ANOTHER WORD FOR GROWL DRIVER
Rain and fog are common, and you won’t spare yourself agony by trying to dose off since the driver routinely leans on his horn to scare oncoming traffic back into their lanes. The 8-hour bus ride isn’t for the faint of heart: Most of the journey’s along a two-lane, pothole-riddled road with plenty of hairpin turns on winding mountainous ridges of the Continental Divide.
Just don’t leave it to the last minute to book your flight, or you’ll get stuck taking the overnight bus like we did. Within an hour, you’ll be landing at this, ahem, “charming” airport - where boys kick around a deflated soccer ball just a few feet from the landing strip. So, if you yearn to feel like a castaway on a more civilized version of Gilligan’s Island, hop on an Air Panama puddle jumper from Panama City (where airlines fly non-stop to cities worldwide - another of our must-have checklist items) and head for Isla Colon International Airport, on Bocas’s busiest island. And I’ll explain why this gem ticks most of our boxes - and where it falls a wee bit short.Īir Panama flight arriving in Bocas del ToroPhoto credit: Milosz Maslanka / Getting There Of course, we always keep a checklist and scorecard. Twenty-nine countries later, our hearts remain captivated by this small tropical enclave, where pristine jungle kisses the sea: the province of Bocas del Toro in the northwest corner of Panama, bordering Costa Rica. We’ve climbed the Rock of Gibraltar, blazed trails through the sands of the Sahara Desert on camels, trekked through countless Maya ruins in Belize, and picked coffee beans in the volcanic hills of Guatemala. We’ve visited the limestone cliffs of the Algarve in Portugal as well as the mountainous villages and beach towns of the Costa del Sol in Spain. Our Search For Paradiseīeverley and I have spent years searching for our perfect retirement paradise. Not a word had to be spoken to know exactly how the other felt: If this wasn’t paradise, then something was trying awfully hard to fool us. Behind us, warm, turquoise waves kissed the shell-covered shores, as though eager to blanket the golden sand beaches. Blue morphos butterflies, along with clusters of orange-and-black monarchs, fluttered amongst metallic green hummingbirds – busily pollinating clusters of scarlet red zinnias.
The beauty of the sun’s vibrant ascent, backlighting clusters of dew-covered palm fronds, was complemented by the lush, emerald green forest spreading out toward the horizon.Īlthough coyly hiding from view, the croaks of toucans, the throaty growls of howler monkeys, and the metallic orchestra of tree frogs revealed their presence from the jungle canopy high above us - providing a Jurassic Park-like soundtrack (and for good reason: The howler’s thunderous vocals doubled as monstrous T-rexes in the movies!). Watching the sunrise paint the sky a brilliant kaleidoscope of colors, my wife, Beverley, and I embraced, speechless, on the big-leaf mahogany deck at our rainforest treehouse.
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