This video provides footage on entering Panama, taking a water taxi to Bocas as well as many activities including hiking, biking and caving.
First and Second Beach, Bastimentos
December 15, 2009 Leave a Comment
This is a long beach break. The beach has a reef point break, and a beach break in the middle. The beach break is very powerful and when there is a large swell it tends to close out. Generally, it gets much bigger at First Beach than any of the other breaks (except Silver Backs), so when the other breaks are only a 1-3 feet, you typically can get fun 4-6 foot beach break surf here.
Bastimentos Tropical Garden
December 15, 2009 Leave a Comment
Over 50 types of indigenous plant and tree species have been planted at the Marina Village on Bastimentos. These plants include edible items such as passion fruit, star fruit, coffee, and amazon tree grape. There are also a number of plants that give off pleasant aromas that visitors will enjoy (these scents also help repel bugs). Heliconia & hibiscus should bring many birds and frogs to the area.
Our unique tropical climate is conducive to the growth of thousands of different types of tree and plant species. We want to share a slice of the rainforest with you by bringing this amazing array of biodiversity right to your doorstep. That’s why we’ve decided to initiate a landscaping program that is organic, eco-friendly, and uses the native species that thrive in this area. The Nursery is in an idyllic location, set on hillside overlooking the rainforest just a short walk from the marina.
Several different species can be found here, including: starfruit, pepper plant, curry plant, cilantro plant, mango, pineapple, banana or plantain, hibiscus, cinnamon, etc. A complete list is as follows:
| Quantity | Type |
|
9 |
Varigated hybiscus |
|
6 |
Purple moa ground cover |
|
4 |
Croton “Gold Dust” |
|
20 |
Croton “Gold Dust” |
|
2 |
Caladium |
|
3 |
Cactus |
|
2 |
Angel wing begonia |
|
1 |
Mimosa |
|
4 |
Ti |
|
1 |
Mother of millions |
|
1 |
Wandering Jew |
|
1 |
Patchouli |
|
1 |
Aglonema (silver leaf) |
|
1 |
Aglonema (yellow leaf) |
|
3 |
Papayrus |
|
3 |
Croton “Pink Streak” |
|
7 |
Croton “Red Ear” |
|
1 |
Red Cover |
| Finca Los Monos | |
|
1 |
Musa Okinawa |
|
1 |
Musa Ornamental |
|
2 |
Bamboo Orchid |
|
2 |
Jatropha Podagraca |
|
2 |
Torch Ginger |
|
2 |
Hel. Latipatha |
|
1 |
Hel. Psitacorum |
|
1 |
Hel. Parrots beak |
|
1 |
Hel. Parrots beak |
|
1 |
Hel. Andromeda |
|
1 |
Hel. Lady Di |
|
1 |
Hel. Rostrata |
| Luminescence | |
|
1 |
Achiote |
|
3 |
Biriba |
|
2 |
Lily |
|
1 |
Papayrus |
|
1 |
Suriname Cherry |
|
3 |
Suriname Cherry |
|
3 |
Abiu |
|
1 |
Curry |
|
2 |
Garlic Vine |
|
1 |
Passion Fruit |
|
1 |
Ylang ylang |
|
1 |
Tree Orchid |
|
1 |
Star Fruit |
|
1 |
Membrillo |
|
1 |
Coffee |
|
1 |
Anon |
|
1 |
Tumeric |
|
1 |
Amazon Tree Grape |
|
1 |
Mamey americana |
|
1 |
Kafir |
Central American Adventures – A Bocas del Toro Blog Post
December 9, 2009 Leave a Comment
“We arrived in San Jose with six boards and no sunscreen. The flight was smooth enough but the sunscreen never stood a chance against Airport Security. We jumped on the bus headed for Cahuita, Costa Rica, a small town on the Caribbean coast. After one short stay there, we caught a 3 hour bus ride to the Costa Rica-Panama border and discovered where bananas come from.
The border crossing was relatively easy, if you consider toting six surfboards, two large suitcases, and backpacks over a degenerate bridge that looked ready to collapse at any given moment, easy. Fortunately, the locals were eager to help for a small pittance. Another short bus ride later took us to Changuinola, Panama, a small town that is only a hop, skip, and 50 mile per hour boat ride from Bocas del Toro. Zipping through mangrove swamps at frightening speeds led us to Bocas Del Toro, a beautiful chain of islands on the Caribbean. We arrived in Bocas just in time for Caranval, a four day celebration that resembles Mardi Gras, and managed to find a bar that was showing the Super Bowl. What a game that was! (Megan now believes in the “Curse of Seau”.) Carnaval was a blast with lots of costumes, dancing, music, and international travelers.
The next day, we made our way over to Isla Bastimentos and found a serene, seculded beach after a 30 minute hike through the jungle. The jungle hike was gorgeous but watch out for the ants. Those little buggers will light you up! Our second trip to Bastimentos took us through a jungle river to a cave called Nivida. There we waded through water up to our chins to explore the cave with our companions, the nectar bats. On the way out on the river, Greg was startled by a sloth that brushed up against his arm. Boy those things are slow!
Other than that we have been taking it pretty easy, trying not to get too badly sunburned and enjoying good food.
We left Bocas bound for David, Panama´s second largest city. En route we passed through beautiful green mountains so high they were fully enveloped in clouds. I was glad the bus driver knew the roads because I would have certainly driven off the side of the mountains, the clouds were so thick. Our next stop is a remote peninsula called Punta Burrica to camp at a place called Mono Feliz (Happy Monkey). Camping this far away from civilization should be interesting! We will keep you posted.”
http://centralamericanadventures.wordpress.com/2008/02/
