Another border crossing and a boat trip

 From Almirante in Panama. After you cross the border from Costa Rica, you may want to go to Bocas del Toro. You can either do a tourist service; bus /boat, or you can go independently. I went independently, so I took the local bus from Puerto Viejo in Costa Rica to Sixaola in Costa Rica. The bus stops right by the border, so you just walk up to the immigration office and get your passport stamped. I came in the middle of a Tican tourist group, so I had to wait a long time to get my stamp. After you have had your stamp in your passport, you walk across an old train bridge. It is not so long. It is one of the shortest distances I have had to walk between border crossings, and on the other side you get to a narrow hill with some huge stores below. The buses to Panama City and Changinola. If you travel on your own it is a good idea to start early with your border crossing. I came to the border around 11:00 but I was not in Bocas del Toro until around 18:00. The local bus takes about an hour from Puerto Viejo, and on the other side the buses leave Guabito frequently. The border crossing is pretty straight forward but you might get hassled into taking an expensive tourist transport for $30-40. If you are alone it will cost you a lot, but if you are a group its cheaper. Still you will probably end up paying at least $6-10, and with a taxi you will pay $ 1,50 to get to Changuinola (or bus $1,20) where you have to change the bus to get to Almirante, David or Panama City. From Changinola you will pay $ 1,80 to go to Almirante where you can get a water taxi to Bocas Town on Isla Colon. Where you will be met on the dock by eager agents with 100s of suggestions for you. Stay firm if you know what you want. That rule goes for everywhere in Central-America as people are overwhelming, but truly lovely anyway! After crossing the border I was so lucky that I met two good looking Germans; Konrad and Loths, so we took the same taxi and the same bus to Almirante. We wanted something to eat in Almirante, so we decided to take a water taxi that left 5 o`clock in the evening. The ride was first very calm, but midway it was more choppy. I imagined that I was on a bus on a bumpy road, in stead of in a tiny boat in the middle of the sea. And it worked. It was actually quite fun, I have gotten used to sea and lake travels on this trip.There is absolutely nothing to do in Almirante, I do not think they have many options for sleeping there either, so your best option is to get to Bocas the same day as you cross the border. There are not many boats between  Almirante and Bocas after dark, but they start running from Bocas /Almirante 6 am. For female travelers the fun starts already when you are at the border. Of course, Panamenan men also LOVES women, so they will love you if you are a woman. It seems to me that men on this continent adores women, and I have experienced being stared at as if I am an angel, or as if they have never seen a woman before. Luckily staring is all they do, so you will not have any problems with the men here. They might say "hello", ask where you are from and your name and tell you that they love you. They do that to local women as well, so do not get too exited. If you are a woman they like you, but for tourists that are not used to all the attention it might feel as if this is something they do especially for the tourist women. They will address you with a "hola linda" and /or "que buscas /quieres, (mi) amor?" (hello beautiful. What are you looking for? /what do you want /need, (my) love?), which is quite nice in my opinion. They will always find a way to put in a compliment and praise your beauty when you have a conversation with them.

 All the pictures are taken from the boat as we were leaving Almirante. The water taxis take less than an hour. Running small "pangas" with a strong motor that can fit some 20 people. Fortunately they do not put more people in the boat than there are life saving vests. because of the many horse powers in the motor, the boat goes so fast that it feels like flying. The sight of all the small and big islands is just dazzling. It is like the forest version of Venice. Some places you see houses on stilts out in the water. The distances between the islands is also quite amazing, because it is far between some of them. Some islands are just mangroves, and not possible to inhabit. One of those islands is the "sloth island". Dedicated to the relaxed and beautiful animal. A boat tour will take you there, and it is almost guaranteed that you will be able to see them from the boat. Bring binoculars.

When I was on dry land in Bocas Town, or Bocas del Toro as the name is, on the main island Isla Colon I went to Hostal Heike together with the two Germans. We got the same dormrom, but we were only the 3 of us in a dorm with 8 beds, so it was good. A bed is $ 10, and you can not get it any cheaper on Isla Colon, it has a kitchen worth using since going to a restaurant around there is pricey. Bocas has the highest cost of living in all Panama, it is like in Costa Rica. One reason is of course that it is VERY touristy (but I was there during low season so it was great!), and there are a lot of US -, and European born people living there. I met Germans, Italians and Dutch. And of course a lot of people from Florida and Carlifornia. I think all the hostels and hotels you can find is owned by a foreigner, and all the fancy houses are for foreigners. More about the place and the people in other blogs.