We were heading to Bocas del Toro on Isla Colon on the Caribbean coast today. To get by public bus you have to go back south to David and then get another bus to the coast. We opted for the quicker choice of a private shuttle that cuts across east to join the road to the coast, cutting off about 2 hrs from the journey time. We were picked up just after 0930 after breakfast at the local cafe again, although this time we just had a pastry and coffee. The scenery on route was lovely surrounded by mountains covered in dense jungle. After about 3 hrs we arrived at Almirante from where the water taxi departs to Isla Colon. We all boarded the water taxi along with our luggage and set off on the 30 minute journey. Despite being quite sheltered by the islands in the archipelago the ride was quite bumpy. We arrived at Bocas del Toro, the main town on the island, and walked the short distance to the b&b we'd booked for the next 2 nights, Lula's, located on the edge of town and hopefully, given the towns reputation as a party destination, a quieter area. After dropping off our bags we went out to get lunch and look at options for what to do tomorrow. We saw a sailing trip advertised that we both liked the look of. No doubt the speedy water taxi had put us off whizzing around the archipielago and the thought of sailing along at wind speed really appealled! We also booked our onward tickets to get to Puerto Viejo in Costa Rica where we're heading next, again with a private shuttle which looked like the easiest option. We spent the rest of the afternoon on the veranda of the b&b planning what to do in Costa Rica and some initial research on the Yucatan Peninsular in Mexico. In the evening we went to an Indonesian restaurant that we'd spotted earlier in the day. It adjoined a hotel restaurant with a deck overlooking the water where we initially sat, only to be told we couldn't order from the Indonesian menu. All very odd but not the first time we've had to move tables in order to get our choice of food. We shared 2 delicious curries, a very welcome change from some of the meals we've had recently. Back at the b&b we sat out listening to the sound of the sea, which was just across the road, before retiring to bed.
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| Our water taxi to the island |
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| Leaving Almirante |
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| Isla Colon |
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| The dock |
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| Starfish by the pier |
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