Tranquility on the Caribbean Coast

I woke at 7 hoping to catch a glimpse of the toucans but they had already come and gone by the time I came down for my morning coffee.  The views from the patio overlooking Bocas Del Toro were breathtaking.  The flowers that surround Bocas Ridge are very beautiful.  Large hibiscus in reds, pinks and yellows abound.  At first it appeared that it was going to be a partially rainy day but we decided to hire Papi’s friend to take us around to all the islands. Papi being such a gracious host drove us to the docks where we met Federico, the captain and Johnny, his mate.      El Destino II was the name of the panga that we were on.  Federico was a good captain and Johnny helped with the language barrier.  We left the docks and headed out through the mangroves and and over 100 islands that make up the archipelago of Bocas Del Toro.  As we rode through two small uninhabited islands surrounded by mangroves we saw coral colored starfish in the water below. Our first stop was at Cayo Coral where we were all in need of a banos.  Johnny fed the fish around the dock and we saw angel fish, bottle nose fish, and several other colorful fish. The longer we spent out on the water, the nicer the weather became until we had full sunshine. Our next stop was Bocas Town because Johnny and Federico wanted to get me a coconut to drink.  We walked around the town, went into a shop, drank some coconut milk and then we’re off to find a beach where we could swim. We found a lovely beach with soft white sand.  The water was warm and inviting – we couldn’t wait to dive into the clear Caribbean Sea.  After a quick swim we had lunch under a thatched roof hut.  Fish and patacones.  Delicious.  Of course, we didn’t wait an hour after lunch to dive back in the sea.  We assume that was an old wives tale perpetuated by our parents to keep us out of the water a little longer so they wouldn’t have to watch us.  At the end of the trip we said our goodbyes to Federico and Johnny and told them what a wonderful day we had.  Papi came to the docks and brought us back to Boca Ridge Hotel.  We had coffee and dessert – ice cream, brownies and coconut flan, as an afternoon dessert.this is a giant grasshopper that I saw at the hotel. At the end of the day, we had a light supper and played three games of pool.  The girls finally won a game!