (no food, no phone, no shelter) until the tourists arrive in the morning. In this case, there is not much in the line of lodging or food stores in Bastimentos, so we must get a driver back.

Our trek leads us through the town and up a one-person dirt track over the spine of the island. Some of the land is cleared for pasture, but most of it is ringed with trees so the monkeys and birds have a corridor for feeding. It's hot, humid, and buggy. DEET is melting my flip flops and only driving the bugs into a greater feeding frenzy... but the scenery is lush, bird song is almost deafening, and we pass a few other people heading back into the town, some carrying surfboards.

Wizard Beach is beautiful with a long, sloping sandy bottom. Lots of rips and the surf must be amazing when it's going off. There is a thatched hut area for camping, but again, no food or drink at the place. It's wonderful to relax, walk along the beach, and swim. Munro takes off for about an hour to photograph everything.

Our walk back in the dusk is beautiful. Parrots are creating an amazing din as they head home for the night. Every tree we pass under is full of them and we can hear the howler monkeys making their dusk dinner patrol down the valley to our left. Other birds compete with the noises and we stop repeatedly just to soak it all in. Oh for a tape recorder to capture this! Lack of man-made sounds just intensifies the noise around us as if the industrial silence amplifies the bird calls. It's almost disappointing to reach the edge of town and hear the "disco" music blaring, radios, and people chatter in the bar.

We meet a man originally from Queens, NY while Munro is snapping photos of the houses. During the chat, a tiny spider - about 1/4 inch long and very colorful (yeah, I know colorful in the tropics means toxic - I still have the scars) decides to chomp, not once, but twice! Swearing and swatting, I hop up and down and we leave, not before snagging a couple of beers for the ride. Our driver is waiting for us and our ride home consists of his driving close to the docks and yelling "Bocas! Bocas!" and picking up additional rides.

Everyone is so wonderful and pleasant and kind. The people are full of laughter and fun and puns. We worry that they may end up like the locals in the Virgin Islands - outwardly nice, but really seething at the usurpation of their lands.

We have one of the best dinners ever once we're back in town. On the other side of the park is a restaurant called La Balleena, owned by and older Italian man. He makes his own pastas and sauces, cooked to order. it rivals Mezza Luna in NYC and the price is a whopping $35 for a huge salad, pasta dish, and $14 bottle of Chilean Chardonnay (quite delish, btw). We shared everything as the portions were huge. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful, if buggy day.