Seldom has an air conditioned minibus been so welcome! Soon enough I had cooled down enough to regain functionality, and by the time we entered the watertaxi in Almirante I was ready to go!
The goal of the day, and indeed for the next three nights, was the group of islands known as Bocas del Torros, and Isla de Bastimentos in particular.
Located on the north coast of Panama, this cosy archipelago is every bit as caribbean as one could hope for: relaxed atmosphere, wooden, colourful houses on stilts by the water, people speaking creole, turquoise water, chicken and pork and seafood. Celebrating the significantly lower prices compared to Costa Rica, my new roomie and I ordered a lobster to share. And good thing too, for when it arrived it turned out to be of humongous proportions. Finishable, yes, but just barely. Judge my surprise when it turned out that that was just one serving, and they soon brought out a second lobster, even bigger than the last. Through dedication and struggle we eventually managed to finish the kraken-sized crustaceans. It was decidedly delicious (above Belize, but still below Maine), and needless to say, the chips remained untouched. And the price tag matched the physical size: 35 dollars!
On the islands, it's all about the water. Mostly. With two full days, I could be social AND do my own thing. Said and done, the first day was spent snorkeling with the gang. We gathered at the given time of 9:00, and about that time, the captain arrived, and then promptly disappeared to get fuel. About 40 minutes after agreed upon time, we left for the first destination, Dolphin Bay. No cetaceans could be found in the still waters, though, and instead we set course for a secluded, paradise-y beach island. While others caught some rays on the beach or took a stroll around the island, I jumped in the water with mask, snorkel and a total lack of flippers and swam out to the nearby reef. Lots of colourful fish, including whatever species Dory is (I suppose I could just google it. Oh, I just did, it's Blue Tang).
The next stop was a dedicated snorkeling site, and lo, and indeed behold, lying at the bottom was a nurse shark! Unfortunately, my camera had stopped working some time during the last few days, so the snapshot had to be purely mental.
After a pre-ordered lunch (including some macaw spotting), a nap in the hammock and some more snorkeling, we circled the island known as Sloth Island. Contrary to Dolphin Bay, this place actually had quite a few of the animals it was named after.
One should never lose hope, though; on the way back, what was that splashing straight forward? Well, wouldn't you know, a small pod of dolphins were sighted, and all that we could have expected from this day trip was fulfilled. Well, other than flippers, of course. Well, unless one of the dolphins was named Flipper, of course.
And so the day finally arrived! After blood thinners, hurricanes, silt pollution, rain and whatever obstacles the universe could throw, I sat down for a combined breakfast and dive briefing. The dive guide, an older Canadian lady, was extremely passionate about marine biology and explained in minute details the eating, sex changing and the filtering habits of the underwater inhabitants. And that passion certainly followed her into the blue, as she could be as excited about seeing a centimetre long prawn as others are about seeing sharks or Donald Duck-y wrecks.
The dives themselves were cool as. Shallow (13 and 11 metres, respectively) and not the best visibility, but with a lot of wildlife and colours. Fortunately, a co-traveller had lent me his underwater camera, so I could photograph the subaquatic subjects. Schools of fish, a huge-ass lobster (almost as big as the one we had for dinner), a catamaran wreck, sunken 40 years ago, the nearly extinct staghorn coral and a big barracuda were amongst the sights seen and snapshot during these two dives. All in all an excellent day, so great, indeed, that I wasn't completely devastated upon finding out that I had lost my jade fish hook necklace to the waves. I had worn it every day for almost ten years, ever since I got it in New Zealand, but now it's gone. I guess it wanted to go to the ocean, to fulfill it's supposed destiny, being all fish hooky and such.
The relaxed days by the Caribbean drew an end, and we steered once more inland.
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