My Costa Rican Adventure: Bocas Del Toro, Panama

Where do I even begin for this grand adventure??

Well, we left last Saturday at 4 a.m. from San Jose, Costa Rica and arrived in Panama around 9 p.m. by the time we got through immigrations/customs, took a bus to the port, and then a boat to the island it was about 2 p.m. By that time we were all exhausted. Well, we settled into our room which had 6 people in it. 3 sets of bunk beds.... this room can hardly be classified as "nice." The walls were covered with mold, the pillows had mold growing on them, and there were no toilet seats... needless to say, none of us girls were pleased with our living conditions but we decided we had to make the best of it. Saturday evening we went to a bar called Aqua Lounge. It was a $2 boat ride to get there and it cost a few bucks to get in but the drinks were free for girls. This bar was the coolest bar I have ever been to! It had a spot to jump into the ocean and it had swings that you could swing off of into the ocean!

The next day we went to a place called Starfish beach, all of the islands you had to take boats to. This island was like something you would see in a movie. It was the true definition of a tropical paradise :) it had huge starfish everywhere (see below), the water was crystal clear, and we went snorkeling. I saw stingrays and TONS of exotic looking fish. We spent all day on this island soaking up the sun (a little too much on my back :/ ). That evening when we arrived to the hostel, we all realized our backs were fried from snorkeling all day, it was quite painful. That night we just relaxed and hung out at the hostel since we were in so much pain. We also went to look at the stars as a group but ended up playing a game called "star-tripping" and playing red-rover :) The child in me came out again:)

On Monday we rented beach cruisers (bikes) with cute little baskets in front and cruised around the Island all day. It was me, my girl friends Faith, Marina, Anna, and Devon and our new guy friends John, Cody, and Nayoto. We biked to the end of the island... it was a peaceful relaxing bike ride. Some of the scenery reminded me of being in the South in the United States. That evening we went to a bar called Iguana. It also had a place where you could jump into the ocean but this time I refrained from doing so :) It was a fun night as well.

On Tuesday, we had a dolphin tour and some more snorkeling at a different beach. We saw a lot of dolphins, it was so pretty :) I love God's wildlife. We also went to Red Frog Beach. The water here was the bluest water I have EVER seen and I have been to Honduras, Panama, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, and Jamaiica! I just lounged on the beach all day and played in the waves. Tuesday evening we all went to dinner at a little place that reminded me of a 50s diner, it was super cute. Afterwards my friends and I played some card games and then went to the beach and played truth or dare on the beach at night, it was a fun time. I love reliving childhood whenever I can :)

On Wednesday, some of us went to the beach actually on the island. It was about a 45 minute walk. The beaches on this island were filled with trash, it was quite sad. I don't understand how people can ruin such beauty. We eventually found a spot with a smaller amount of trash and hung out there for the day. We played cards on the beach and I just lounged around (again) haha. That evening I was exhausted so I stayed in the hostel and watched t.v. with some of my girlfriends while everyone else went back to Aqua Lounge.

Thursday we headed back to Costa Rica and going through customs has NEVER made me more grateful for our amazing country, The United States. We waited in line for HOURS, in the pouring rain with all of our luggage to get our passport stamped, the line was literally not moving and we still have no idea why. Then we had to cross a bridge to get from Panama back to Costa Rica and this bridge went over a river... I already have a fear of bridges but this was THE WORST. It was made with lumber and there were places where the lumber was literally rotted through, holes everywhere, boards missing and loose so I had to watch my footing (while carrying my bags) and could see below me the entire time. Imagine an Indiana Jones-esque bridge and this is what that was. Once we arrived back to the Costa Rica side we had to wait AGAIN to get our passports stamped to get back into Costa Rica. We waited for 2 HOURS, not joking... we all were getting so impatient because some of the workers who were obviously corrupt would take bribes from people in line and take their passports up and do about 20-30 passports at a time while the rest of us waited in line... we all got so fed up we started chanting "fila, fila" which means line in Spanish. We then started blocking the line so the corrupt workers could not get through and screw us all over. Everyone started getting really riled up, haha it was quite an experience to say the least.

I finally made it back safely to San Jose last night and officially have a week until I am back to my country I love so much. As much fun as I have had here, I am definitely ready to be with the people I love and care about.

God Bless!