We arrived home from Bocas Del Toro on Thursday night. We would fly out Saturday morning, so all of Friday was ours to enjoy. We spent the morning tidying things up, and then before lunch we went to the beach for the last time.

During our entire stay at Coronado, we actually spent quite a bit of time at the beach, either swimming, reading, or (for Hubs) sleeping in the beach chair. It was nice to have several hours every day to do nothing but read and watch the ocean. Unlike our $63 beach trip, the resort beach (free to get into with a complimentary 14-day pass) was always pretty and calm. The beach chairs were much nicer and yes- free to sit in. "Our" spot was up by the restaurant under some palm trees, overlooking the ocean. It was so nice! And every once in a while, a lizard would come out from the side.

From the resort to the beach was quite the walk, so we took the shuttle to and from the beach. I enjoyed listening to the beachy music and feeling the warm breeze flow through my hair. 

By the time we got home from the beach five hours later (hey, we wanted to get the most out of it!), it was just in time to see the sun set. The view from our tower was really incredible at any time of day, but especially during sunrises and sunsets.

So there we stood, watching the sunset and drinking the very last pina coladas that we'd get in Panama. But the night wasn't over yet! In order to celebrate our last day, we decided to have dinner at the fancy restaurant down at the resort.

I LOVED eating at the restaurant! Everything was so beautiful and fancy. It reminded me of the resort we stayed at for our honeymoon. The buffet cost $20 per person, but we only went once, and to me it was worth it. It was the perfect way to end our stay in Panama. 

Of course I was sad to be leaving the warm weather and our beautiful condo and yummy food, but we were ready to go home, I think. I was looking forward to planning my garden, and Hubs was looking forward to building sheds again. We enjoyed spending some time with my sister, and it was a nice break from everyday life for us... especially winter everyday life! Just being somewhere hot for some of January was a reward in itself. But we were ready to go home.

I really enjoyed our trip to Panama. I feel like my Spanish got better. I was able to learn about so many new plants and even animals on this trip. I also got to learn a little more about Caribbean history and culture, which was a lot of fun. And of course I got to spend quality time with my favorite man in the whole wide world, doing exciting new things together!

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Note To Travelers:

There were a few things we learned when vacationing in Panama that I'd like to share, for those who might be considering Panama as a travel destination. Below are four points to remember, as well as a saying I made up about the country shortly before we left. Hubs keeps asking me to repeat it, so some of what I experienced in Panama must be true. It goes like this: 

"Everything costs twice as much, takes twice as long, and only half of it works like it's supposed to."

1. High prices. I felt like many things were a little (or a lot) more expensive in Panama than in the States.

2. Waiting. We did a TON of waiting in line. In the US, you go to McDonalds and expect to get your food in a minute or two. In Panama City we waited for 30 minutes to get an order at McDonalds. It was the same way at the bus station, grocery store and everywhere we went. Wait, wait, wait!!! And on the way home we'd get stuck in traffic, and have to wait some more.

3. Transportation. We also learned that you should either 1) get room and board next to attractions/grocery stores/etc., or 2) rent a car. Using public transportation did work okay for us, but it was slow and a lot of the smaller buses didn't even have a set schedule. Our resort was several miles from town and required $5-$7 worth of taxi rides just to get some groceries. Also note that, especially in Panama City, trips should be planned to miss heavy traffic... otherwise you might miss the place being open!

4. Keep luxury and backpacking separate. For long vacations (2 weeks +) it makes more sense to stay somewhere where hostels cost $12 per night, like they did in Guatemala. It would have been better for us to do our "resort-ing" for only 5-7 days in Panama at a luxurious all-inclusive resort, and then do our backpacking in another place with a lower cost of living. We will keep this in mind as we plan future trips.

Til next time,
-Bethany

After we had walked as far as we could, we turned around to go back. We’d neglected to bring food or water, so when we returned from our walk we hit up one of the little restaurants. Hubs ordered two small fish tacos (at $5.50 each), a drink for himself and a bottle of water ($2) for me. ​

 At this point we still had an hour left and absolutely nothing to do. I found some palm branches and started tearing them apart, while Hubs played solitaire this time.
It started raining, and finally it was time for us to leave. Yay! Rescued by the water taxi! Of course when we got back we had to pay the taxi another $16. So our total cost for “going to the beach”, something we could have done for free in Coronado (or anywhere besides Bocas), was $63.00. For the rest of the afternoon and evening it rained.

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​Later that night we got a call that there had been a heartbreaking death in the family. We cried together and sat in the hostel, talking about it as the rain kept coming down. Hubs asked me if I still wanted to do the snorkel/boating tour the next day, and I told him it would just not be fun. He said he was hoping I’d say that, and we decided to catch a bus the next morning back to our condo. That Hubs bought me some ice cream and we got some souvenirs and talked in the rain. Back at the hostel we made ramen noodles for dinner but neither of us was very hungry. We talked some more before heading off to bed.

Early the next morning it was still raining as we walked to the bus stop and as we rode through the mountains. It fit the emotions we were both feeling and gave us some time to process everything that had happened the night before.
 
Overall, I don’t think Bocas lived up to our expectations. Apart from the bad news we received at the hostel (which of course made everything less fun), there was really nothing to do in Bocas, especially without paying for it. The “backpacker world” we were looking forward to seeing was kind of disappointing. It felt like a lot of them came to Bocas to hang out, play cards and smoke weed, not to have grand adventures or learn new things. Hubs loves talking to other travelers, but the Bocas backpackers seemed more like college kids on Spring break than the real travelers we’d seen in Santa Catalina or Guatemala.

Though I will say, I have a new appreciation for free public seating! :)

​-Bethany