This morning we are scheduled for snorkling and a visit to Red Frog beach on Bastimentos. Guess what! Its rainy and cold. It's never cold in the Bocas. We set out anyway and with a group of about 8 plus the guide. The first stop is in Dolphin Bay where we do indeed see pods of dolphins. The boats in the bay take turns driving around in big circles which inspires the dolphins to follow them jumping out of the water. Impossible to take pictures of them - I just keep getting fins.
Then on to Cayo Crawl and snorkling. Jake decides to stay at our lunch stop. He sees no reason to snorkle in the cold and rain. Mark comes along but refuses to take off his warm but wet clothes to get into the water. I snorkle and its not awful - a far cry better than sitting in the boat and the water is actually warmer than the air. After snorkling we stop for lunch where we had dropped Jake off and we head for Red Frog beach. We are met immediately by little boys who have the tiny red frogs on a giant leaf for us to see and photograph. We hike to the beach and find 2 frogs on the way. I guess they are becoming harder and harder to find due to all the development in the area. The beach is lovely and I play in the surf for 45 minutes while Jake and Mark find the rustic concession stand and have a couple of cold ones. I think they would have rather had hot chocolate. But, rough seas, cold and rain aside, this is a beautiful place and I've had fun!
We're back in Bocas town before 3 and I have arranged for a massage in our room. This is heaven.
The nightlife in Bocas Town looked like it might be interesting but we managed to wear ourselves out every day so that by the time things got hopping we were ready to read for an hour and fall asleep. This evening was a bit of an exception. On our morning excursion we had met a nice young Finnish man. We suggested he meet us at our favorite bar. By the time we got there, he had already made himself at home and was playing poker with the locals.
This evening, we met another character. Poor guy, his wife (#3 I think) had thrown him out and he was all by himself and his boat was still in Florida. He told us that she really was a sweetheart and he still loved her. Everyone has a story.
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
1 day ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.