BIF!-Bocas Del Toro

Bananaquit

Join me over at Birding is Fun! today for my latest write on the Bocas Del Toro region in Panama!

Looking Back-Bocas Del Toro

Today I head back to the Bocas Del Toro region in Panama. The theme for this series is going back into the folder and pulling pics I have not used during my Panama writes last year.  It's a lot more fun when you don't have to focus on specific topics related to our journeys.  The above pic was taken by a friend on our canoe into Bastimentos National Park.  We are entering the park through the Mangrove forest.  I'm wearing the yellow hat.   Speaking of yellow, at the entrance to the park and cave, we found these adorable and curious chicks.

It was nice seeing people row boats along the coast and islands.  I sometimes wonder what it would be like growing up in an area like this.  While we were there, I was severely attacked by gnats.  During one of my recent treks into a canyon here in Tucson, I was again attacked and as of the day I write this, my body is covered in bites.  Not cool!

You'll find many endemic frogs on the various islands.  Each island has a different color.  The one we were on was known for this red frog below.

The Bocas Del Toro region is known for it's wonderful scuba diving opportunities as well as its beaches.  But I'm not into any of that stuff.  We enjoyed the caving and hiking:)  While we were there, we saw lots of jellyfish(or "mey-doo-saw" in Spanish)

While there, we volunteered at a poorly run turtle conservation program.  But we treated ourselves to a 3 day stay at La Loma Lodge and Chocolate Farm and forgot about that nightmare of an experience!  This definitely was a huge tourist area, but most people choose to stay at Bocas Town for drinks and partying.  I don't do that stuff anymore and prefer the views from my bed below.  Yeah, life is good:)  More tomorrow....

La Loma Jungle Lodge and Chocolate Farm

The Red Frog and symbol of this island

On a trip this past summer to Isla Bastimentos in the Bocas Del Toro region, we stayed at the amazing La Loma Jungle Lodge and Chocolate Farm for a little pampering before heading out to the turtle conservation program on the opposite end of the Bocas islands.

This was a very positive experience for us and we had a great 3 day stay here. A couple things to note.  It's really hot and humid in this region.  Luckily, we had a breeze up in our cabin overlooking the ocean. And there are several cabins located up a steep hill.  Watch your step and take your time going up hill with your luggage.  But we had help and people helped carry our luggage up on our way up the hill.  The staff, owners, and guest staff are really kind people.  The owners were back in Europe for vacation, but we had their replacements Karen and Steve who did an amazing job keeping us occupied around the island.  Steve is a retired landscaper who has a great knowledge of rain forest trees and plants.  Karen is a scifi/fantasy geek like I am and we spoke about Game of Thrones amongst other things.

Our cabin was beautiful, private, and open to the rain forest environment.  We were able to read and hang out in our hammock on breaks.  This is really a great getaway for newlyweds or families.  It's also an excellent place for birding.  Listen to this one.  So this birder guy brings his family.  He has to do all the family stuff like go to the beach, bla bla bla, but when they turned their backs, he had his binoculars out spying on the trillion and one birds.  Clever man:)

Our showers were open to the world and I have to say......I loved it:)

This is one nice bathroom.  I felt safe and welcome on this cozy little forested island.  The Bastimentos National Park is located there as well.

Mosquito nets keep the bugs out and I slept quite well on this lovely little vacation.

Imagine yourself on this hammock(hamoca) taking a break from caving or swimming.

If you love native cultures or the outdoors, you'll love this visit.  The mangroves here are spectacular.

And if you're a birder, check out these Oropendalas from my open bedroom.  Their calls are unique and pretty strange.  They sound like something from outer space.

If you like gardens or growing your own food, all of it is made on the farm!  The meals were delish!

You will also have some amazing guides take you around the National Park and island.  Here we toured the Chocolate farm and sampled the fruit.  But the pic above is the only one I have of us entering the cave hidden in the lush flora.  There were a lot of bats!:)

And there was this dog that followed us all over the island and he was our magical guardian.  Sometimes he'd come out of nowhere!  Expect to see caiman, sloths, a billion birds, jellyfish, lots and lots of frogs, and a lot of critters.

While it may seem pricey at about 100 buck a person per night, sometimes it's just the break you need while backpacking through the rain forest.  And who doesn't like freshly made chocolate?!!!  You get to see it being made right there!  If you're heading to Panama and want a nice cozy getaway, I highly recommend this posh visit.  And if you are interested more in going to Panama, just head on over to the month of August on this blog for lots of interesting tidbits and fun.  Check this place out:)  More soon....

The Soropta Canal

In the beginning, I didn't think that this Soropta Canal would be of any importance nor would this write, but it turned out to be something very interesting. Neglected and ignored, this manmade canal has been taken over by water hyacinth and dead trees. On our way to the turtle program in the Humedales de San San Pond Sak and Caribbean shores(a wetland area of 160 km), we had to ride on this overgrown route to get to our destination. 

This Canal was initially known as the Snyder Canal and used as a shortcut by Snyder Banana Co. to get their product ready for export on the Caribbean shores. It cut through, then, an area of rain forest between the banana town of Changuinola and Bocas Del Toro. The Canal was completed in 1903 but was later abandoned by the construction of a railroad. However, by that time, the damage was already done.  This Canal allowed for people to move into the area and cut down the exposed rain forest.  Today it is a nature haven overgrown with hyacinth!  Some people still live on both sides at the entrance of the Canal in wood made homes.  

the water hyacinth

The funny part to all of this is that the Canal is in TERRIBLE shape for humans but WONDERFUL for so many birds and mammals.  There are river otters, which I did see, and manatees, which I didn't see.  There was waterfowl everywhere because the water hyacinth has taken over the entire waterway allowing birds to walk on this emerald green carpet of vegetation.  Boaters waste loads of gas zooming down this neglected area avoiding massive amounts of dead trees that have fallen into the Canal but then later getting stuck in extremely thick patches of hyacinth. During some parts, I wondered if we were ever going to get out!  However, I used the opportunity for photography to keep my mind busy.  Thinking about even entering that dark water freaked me out....

Some places, like the above pic, had open waterways, but there were many places where the vegetation connected both sides of the Canal. I saw plenty of Jacanas and other kinds of birds. This place is also commonly known as the Changuinola Canal as it connects to the town. At one point, we were stuck for a good 40 minutes using paddles to push ourselves out as we tried to reach the pier near Changuinola. It wasn't looking good for awhile, but it was beautiful....from the boat. 

Some parts of the Canal still have rustic homes on it.  I'm not sure how they get around as they are surrounded by ocean, beach and Canal.  Here a strange image of a horse stands in what seems like water. If you keep your eyes open, you'll find freshwater turtles and caimans sunning themselves on logs if you are going slowly down the Canal.  However if you blast through some of the area, you'll see a plunk here and there.  Like most places in a forest or natural area, early morning or late afternoon are your best viewing chances for animals like the manatees. However if you are on this Canal during the late afternoon, how in the world did you get there? And good luck arriving to your destination before dark.  I shudder to think of getting stuck in the middle of nowhere.

The first part of the Canal is open and clear of vegetation.  As you boat awhile into the interior, it will start to close in around you.  Eventually it gives way to forest and pure wetland. No homes will be spotted at all until you reach a little village outside of Changuinola.  The village park was covered with dark trees full of bromeliads and it was rather creepy.  We arrived at the pier counting our blessings. The local people in the park looked at us as if we were hostile aliens. My instinct told me that if we hadn't been there with the ANAM crew, we would have had things stolen from us.  We left our turtle project and the Changuinola area with pleasure. It was a learning experience and the place definitely had a different vibe than the Bocas Del Toro area. The Chiquita Banana company still operates in this town.  They've taken over everything...and talk about a timewarp!!!  Old signs were clinging to falling apart buildings from the early 1900's.  Let me put it this way.  This town would not exist if it weren't for Chiquita and bananas.  It's stuck between the pristine forests of the Costa Rican border and the protected wetlands of the Canal.....in between, it's nothing but bananas.  The Soropta Canal was cool, and I'm glad we escaped the web of vegetation and evil sand flies. Birders, this is a TRUE bird haven and I highly recommend!  I wasn't a birder at the time but it was impressive!  Until tomorrow....

A Taste of Chocolate

Did you ever wonder where chocolate came from? The above fruit is from the cacao tree which is where everyone's favorite treat is hidden.  And just like coffee, creating chocolate is quite the process.

The fruit is large and grows on the trunk or strong branches. Cacao has had a difficult time in Panama.  It used to grow all over the country until a fungus invaded years ago and killed many of the trees.  Today they've discovered some ways to combat this disease and the cacao plant is making a slow return.  If left unmonitored, the cacao plant will succumb to the disease.

You open this melon looking thing up and there is a delicious tangy white fruit around a bunch of seeds. The cacao beans are what actually makes the chocolate.  Suck the fruit off and keep the beans.

It's really delicious and a favorite for locals.....and a certain Arizonan. The beans are taken out and left to ferment and dry out. This creates that wonderful chocolate flavor. Once all that happens over the course of 2 to 7 days(depending on the variety), the beans are roasted and given a shake down. Again this is all similiar to how coffee is made.

 In its pure form, chocolate is bitter.  So chocolate is ground up with sugar and other items mixed in that will sweeten up the final product.  The amount of chocolate bean used will also determine the percentage a bar of chocolate receives.  The higher percentage of cocoa/chocolate used; the higher the quality of the chocolate bar. The chocolate created here was rated at 80 percent.

As you can see, once the chocolate is ground up, it's ready to use for baking or eating:) Of course, it all depends on what you've mixed in with the beans:) Until tomorrow....

Turtle Power!

Hawksbill Turtle

A misstep in our journey to Panama? I'd like to think not, but it was not the highlight like everyone thought it was going to be. Originally, we had planned an entire week here, but it was cut short due to several factors.  But before I begin this post, I need to say that it was an incredible experience for the brief amount of time we were there.  I don't regret coming here as we did accomplish our mission.  After our trip from Bastimentos, we stayed in the Bocas del Toro area and headed for the overgrown and neglected Soropta Canal towards Chiriqui Beach which is home to a turtle conservation program by ANAM.  The place, like the people working for the program, seemed worn down and indifferent.  The buildings were falling apart and not well maintained.  I had an experience with a pier that collapsed from under me while yet another part of it had completely fallen down. In fact, the pier had more personality than the workers did. Although I did like one of the researchers.  She was from Costa Rica and had warned me to walk on the edge of the pier. Her first time on this rickety thing resulted in falling into the swampy area.  I snapped a pic below of this rotted nightmare. Secretly I kind of loved it. It would also be a sign of what was to come. There were two things about this planned stay that made it difficult.  One was natural and the second was unfortunate.  The first was the difficulty of the infamous "chitras" or tiny little flies that will bite you up and down when you least expect it.  It was here that our team suffered the most.  One night, we incurred over a 100 bites on each of our bodies.  If you do go turtle watching, make sure you bring long sleeves to protect against these nasty critters.  And the second?  The staff.  There seemed to be an unwelcoming vibe going on as if we weren't wanted there.  So why have volunteers come and help?  The lead director was alright.  We had to ask her questions though about the turtles to get any answers.  The other underpaid people, were reserved and suspicious.  Two young men were inappropriate as one of them opened a shower door on my female counterpart to "sneak a peak".  So yes...there was a creepy element to the place as well:) And they wonder why no one was coming to volunteer anymore? Last year they had too many people helping out, but this year we were only the second tiny group to arrive....and the last.    My other friend completely shut down and within two days, we left. My only issue was the attitude of the place.  Most of these people didn't care for the extra help nor was it wanted. I wish someone would have told us this before we got there.  We got the hint and left.  There are a lot of better volunteer turtle programs out there, this place was not one of them.  It's too bad because there are a lot of turtles to see! So let's talk about that:)

The pier that went on forever and almost cost me a leg!!:)

 Traveler tips.  Bring a long sleeved shirt and pants.  No white lights at night....only red.  Bring plenty of water.  Also consider wearing water shoes.  The beaches are full of driftwood and other dead things like a caiman's carcass:)  Our trek was quite lengthy at around 5 hours from 10 PM to 3 AM.  Three shifts were assigned throughout the night.  The hiking was a bit treacherous at times as we hiked through jungles and steep cliffs where the ocean met.  Again, this isn't for the faint of heart.  

 Always wet and humid, it was extremely important to hang up clothes when there was an opportunity or suffer the wrath of nastiness.

 This building was the main headquarters for the turtle team.  Rain water was collected for cleaning dishes and drinking. The upstairs was for the director and other members of their team.  Meals were served at 8 AM, 12 PM, and 5 PM.  Plates would sit on the counter already prepared....sometimes for quite awhile.  Yum!

 This building was where we "slept" even though our treks happened at night searching for turtles. Pretty pic....not so much inside:)

 The pic above is a good example of what you'll find on a beach here.  There is a lot of debris and that can make walking at night tricky.

 The morning light arrives and makes for finding baby turtles a bit easier as they escape their nests.

Run!  Crabs start coming out of their holes as they sense the vibrations on the sand.  Pic by Desiree Hanson

"Run!  There are crabs awaiting you wanting to eat you alive.  I heard they love the eyes.  Watch out for birds flying above you.  If you make it before sunrise, you should be able to avoid them."  I'm not going to paint a beautiful pic here of what these little turtles have to go through as they leave their nests.  As the team finds the hatchlings, they will go to the nest and wear their rubber gloves to help these little babies out to sea.  Why gloves?  Bacteria and um...maggots from the hatched eggs.  Sorry for that image, but it's pretty gross.  However, a lot of turtles make it out to sea because of these dedicated people. No matter what I may think about them; they did do their jobs.

Pic of leatherback.  If this baby grows to full size, the only predator s/he will have to look out for is of the human variety. Pic by Desiree Hanson

And the pics?  The amazing discoveries?  I wasn't able to snap photos because we walked in the darkness.  Plus you don't want to disturb a mother laying eggs in her nest.  Most of the action happens at night plus it's hot and muggy.  My camera would have been toast from the extreme moisture.  Thankfully, Desiree had her smaller phone/camera with her. Therefore, I locked it up in my suitcase.  I had to remember, "anything that's worth the effort will reward you with wonderful results".....and there was a lot of effort for this leg of the trip.  Here's the good stuff.  While walking on the beach, I noticed things glowing green behind me.  In the darkness, all I could see were green lights sparkling in the ocean or the sand when an area was disturbed. It reminded me of Avatar.  How would we know if a turtle was on the beach?  Well, we found out quickly enough.  Trailer sized tracks swerved from the ocean onto the beach for several meters. We traced the tracks and flashed our red lights twice to indicate to the team that a turtle had been spotted. The lead researcher led us to.........the largest turtle I have ever seen in my life!  I couldn't believe my eyes.  It all looked so fake. The turtle was nearly as tall(6 feet) as I was and just as wide at 4 feet:)  LOL!!  It was a leatherback and she was groaning as she dug her nest out from the sand.  The whole process took around 45 minutes to happen.  She dug her nest and laid her eggs.  We watched and waited and were attacked by lots and lots of sand flies.  Then the eggs came......113 total.  Everyone watched and added up the endless stream of eggs coming from the female.  There were 82 turtle eggs total while 31 smaller eggs were added for climate control once the Mother Leatherback covered the nest.  Did you know that the temps will determine the sex for all the eggs? I didn't know any of this.  During the incubation process, warmer temps will create a nest of females and cooler temps will create males. If the temp is around 85 degrees, a mixed nest of male and female will develop. Any female turtles that survive will return back to that nesting spot.  Males will never come back to land once they make it into the ocean.  Here is some video taken from the early dawn hours by Desiree Hanson as a baby leatherback leaves the nest.  This little guy made it to the Caribbean as did many others.

 It was frustrating for me to see several nests dug up by either human poachers or dogs.  A farmer's dog roamed the beach one night and destroyed 2 nests!!!  All eggs gone!  The ANAM team spoke with the farmer and now the dog is on the leash.  Human poachers are the worst.  It is accepted freely that eggs are okay to eat by Panamanians.  It is getting better as word is spreading to people but the poachers are still out there.  We luckily didn't see anyone.  All marine turtles are endangered...some critically. While this trip was a physical and mental challenge for all of us, it was also worthwhile.  If you are prone to mosquito attacks in your own hometown, be forewarned.  This little trip to the beach can have its setbacks. Our guide and research also suggested this place was pretty rough. Turtle nesting begins in May and ends July 15th...or at least that's when the funding stops:)  Until tomorrow.....

Identity Crisis

The Ngöbe are very active on these islands and can be seen everywhere you go. It was great to see that they have found a way to make their way in this world among the crazy tourism projects sprouting up all over.  

Ever meet someone who hasn't figured it out yet? Maybe you're one of them.  I'd like to think that those are good traits because I'm still figuring it out myself.  When we moved from Coiba Island National Park and headed over to Bastimentos National Park in the Bocas del Toro region, I got the sense that things had changed a bit....and I got the sense of "uncertainty". We passed near La Amistad National Park as we headed over to these hot and tropical islands on the Caribbean side of Panama. The road trip was wonderful because we entered some cloud forest which cooled things down quite a bit before we descended back into the moist soupy temps.  I pulled out my kindle and read looking out my window from time to time. We passed many Ngöbe villages. Most of their homes were on stilts and high above ground.    

We spotted two 3 toed sloths clinging to the mangroves in Bastimentos National Park

Eventually, we got to the port of Almirante which was the hopping off point for Bocas Town. It was quick and easy.  The boat ride was about 4 bucks and so we shot off to Isla Colon.  Within 25 minutes, we arrived at a colorful Bocas Town.  Most of the old homes were painted in hues of blues, pinks, yellows and greens.  This place definitely had a lot of history and charm.  We spent several hours on the main street seeing a lot of tourists for the first time since Panama City.  Bocas is a place for everyone.  If you like to party, there are bars.  If you like to shop, there are stores.  If you like nature, there are national parks.  If you like snorkeling, they have pristine coral reefs. If you just want to chill, tranquilo is the mood you'll find:)

Crabs everywhere. Look all over.  I spotted this quite large crustacean at night.

We ate lunch on the pier and waited for our wonderful guide Karen to take us to Isla Bastimentos where we would spend several nights.  Bocas Town had a cool vibe, but we were looking forward to escaping the tourist scene and exploring a new park.  Another 15 minutes later, we arrived on the secluded part of Bastimentos island.  The place we stayed was La Loma Inn which was located near mangrove waters full of jellyfish and caiman.  It was absolutely beautiful as we hiked our way on a wooden path up the hill towards our place. The lodge was located on the edge of the National Park and had lots of wildlife like sloths, the red frog, butterflies and plenty of birds.

This island is really interesting.  I titled the post "Identity Crisis" because of the development going on.  Bastimentos is quite beautiful and because of this attraction, tourism is wanting its share of this 20 square mile island.  Over half the island is covered in primary and secondary rain forest.  The other portion of the island is covered by nastiness. A little suburb of homes have popped up around the infamous beaches where surfing is premium.  It was irritating going from the lush green and secluded parts of the island to the noisy and trashy beach known as Red Frog.  There were young hopeful surfers and drunk nasty tourists hanging out all over the place. At one point, we needed to catch a truck back to the pier and this gross guy had women all over him who were just as drunk.  Prostitution?  My eyebrow went up which usually means that my gut was dead on about what I had observed. I've learned to trust that instict over the years. So I got off the truck and hiked back to the pier on my own with several newly made friends.  It's amazing the stupidity that will take over certain places of this world.  Luckily we didn't stay long, but we did get a glance at what was going on with a part of the island.  Reckless idiots shot off on their motor boats as they ignored the 20 km signs in the mangrove area.  As a result of their careless action from just the pier, several jellyfish were killed.  We, along with one of the Ngöbe guides, had also found a dead sloth on the beach which was very uncommon. He was clearly upset by the days discoveries. Several kids had the endemic red frogs in their hands charging tourists a quarter to sneak a peak at these beautiful creatures.

These ecosystems are fragile.  Watching a piece of rainforest made me wish we protected more places because the animal and plant life was phenomenal. Our ecolodge was run by 2 people from England and  several people from the nearby Ngöbe community. There was a small cacao plantation that made some delicious chocolate.  They have also been planning on getting their butterfly farm back up and running again. 

A river converts into fresh water as we leave the mangrove forests.

Speaking with many of the people, there seemed to be a general consensus that the island and communities were trying to figure out how they were going to divide things up.  Due to recession, progress has been slowed for now.  The entire Bocas region ten years ago was a secret, but today it has been discovered by the tourism industry and development has taken off.  Capitalists see lots of money signs.  

However, we enjoyed our stay on Bastimentos and there's plenty to do.  We went to Nivida Cave where we discovered bats galore!!  We hiked through water up to our necks. Guides will take you into this dark place so don't enter alone.  Don't bring your cameras as they'll get wet and if you do, PLEASE do not use flash because there are a lot of bats on the cave ceiling. Your guide will provide you with helmets.  Make sure you wear swim trunks and watershoes.  There are plenty of crabs and other scary looking insects all over the cavern walls....also watch out for bat guano:)  I stuck my hands in a pile:) Isn't it supposed to be a good fertilizer for plants?  And aren't they using this stuff on our skin now?

I also met several birders on this trip.  This trip, for me, was more interesting botanically as I read a lot about several tropical trees that grew around the area.  We learned about the cacao plant as well as the Lipstick tree.  Karen's husband Steve, our host at La Loma, knew a lot about plants because he is/was a landscape architect.  We had some great discussions at dinner and they provided me with some wonderful reading material.  I also really liked both of them because they were scifi/fantasy geeks like me....so we got along very well:)

Note the colors at Bocas Town

Apparently there was a funny issue for a couple of my female friends on this trip. They had noticed several ladies with tight shirts.  A question, which I never thought about until that time, popped up.:)  Should women wear bras when they are so uncomfortable to use in humid and nasty weather? The conservative ones definitely agreed that a "nip and tuck" was in order.  However, the other ladies thought it was okay.  I wish the topic had never been brought up because I don't like those things in the back of my mind while I'm trying to have a conversation with someone.  It's like someone who has food on their face.  Do you tell them?  I would, but that's just me.  As for this sensitive issue, I think it's okay.  Traveler tip.  Be ready for many different conversations with many different people during the course of your trip. They can be very educational:) 

If you go to Bastimentos, bring plenty of  bug repellent. The mosquito spray doesn't work with the chitras. There was a coconut/citrus oil we used that kept the chitras off of us.  They sell it on Isla Colon at one of the hotels. These sand flies will ruin your vacation so investigate possible solutions to keep these irritating bugs off of you. Mosquitos are the least of your worries:) We ran out of this magical lotion during our turtle conservation program and then we were slowly attacked on what would be the most difficult of our journey to Panama.  More of that coming soon....

I like both of these pics a lot and couldn't figure out which one to choose so I picked both of them:)

the Entrance to Nivida Cave