When I go south for a holiday, I'm not really one to sit on the beach, at least not for long - I need to explore! And as I have always liked nature, I like to take a walk to enjoy the scenery and observe the local plant life.

On this trip to Bocas del Toro, Panama, I arrived to find my hotel reservation in Bocastown had been lost and the Carnival was on! That meant rooms were scarce. The proprietor immediately got on the telephone and called every hotel until a room was found for me. It was at a new place outside of town near Big Creek, still on Isla Colon and about a 5 minute taxi ride away. All in all this turned out well as Carnival can be pretty noisy!

Instead of a taxi, they offered to pick me up at the dock. Travel by boat is common here since the population is scattered across islands and it gave me a chance to see Bocastown from the water. It's really a Bohemian little place, the Caribbean as it used to be.

For a good overview, see
my post: Bocas del Toro, Panama

The town was to my left (west) and to my right was Isla Carenero with some sailboats.

Ten minutes later, we arrived at our destination. Most of the hotels and B&Bs are small places run by Europeans or Americans that live here and this one was no exception. The rooms were in three buildings. The eating area was outside under the roof and that is a huge mango tree out front by the road. Hey! A swimming pool. It's easy to settle in here.

On one of my first nights, there was a downpour and the next morning I decided to avoid the Carnival where I had been the day before, take my camera, and go for a walk down the dirt road, but first this photo in the morning light. You can see why they call this area the Caribbean as it used to be.

Finally, the walk starts!

The road is named Bluff Beach Road and it follows the shoreline leading to Bluff Beach but as that was quite a distance away, I didn't plan to walk that far. Maybe I can make it to Paunch Beach. Just before leaving the hotel, I took this photo of a plant/tree with glossy leaves, thinking it should be easy to identify...

Then I crossed the road to see flora and fauna! I did say we were outside of town.

The flowers along the roadside still had drops of rain on them from the previous night.

Where I live, I know many of the weed and wildflower names but not here. This next one is somewhat pea-like.

The rain droplets were disappearing as the day became warmer.

white flower.jpg

Sometimes you must look up and see where you are. I walked all the way to beautiful Paunch Beach before turning back.

The day was still pretty overcast which kept the heat down and the views were beautiful.

When I reached my hotel, I had a quick lunch and then resumed my walk in the other direction. There was more road to explore and more beautiful flowers.

Wow! This was the local bridge. I watched with trepidation as several vehicles crossed it. Infrastructure in the developing world is not always what we are used to in our own countries. The good news is it has since been replaced.