Andy started the day with a lie in. I read for a bit and then, quiet as a mouse, I got dressed and made my way to the door to go and get breakfast. My food thoughts were so strong that Andy woke up there and then; something that a small plane flying just metres over our room thirty minutes before had failed to do.
I’ll admit it; I made Andy come on a walk around town (I know for certain that we won’t come back to Bocas del Toro, and I was keen to make the most of it) . Ideally, I had planned to spend a couple of hours exploring the back streets, but in the end we only had forty minutes or so. The heat was stunning; no breeze whatsoever, and it was only mid-morning.
Back in our room, we showered and packed. And again, I made Andy put some after-sun cream on.
A short walk to the pier. We boarded our water taxi and headed back to mainland Panama.
In Puerto de Almirante, they mostly ship Chiquita bananas. As we passed the port, we saw a ship full of Chiquita containers leaving.
We spent the next four hours climbing up, with deep valleys on each side. Slightly overcast (which made for great dramatic views with the sun spot-lighting parts of valleys. We passed various dams. And still, we carried on climbing. We followed a small truck overloaded with plantains.
In a surreal moment, I found myself watching The Great British Bake Off Christmas special which I managed to download on the iPlayer (thank you VPN) whilst the temperature outside is out of control – I had to keep my arms to myself, the window in the bus was like a furnace.
We’re going to be in Boquete for three nights, and have been promised a very nice hotel, so nice in fact that we may well end up spending all our time there. Spending three nights in the same room also means that we can go over the contents our bags, mend a few things, watch a film perhaps… and definitely have some laundry done.
Boquete is famous for its many coffee fincas (farms), and it’s also renowned for having a big expat community from the States (many American citizens elect to retire here and one of the benefits of that is that food standards are high).
We pass many upmarket houses on the outskirts of town. The traffic is horrendous; today is the last day of a festival and the town is heaving. Our hotel is thirty minutes away from the town, higher up. We checked into our room, and already we’re in love with the place. Amazing room – a chalet type thing. We sat outside, the weather turned. I got a fleece blanket from the room and curled up. A hummingbird – so tame we got really close – fed on nectar outside our room. We opened our duty free bottles of rum, wrote our diaries. The weather came in – clouds and rain (we’re so high up we’re in the clouds). The party came to our patio.
Is this paradise? Andy thinks so. It’s beautiful yet a little on the chilly side for me.
I was a little surprised to hear that Quantum of Solace was filmed in Panama. Not so surprising about Herbie goes bananas. Film ideas for you :-). Tut tut I remember Andy getting recklessly sunburnt at Lord’s in 1995 (it is ok to be a prat in a hat Andy). Your temperatures are 20c higher than the uk. Brrr.
We’ll bear in mind the James Bond theme for the next few days, we’re going to Colon next week I think so I’ll try and track down a Martini, shaken not stirred.
I’ve learnt my lesson Chris – I’ll be the prat in a hat and factor 50 next time.