In the northern corner of Panama, you'll find a province called Bocas del Toro. A grouping of six larger forested islands in the Caribbean blue waters, this region is considered Panama's most popular tourist destination. It was our 4th and final stop on our 3 week backpacking adventure through the country. With only 6 days left on our trip, I was running out of time to check off an important item on my travel bucket list ... seeing a sloth in the wild! I am a HUGE sucker for these unique and adorable creatures and desperately wanted to have a close (but not too close) encounter with these mammals outside of a zoo.
From Boquete, we booked a shuttle bus to Bocas del Toro. It took us several hours to drive the very windy road up and over the mountains to Almirante port. Along the way we stopped at a roadside cafeteria style restaurant where the boys were brave enough to devour some pork fried rice and chicken. I still shake my head wondering how that meal did not jeopardize their health in any way shape or form?!! Not wanting to take any chances, I stuck to my packaged cookies and granola bars. From Almirante, we boarded a small boat that took us out to the main city (Bocas del Toro) of the archipelago (also known as Bocas del Toro).
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| So that's where all our bananas come from! |
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| Arriving in Bocas town |
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| A great spot for lunch |
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| Bluff Beach |
When you are this far out of town, there are limited taxis available and you are at their mercy for fares and schedules. We decided to rent a golf cart for a couple days to give us more freedom to explore the whole island. What we needed was a jeep! We went places I'm sure no golf carts had gone before. Much to Stella's and my chagrin, we even took it through a 15km long construction zone. There were massive puddles to contend with, high embankments, large equipment working, and a whole lot of workers laughing and shaking their heads at us as we bounced along at a top speed of about 20km/hour. The trip to the top end of the island (what we were told should only take 20 min by bus) ended up taking well over an hour! At times, we wondered if we were even going to make it! Jeff was quite proud we got our money's worth on that rental! The road came to an end and then we took a water taxi around the point to Starfish Beach. What a funky place! We ate, drank and swam in the calm waters with starfish all around. A great place to just chill out. On the return trip, us girls splurged on the $2 bus fare and comfortable ride with suspension while the boys sped down the dirt road with the pedal to the floor, beating us back to the main town.
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| The one and only gas station in Bocas town |
My search for sloths continued. Little brown balls, a bit bigger than coconuts was what I was looking for in the trees. Sloths are incredibly difficult to spot in dense forest. They don't move a lot as they spend more than 22hrs of their day sleeping! My neck was getting sore from always tilting it as far back as I could to look up, way up, into the trees. I was starting to resign myself to the fact that maybe I was not going to see any sloths on this trip. Then one afternoon, I spotted a girl on the side of the road, in that similar 'head-craned-back-looking-up' position and shouted, "stop the cart!!!" She confirmed, there were sloths in the trees! Even though I knew they were there, it was still incredibly difficult to spot them. We walked off the road and closer to the trees. It felt a little like looking at an early ultrasound picture of a baby ...you know there is a baby there but you're having a tough time making out what parts you are looking at lol. We stood and observed a couple of them sleeping and were able to find a few more hanging in surrounding trees. It was magical. My eyes may have leaked a bit as I took in this incredible moment. My heart was happy💗
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| Thank goodness for zoom |
We went back to the treehouse and walked to have breakfast at a home across the road. While we were finishing up, the owner asked if we wanted to see a sloth in his garden. I leapt up from the table and followed him to a hibiscus bush right beside the house. There, nestled in the centre of the bush, was the cutest little sloth ever. The man then told us there were even more sloths on his property. You've got to be kidding me. All this time I have been desperately searching for them and there happens to be several sloths across the street from where we are staying?!!!! Go figure. We all had a good laugh at that.
We spent our last 2 nights of the trip at a cool over the water bungalow on Isla Solarte. The perimeter of the islands of Bocas del Toro are dotted with stilt houses, restaurants and lodgings. More affordable than over the water bungalows in other parts of the world, we figured ... "when in Rome" ....
Sadly, our trip was coming to an end. It was time to board a short flight back to Panama City where we would fly home from the next day.
Travelling for 3 weeks with only small carry-on backpacks, we did not purchase a lot of souvenirs. Instead, we took with us the memories and the stories of adventures (and some mishaps) we made abroad. I hope my kids will always travel this way ... not taking, but absorbing the beauty of the different parts of the world and the wonderful people and cultures that call this planet home. I hope these trips we've taken will deposit some of those values in them. I have a quote on our living room wall at home that reads, "The best things in life are not things". I love it because it reminds me that the people we share our lives with and the memories we make along the way, are truly what matter. So sweet children of mine, collect the moments, the experiences (good and bad) and broaden your heart and mind to what is beyond the comforts of our little town. Talk to people from all walks of life, from all over the world, and you'll find that we are all more alike than we are different. Travel will make you a better human than you already are. Life is not meant to be lived in one place.
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