We left Panama City at 8pm Monday night. Our last night in town gave me kind of a bad taste in my mouth cause for about an hour this sketchy, possibley drugged up dude was following us around, very badly trying to hide behind very small objects thinking we didn't know he was there, and at one point trying to pick Wyatt's pocket. Kind of a reminder about how poor the area was we were staying, how maybe I need to be less obvious with my camera sometimes, and how you can forget about the dangers around you sometimes. Anyway, it all worked out fine, nothing really happened, I think the worst part was we were coming home from getting our tickets at the bus station and had too much money on us, and our documents.
The bus ride was horrible, one of the worst. First of all, there was barely any room, not good for a guy with really long legs. Plus, Wyatt has an injury on his leg, and was in a good deal of pain to add to discomfort. It was freezing, much colder than I remembered they make the buses, and I hardly slept for more than 10 minutes at a time the whole 8 hours. We finally got into Almirante, the town on the mainland where we caught the boat to the island, met by the early light of 6 am, and rain. It cleared up by the time we got on the boat, bleary eyed but eager to go to an island, and the ride out was beautiful. We passed neighborhoods of houses on stilts standing in the water, palm trees filled with crowds of parrots yelling at each other, a huge rusted out boat sticking out of the calm water. The ride took about a half hour, and then we were all shuttled off by the guys trying to seel hotel rooms and boat tours to alll the beaches and different islands.
I like Bocas a lot, it's a quiet island town with few cars and friendly locals who mostly all speak english since most of the livelyhood depends on the crowds of tourists. I feel like there are more tourists here than locals, which is the only down side to this place. You think of Panama and you think old leathery men in white brimmed hats: check. Smoking cigars: check. Leisurely riding bikes, souvenier stalls, calm blue green water, rice and beans and fish, fruit juices, cheap beer, colorful, all these thing in abundance.
It rained all yesterday, which was actually fine since Wyatt is hurt and wanting to rest and recover, and we were both tired from not sleeping the night before, we took a few hour nap, and both slept like logs last night. Then, we woke up to sun. It is a beautiful day, and we were talking to a few local guys who have lived here all their lives and said that here, the weather goes in cycles, 5 days of rain (which they just had) and then 5 days of sun. I hope they are right, they sure sounded confident! I am drinking iced tea and listening to music full of maracas and horns, sounds of the island for sure, with a mix of spanish and english around me.