Bocas del Toro located just 32km from the Costa Rican border consists of 6 forested islands and many smaller uninhabited islets. Isla Colon is the largest island and where most of the tourist action happens.
Its very stereotypical Caribbean - the colorfully painted wood buildings, red, yellow and green - rasta style, some built up on stilts over the water; the people are dark skinned with dark curly hair and every 10th person has some pot for sale (or at least it seems that way at first - turns out John has the look that attracts the drug peddlers - maybe its the funky facial hair, or those dark shades) and of course its hot -really hot- and humid.
No sooner do we disembark the lancha and a rasta man, long dreds, rasta hat and all, attaches to us telling us about different hotels. We had some ideas of where to go - after all the town is only a few blocks wide and long, but he followed us around just the same and offerred his suggestions. Many were already full as it was late in the day. We ended up at Hostal Las Brisas a fairly big hostal built over the water at the end of town. Our room was actually an outside annex - huge - with a/c, tv and private bath; but not too clean and although the hotel itself seemed fine this room seemed a bit vulnerable to easy break-ins. So in the morning we were on the move. This time to the Hostel Don Chichio a big 3 story hotel - $25 a night for a room in what felt like the attic due to the slanted roof. It came with a/c, tv, hot water and it was very secure and clean.
Our first day we just roamed around town - taking in the culture both local and tourist imposed. We found these children down one of the quieter streets just hanging out in their front yard. They were more than happy to pose for a picture.
Later in the afternoon we took a lancha over to the closest island - Isla Carenero - a 5 minute ride if that. There is a hostal there called Acqua Lounge which had a large dock which had a large "pool" cut into it as well as a trampoline and some resident show-offs doing tricks. Nice chill place to hang out and we enjoy a few beers.
We decided to explore a little so we followed this path on the island that lead us through a shanty town of rundown shacks built on stilts and connected by planks and walkways - all just minutes from prime oceanfront. Very interesting. Apparently this island is a bit of a dump - literally. The name comes from "careening" which refers to leaning a boat on one side for cleaning or repairing. History has it that Christopher Colombus brought his boat here for careening and cleaning back in the 1500s while he recovered from a bellyache.
Here's another view from the Isle which the marketing folks would approve of.
