We were off the grid for most of the remainder of the Panama trip, but here’s an after-the-fact recap of the rest of the trip.
We spent a couple more days in Boquete. We toured the Cafe Ruiz coffee plantation, learning plenty about the various processes for drying and roasting coffee beans, the ideal coffee growing conditions in Boquete, and Panama’s place in worldwide coffee production. They emphasize light and medium roasts at Cafe Ruiz. Delicious.
We took a car shuttle from Boquete to Bocas Del Toros on the Caribbean side. The shuttle actually dropped us in Almirante where we took a water taxi to Bocas followed by another water taxi to Al Natural eco resort on Bastimentos.
The resort can host something like 20 people, and we made great friends there. The family-style dinner each night brought together travelers from Costa Rica, America, Spain, Germany, France, Japan, and more. (I’m sure I’m forgetting some.) We spent the days hiking, snorkeling, finding dolphins, touring a local indigenous village (Salt Creek), and relaxing. There may have been some cocktails in there, and there were definitely some beautiful sunsets.
We returned to Panama City for a final day. We stayed in an amazing flat is Casco Viejo that was perfect except for the nearby church with loud church bells every 15 minutes for most of the day. We loaded up on ceviche, had a great meal at Manolo Caracol, and stayed in during a few amazing downpours.
Until next time!