¡Hola!

The border crossing into Panama at Sixaola was quite neat - an old iron railway bridge across the Rio Sixaola, which had been crudely pedestrianised with planks of wood nailed to the tracks, separated the two countries and made for a memorable walk.Things on the other side of the border were predictably hectic, but we managed to get on a local bus and headed to Almirante to catch a boat to Bocas del Toro.

Bocas consists of a group of pristine islands in the Caribbean all covered in jungle and fringed with white sandy beaches and coral reefs.It is Panama´s premier tourist destination and we had heard from others that it was good, but the place really exceeded our expectations.In short, forget Cahuita; if you´re in the area head across the border to Bocas de Toro.

Of course, the weather was a factor - we arrived in Bocas to three days of glorious sunshine!The atmosphere in the town was great, and many of the restaurants and bars served up amazing-looking seafood, with fantastic views over the bay, all at reassuringly expensive prices.Unfortunately for us our hotel had a very good kitchen and a well-stocked supermarket underneath, so we had no excuse not to save money and cook our own food in the evenings.We did two boat trips in Bocas and both were excellent.The first was a snorkelling and dolphin-spotting trip that went to four different sites in thearchipelago, and included a visit to the beautiful Red Frog Beach.The snorkeling in Bocas is remarkable.We saw some of the most strange and exquisite coral and it was all so healthy too, unlike at most tourist sites where people have usually trodden most of the coral to death.On this trip we met a couple of guys from the states, one of whom works for the WWF in Washington DC and has the most amazing sounding job - I will be badgering him in the near future for an internship methinks!Actually, he recommended a really good operator to use in the Galapagos islands… watch this space.The next day we went with the same guys to Isla Bastimentos and did a quick trek to a beach on the other side, called Wizard Beach, which was immaculate.

After a few days in Bocas we caught an overnight bus all the way to Panama City, gaining a free night's accommodation in the process.

R&M

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