Probably because of the sounds, I had a dream that night that our house was carried away by a big river, and that once we got out, Marie walked to the edge of a cliff. I told her not to move, but she looked out over it and fell right off, fortunately bouncing off a couple people who were standing half-way down the cliff. When she hit bottom, she cried, so I knew she was alive. At that point, I woke up and was so glad it was just a dream. :)

On a park bench in Bocas Town

On Saturday, we decided to spend the day in Bocas Town, about a 30 minute boat ride from where we’re staying. It actually turned out to be a very sunny day, and it was really hot in Bocas. But we ate at a couple restaurants, which were decent, but pricier than most we’ve been to. They did have great fruit juices, though – lots of variety, including Sour Sop. We had some snacks, looked around the town, and even took a little boat ride up to Boca del Drago, which had a beautiful beach. The waves were very choppy though so it was a bumpy ride.

We had dinner in Bocas town, and on our way back home, we were joined by a woman who’s serving in the peace core in the little community we visited a few days earlier. It was interesting to hear of her experiences and how she’s been living and helping out the past nine months.

Sunday, we ended up not going to church because it was over an hour away by boat, and would have cost about $150 to get there. Plus, we didn’t know exactly where it was or even what time it started. So we just did some private study and reading. Here are some pictures from the past few days.

Dolphins

What a fun day! When we woke up, we were happy to see the sun shining brightly, making the sand yellow, and the water blue! And except for a few showers throughout the day, the sun stayed with us, which changed the whole mood of the place. We were glad we got to see Mr. Sun while here.

Jen made hojaldres for breakfast (see other great Panamanian recipes on her blog), and then we went on a boat ride to see some dolphins. We saw several sets of them come up out of the surface of the water, and even a little baby dolphin. It was really fun. I felt so relaxed on this boat ride, just enjoying being here with my family, feeling the sun, and breathing the air.

After snorkeling

We stopped at a little restaurant and had some shrimp and chicken – a bit pricey, but good. The girls didn’t like it much – no kid food. This restaurant sat on top of the water and you could see fish swimming underneath. The fish loved to eat the food people dropped.

So we decided to go snorkeling there, and fortunately we had brought our swimsuits. We saw lots of beautiful fish, including iridescent rainbow colors, black and yellow stripes, and more. Emily got in and swam around with her life jacket, and even tried the snorkel for a few minutes, but the mask was too big so water kept seeping in.

Marie was too afraid to get in the water, but she had fun throwing crackers in the water for us, so all the fish would come. :) And the water was so clear, she could see the fish from above – some would even jump out of the water to get the crackers.

Emily holding a starfish

After we got back from the boat ride, we took a long walk along the beach and through the jungle just to see what there was. We were gone for a couple hours and the girls got pretty tired. On the way back, we saw a starfish, and found more cool shells. Before we left on our walk, Marie had found a really cute hermit crab, who she wanted to keep as her pet. She was very distraught when Mommy made her put it back during our walk, so it wouldn’t die. But she eventually recovered.

We had some spaghetti, bread and carrots for dinner, and had a good night’s rest. Check out some very cute pictures from the day, below.

Emily blowing bubbles

The girls have enjoyed blowing the bubbles we got them in Panama City, but hadn’t used until now. They’ve spent hours blowing bubbles out over the sand. They seem to float forever here, and even bounce off the water, or ride on it for several minutes before popping. They’ve enjoyed making little ladybugs and caterpillers out of half-bubbles on a glass-top table on the patio. We’ve refilled their bubble containers many times with a dish-soap / water mixture. What fun!

Brandon bringing back the ball

One morning the girls were playing with their inflatable beach ball, and Marie happened to throw it out just a little too far and the waves weren’t bringing it back. The girls shrieked in terror, drama queens that they are, as their ball floated out into the ocean. Daddy to the rescue! I hopped in one of the kayaks and went off to get the ball, bringing it back to safety. After that, the girls didn’t care about the ball. They wanted to go in the kayak! Until they got inside – then they were a little scared. But I convinced them to try it one at a time first. Emily loved it, but Marie was still a bit scared.

Champion Emily

Later, we went out as a family in the big kayak and got caught in a very heavy rainstorm, so we paddled to shore, and stopped at a nice hotel (with bungalos) called Casa Cayuco, and visited with the owner for a while, who brought out towels for the girls. When their daughter was Emily’s age, they lived for a year on their sailboat while sailing from Washington to Costa Rica, then spent two years in Costa Rica. How adventurous! It’s fun to meet new people.

The next day, Jen made some fresh lobster that was just caught and brought to us the night before. It was quite good.

Family picture at the ngobe community

That afternoon, we had Alfredo, one of the workers around here, take us to a Ngobe Indian village. We took a short walk, then got in a little canoe to ride through the river. It was a beautiful ride. When the canoe stopped we got out and got a tour of the community. People have been living here for over 100 years. He also told us about the trees and spotted some wildlife, such as parrots, and a 3-toed sloth (see pictures below).

It had been raining a lot that morning (and the night previous (and for the last two months for that matter)), so there was a lot of mud, and we got pretty dirty. But we had a great time. And Alfredo was a great guide.

Dinner at Hotel Bambito

I’m now writing from our very relaxing house on Bastimentos island in Bocas del Toro. I have a few days to catch up on, so let me just say we went to dinner at Cafe Essencia in Volcan on Saturday, and it was not good! (The first “bad” food we’ve had in Panama). The bread was very stale, and fell apart on our sandwiches and hamburgers. However, the raspberry shake was good. So after that, we had a second dinner at Hotel Bambito in Volcan, which is probably the fanciest restaurant in Volcan (actually closer to Paso Ancho). The food and service were both superb! Lovely setting as well, in the mountains. The only thing we didn’t like is the tv in the bar which was playing Spanish rap music during our dinner.

Sunday we went to church again in Volcan (we decided to stay one more night at Las Plumas rather than two nights in David). I got a bit more out of the lessons this week because I had my iPhone dictionary, but the girls chose to stay with us rather than go to Primary. We had a great time there, and said goodbye to some friends we’d met.

We spent the night in Hotel Iberia in David, which was just perfect for what we wanted. They had a decent restaurant, wifi connection, and hot water (after it was running for about 3 minutes).

The small airplane we flew in

The next morning we headed out for Bocas del Toro. We flew on a small airplane from David, which unfortunately wasn’t good for our stomachs. Emily and I both threw up (even though I took some motion sickness medication before we left). There were beautiful views, but it wasn’t a fun ride for us. Jen and Marie did just fine, though.

Once we got to Bocas, we were greeted by Gregorio who’s taking care of the property where we’re staying. We got some groceries, got in his boat, and he took us on about a 30 minute ride to the east side of Bastimentos island. The place we’re staying (Sal si Puedes) is heavenly! It’s so peaceful with the sound of the waves gently rolling in, soft sand all around, and an open and breezy house with light-colored furnishings.

This is where we're staying

When we arrived at our house, another couple workers greeted us and carried our luggage in the house. They then proceeded to work on the grounds. There was a woman in the house who had just finished cleaning. She comes three times a week. There was also a cute little boy who was fascinated by my video camera.

The girls immediately wanted to play on the beach, so we got their swimsuits on. The sand is so soft and the water is warm. It feels great here! It is a bit cloudy though. We haven’t seen the sun since we arrived, and it looks like it will be this way all week, along with some occasional rain. Oh well – at least we won’t get as badly sunburned. :)

It got a little rainy and windy that night, causing intermittent problems with the television and Internet, but they’re working now. The girls also played ball with some neighbor kids in our front yard until it started raining.

Getting ready to play in the water

This house is fully equipped and definitely up to U.S. standards. It even has a large refrigerator and full-size oven, which is rare here. Oddly, it’s missing a microwave.

The girls slept on an air mattress in the living room, and we slept under a mosquito net in our bedroom. We burned some coil by the girls that should keep the mosquitoes away. We also turned all the lights out, and stumbled around in the dark getting ready for bed – we were told that using as little light as possible would keep them from coming. They had some little lanterns but none worked, so the girls brushed their teeth by the light of my iPhone. And I think I only saw one mosquito all night, maybe two. And I’m not sure they were mosquitoes. Maybe it’s not as big of a problem here as they say…

Anyway, we had a great night’s sleep, listening to the sound of the waves and the animals and insects outside. What a beautiful place!