Brad, Me, and Brad´s Mom!!! Put this one on the wall Cyn! We love you!
Bocas Del Toro, Isla Bastimentos, Panama Feb 20-26, 2007
We started off our Panamanian leg of the journey on the islands of Bocas Del Toro. We were treated to an unexpected kindness by the gentlemen who own Al Natural Resort on the Island of Isla Bastimentos ( Thanks for calling Cyn!!). We had no reservations to this resort and wanted to be able to stay near Brad´s Mom, but they were full. They made an exception for us and allowed us to stay in their own personal guesthouse for free...minus the cost of food. Mind you they fed us three sumptious meals a day, and provided us with enough wine with dinner to make even the most graceful( yeah sure) and unexpecting person fall off the dock...he he he. Thanks Vincent and Michele!
The times we had while visiting this remote and lovely island were surely some of the very best we have had on this entire journey. The snorkeling was perfect, the weather was perfect, the kayaking was...well yes, can you guess it...PERFECT. We truly LOVED it here and WILL be coming back, hopefully sooner than later.

I am so happy I just don´t know what to do! We had just hiked around the southern tip of the island, through dense tropical forest, where we spotted the most beautiful butterfly in the world, the Morpho, as well as the endangered Poison Red and Green dart frog.The jungle opened up to the sea and the breeze was invigorating and delicious. We continued the hike until we stumbled upon a man screaming at us with his Carribean accect to " Come over and grab a f*cking cold one" this man is named Palo. Palo is a local who was born on the island and is one of the funniest characters we have met on our journey. He loves to swear, particularly F*ck this and f**cking that, and offers the coldest beers on the island. He is hilarious and we had a blast with him..Cheers until next time Palo!!!!!

Isla Bastimentos...pure paradise. I feel that over the past 7 months I have severely abused the word ¨paradise¨ and thus rendering its' poignant and true meaning useless, but I will admit to you now that Isla Bastimentos is paradise in its most intrinsic form. The aesthetics alone of this unworldy place will blow you away, not to mention the warm tropical turqouise waters that soothe the soul, the bluer than blue skies, the greener than green rainforest, the whiter than white sand beaches and the rainbow of creations under the water that are so exquisite you are intoxicated by the sheer reality that such beauty and harmony exists in this vast and complicated world. Earth.... what a dynamic creation.

My photographer boyfriend snapped this perfect photo of the Poison Red and Green dart frog, an endangered species. This frog is disappearing rapidly from our world and we feel so priveliged to have been able to view it in its diminishing natural environment. This shot is amazing don´t you think?

Me and Cyn (MPH he he he) having the best time ever snorkling in the Caribbean! That day we saw: snappers, eagle rays, morray eels, parrot fish, trigger fish, baracuda, octopus, scorpion fish, sea urchin, sea cucumbers and tons of mini florescent fishies that were soooo cute...right from our dock! The huge brain coral and sea fans were some of the best!

This was at the beginning of our 10 hour hike over the volcano..It reminds me of a song I used to know, wanna hear it here it goes....¨Over the river and through the woods, to Granmother's house we go¨...only the river is a Volcano, the woods are jungle, and Grandma doesn´t live anywhere around here. Sh*t, what should we do?

Who is this local islander? It´s Bradley, the long lost Kanuk who fell in love with Isla Bastimentos and decided to stay there forever...well maybe not forever, but there will always be a special place in his heart( and mine!) for this most perfect island paradise.

The elusive Quetzale is a spectacular site, if you are lucky enough to spot it. This gorgeous bird is the prize of Cerra Punta, Panama and draws faithful bird watchers from all over the world. We were hoping to catch a glimpse, and even had our trusty binoculars close by at all times (thanks Mike and Julie!), but were unable to find this rather shy birdie. We have had our share of wildlife though, dont you worry about that...Ever heard of a three toed sloth? Yeah, we have seen 6 of them, two of which had babies, and all in the wild, but that part of the story will come later in the Costa Rica section of this tardy blog.

This is a spectacular view of the mountains and Volcano, just outside Cerra Punta, Panama. We decided advantagously, and certainly spontanously, to hike the 15 mile (11 hour) hike from the city of Volcan over the Volcano, through the virgin tropical RAIN forest (notice I capitalize RAIN...most humans with any level of intelligence would bring a rain jacket when hiking through a rain forest) and into the town of Boquette. Problem is, we had know idea where the trail, if you can call it that, was going to let us out. We ended up somewhere in the mountains, in the pouring rain, without any idea where we were or how we would get back to Volcan. It was too late to even consider hiking back through the jungle, and we just stood there at a crossroad, arguing which way would take us back to civilization. Then out of nowhere this clunking minivan pulled up, the owner and his son took one look at our pathetic, Gringo asses, and asked if we needed a ride. Why yes, fine young gentlemen, however did you guess? He took us to town, a 20 minute ride by car, and dropped us off at the bus stop. Our journey did not end there. No, No my friends it was just about to begin. We hailed down an old yellow school bus, jumped in and in broken spanish asked if it was going down the mountain. As kids, we both loved the Atari game "Frogger" , so jumping from city to city finding our way home only seemed like a silly little game, one in which a warm, bed bug free bed awaited us at the finish line! The school bus ride down the mountain lasted 1 hour. Once we were in the town of David, we desperately searched for a bus to take us home, but to no avail...we had just missed the last bus! We jumped on another bus ( 1/2 hour or so) going in a similar direction, hopped off and hailed a taxi for the duration of the journey. Big Mistake!!!! This guy was pinche loco! He was zipping around like a madman all while text messaging some unlucky girl somewhere. We were terrified and and the dense fog was not doing anything to ease our tense nerves. After 40 minutes of horror we finally arrived at our destination...at 10 p.m! Frogger's got nothin on us. To bad the bedbug-free bed does not exist in Sam's world...

This is a view from our boat on Isla Bastimentos. The picture cannot even begin to show the true beauty of this magical wonderland, but I´m sure you can use your imagination!

Brad and his beautiful mommy on the uninhabited island of Zapitillos, Panama. This is the island where the first Survivor was filmed. The scenery is breathtaking as are the surrounding coral reefs. Once your boat docks and you hop onto the soft sand, you feel as if your feet are the first to ever explore this seemingly endless beach.

O.K, I have finally accepted my fate. If it can bite me, it will. This also includes animals, such as one particular dog named Barney. This picture doesn't even come close to showing all of the 250+ Sand flea, or as the locals call them Chitras, bites I accumulated in in 6 hours time on Carenero Island. I have never in my entire life been in such itching agony! I cried myself to sleep one night, then went hysterical the next day and experienced "temperary itching insanity" (it actually exists...I swear) and told Brad I wanted to come home. What a nightmare that was. For me to actually contemplate leaving paradise, you know how truly unbearable those bites were. Don't worry, the scars last as a loving memory of Chitra Island ( so the locals call it, a bit of advice I would have liked to know BEFORE going there! ) However, I did have an amazing time on Chitra Island, minus those pinche pests! Chitras = 258 Sam = "I want to go home" ...single tear

Fancy a nap in a hammock with your loved one? I know I do!

So sad we had to leave Bocas! Sobb sobb, choke coke, more sobb, more choke...WWWWAAAAAAAAAA! O.k. so we're babies and we got spoiled like good little babies should while we were in Panama. Now it´s back to the real travel life...sobb sobb.

We are actually in Costa Rica right now, and have been since March 3, 2007. we promise to have that lovely blog posted as soon as possible. Costa Rica is awesome, but we must move on. Off to Nicaragua!!! We'll keep you posted.