Doc in Panama

30th July - 11th August, 2006 - Bocus Del Toro and Panama City

Can I say anything more than this... pristine, white sandy beaches; crystal clear, blue 30 degree Caribbean waters; palm trees flourishing with fresh coconuts; deserted uninhabited islands; restrictions on only allowing stunningly attractive people onto these islands; the toughest decision each day - do I hold my beer in my left or right hand?

Bocus Del Toro was where we spent most of our time, staying at one of the best hostels in the world called Mondo Taitu. Most days would involve a boat trip to a new beach, all of which contained variations of the paradise described above. We visited Zapatillo where they shot the European version of Survivor Panama.

Special mention needs to go to Tour De Bocus, a day of adventure on bikes when 5 amigos tempted death by tackling the Panamanian jungle in little more than wife-beaters and thongs (flip flops for you non-Aussies, although wife-beaters and g-bangers in the Panamanian jungle would be interesting).

We marched through knee deep mud, carrying bikes, dodging tarantulas, poisonous dart frogs the size of a fingernail, howler monkeys, crocodiles and the constant reminder that the 5 of us very closely resembled your typical cast of a scary movie. We had a funny guy, a black guy, a hot chick, a surfy guy and a stoner! So we all believed we were all going to suffer the same fate as you do in the scary movies, ie die! Fortunately we only suffered 2 punctured tyres and a broken chain and were home just before dark.

Marko, Dysko and I also had a lot of fun aquiring our deep water scuba licences.

Panama City was a great place to visit. The conclusion we came to was that you can't go to Panama City and not see the Panama Canal. It was great.