24th December 2013
We’ve found an idyll, and a well-equipped one at that. With the notable exception of a corkscrew. Only a problem because I purchased the one bottle of wine in Bocas del Toro that hasn’t got a screw cap. And of course my Leatherman is much more manly than a Swiss Army knife, so doesn’t have anything as effete as a corkscrew either! Much hacking with the knife later, and we can enjoy a cold glass of Chardonnay on the veranda, with only a few flecks of cork to pick out.
Basically, we have an entire house on a rainforest island all to ourselves. It belongs to a small (three other rooms!) resort, but the resort is on another island a fifteen minute kayak ride away so we are properly alone. Which is why I was out buying groceries as soon as we arrived in Bocas town this morning. I only had 20 minutes before our boat transfer, so you can imagine we’ve got quite a random selection of supplies for four days! Mind you, this place seems to have a very Caribbean vibe so I doubt our boat pilot would have minded a delay.
Bocas del Toro is a little archipelago of rainforest islands ringed by reefs, beaches and mangroves. It seems delightfully unspoilt for now, just a scattering of little resorts often only given away by the wooden jetty sticking out of the mangroves, and a couple of colourful little settlements like Bocas town with seafront seafood shacks and small hostels. Our flight was in a 20-seater Twin Otter (yay!) plane and our airport arrival seemed suitably Central American – a guy with a necklace of teeth took all our passports away while another big fella in a crisp white shirt poked through our bags and then left us waiting without much explanation. All was well, and the airport is just a five minute (hot) amble from the town.
We’ve done nothing this afternoon except get used to the kayaks we need to get anywhere, and unwind.
S’nice. : )
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