|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
World Trip 2005 |
Bocas del toro |
Grant Macandrew |
|
By now, I was getting more relaxed about finding a place to stay - as long as I wasn't arriving too late, I would find somewhere on arrival. It always worked out but I had to try a few times before I found a place to stay in Bocas. There is nothing that makes you feel more ridiculous than dragging your bags up and down the street, with no clear idea of what you are looking for. My hotel worked out well, being very close to the waterfront. It had a bar opposite it,which featured a sunken banana boat, a fairly small one, but the bar was built right over it. I sat there for some timne, watching the reef fish - and even some squid - swimming over and around the rusting wreckage. The banana boat was a tourist bar, the one I was invited to later by a local was not. I did feel a little conspicious but it was a great view from the back and everyone was friendly. One thing that struck me as unusual was how the buildings were built so low ovet the wate. Tides on the Caribbean have only a 70 cm range, and the water was always calm. On the Pacific coast, the tdes range as much as 7 meters - another reason why the canal could not be built at sea level |
||
Bocas del toro is on an island on the Caribbean coast, close to the Costa Rican border. To get there from
Boqute, I had to cross the Cordillera de Talamanca mountain range. It was a pleasent journey by bus, with many
stops where brightly dressed Indian families arrived and left, often heading off into the forest around the road.
A more unsettling stop was where a tow truck blocked the road, pulling a Coco-Cola truck back on the road. Roads
in this part of the world lack safety barriers and you do worry about the skills of your driver.