Starfish Beach

Bocas del Toro and the storm heading our way

Our clothes may have been damp but our spirits weren't as we made our final overland border crossing in Central America, from a very wet Costa Rica to Panama. We were in luck as it stayed dry as we walked across nomansland and then queued to have our passports stamped.

We'd arranged for a shuttle bus to take us to the border and collect us the other side which then took us to a small dock where we caught a boat to the islands of Bocas del Toro, just off the northwest tip of Panama.

Our home for the first couple of nights was in Bocas Town on Isla Colon, a lovely waterside town full of bars and restaurants and its where we caught the local bus to the opposite end of the island to Bocas del Drago, also known as Starfish Beach. A small, tranquil, calm and tropical paradise of a beach which for some bizarre reason is home to thousands of red and orange coloured starfish, some the size of dinner plates. They're clearly visible as you stroll along the shoreline and would have been even more visible had it not been for another deluge of rain.

Vanessa in the deluge at Starfish Beach

Undeterred, and another drenching later we headed back to town but didn't realise just how drenched we were. This time the rain had got right through our waterproof raincovers and plastic bags housing all our important documents so our room became one large fan filled drying room for the rest of the day whilst we dried out listening to a great live band at The Lemongrass.

Tomorrow we head over to the neighbouring island of Bastimentos for a spot of  'glamping' on Red Frog Beach.......for Thanksgiving!! You couldn't make it up.