First, Parita is my wife’s ancestral home and we still have lots of relatives there, so any not-so-positive impressions I may offer here are strickly related to my gringo requirement for sleep. The people of Panama, most especially Parita, are friendly and accepting. However, carnival in Parita, Panama is an experience. If you don’t require sleep, enjoy drinking and dancing all hours of the day and night, this is the place… (videos are at the bottom)
MiParita.Com-Pueblo de Culturas Y Tradiciones
In this YouTube video, if you look closely, you will see us gringos among the crowd following our Queen Stephanie (between the queen float and the band wagon.) The gentleman carrying the canvas flag ahead of the drummers is the mayor.
Fireworks and music, day and night for days.
Parades held twice a day, mid-day and late night. Over and over again. Of course, there was a little drinking involved too, so that helped us along.
We could only take two days before we had to leave and head out to Bocas del Toro. The six hour drive from Parita to Bocas del Toro was very interesting. The scenery along the way was great. If you enjoy exploring other countries, this is an easy drive interesting views of ranches, farms and cities. The view from atop the mountain at the continental divide allowed us to see the Pacific Ocean behind us and very shortly after that see the Caribbean ahead of us. Very cool.
We parked the car in Almirante and took a water taxi (20 minute ride) to the city of Bocas del Toro. We only had two nights and one full day available to spend in Bocas, so my first mission was to locate Bocas Water Sports and meet CappyJon431 (Jon.) It was a pleasure to meet Jon. Unfortunately all of Jon’s boats were booked so he recommended a shop a couple of doors down which turned out to be a great suggestion. Jon also advised us that the other operators do not provide snorkeling fins to keep the tourists off the reef, but Jon helped us out there too (thanks again, Jon.) I look forward to booking a trip with Jon in the future. At Transparente Tours, rather than paying $25.00 per person to be part of a tour of about 15 or 20 people per boat, we decided to pay $50.00 per person and have our own boat, captain and deck hand just for the four of us. This was a great idea. We went where we wanted when we wanted. We received quite a few puzzled looks from the tourists packed in the other boats. We had the reef at Zapatilla all to ourselves. The four of us snorkeled the reef and drifted with the current while Leonardo (captain) followed us in the boat. Leonardo and Ricardo were very pleasant and accommodating. After lunch we went to Dolphin Bay to see the dolphins. We asked to go to Bastimentos to see the red frogs (only place in the world where these small red frogs are found.) Leonardo lead us into the jungle a little ways up a hill then decided it was too treacherous for tourists in flip flops, so he asked us to wait while he and Ricardo went ahead. Leonardo returned with two of the very small red frogs, which are poisonous if eaten or you have a cut on you hand. It was a great time. Boating from location to location when we chose to was perfect.
The accommodations at the Palma Royale Hotel in Bocas were very modern, clean and comfortable. In my opinion it’s probably the newest and nicest hotel on the island, should you ever decided to visit there. Most of the folks we saw there looked to be young, with backpacks and probably staying at one of the many hostels available. No beach, no pool, doesn’t fit my idea of a resort destination. But if you like to eat seafood, drink, snorkel, and scuba dive in shallow water, or surf it’s a great destination. The images on the link below will give you a good idea of what it was like.
bocas del toro - Google Search
Again, we were on a short schedule and couldn’t evaluate everything and I’m sure I’ve left out some stuff but you get the idea.
MiParita.Com-Pueblo de Culturas Y Tradiciones
In this YouTube video, if you look closely, you will see us gringos among the crowd following our Queen Stephanie (between the queen float and the band wagon.) The gentleman carrying the canvas flag ahead of the drummers is the mayor.
Fireworks and music, day and night for days.
Parades held twice a day, mid-day and late night. Over and over again. Of course, there was a little drinking involved too, so that helped us along.
We could only take two days before we had to leave and head out to Bocas del Toro. The six hour drive from Parita to Bocas del Toro was very interesting. The scenery along the way was great. If you enjoy exploring other countries, this is an easy drive interesting views of ranches, farms and cities. The view from atop the mountain at the continental divide allowed us to see the Pacific Ocean behind us and very shortly after that see the Caribbean ahead of us. Very cool.
We parked the car in Almirante and took a water taxi (20 minute ride) to the city of Bocas del Toro. We only had two nights and one full day available to spend in Bocas, so my first mission was to locate Bocas Water Sports and meet CappyJon431 (Jon.) It was a pleasure to meet Jon. Unfortunately all of Jon’s boats were booked so he recommended a shop a couple of doors down which turned out to be a great suggestion. Jon also advised us that the other operators do not provide snorkeling fins to keep the tourists off the reef, but Jon helped us out there too (thanks again, Jon.) I look forward to booking a trip with Jon in the future. At Transparente Tours, rather than paying $25.00 per person to be part of a tour of about 15 or 20 people per boat, we decided to pay $50.00 per person and have our own boat, captain and deck hand just for the four of us. This was a great idea. We went where we wanted when we wanted. We received quite a few puzzled looks from the tourists packed in the other boats. We had the reef at Zapatilla all to ourselves. The four of us snorkeled the reef and drifted with the current while Leonardo (captain) followed us in the boat. Leonardo and Ricardo were very pleasant and accommodating. After lunch we went to Dolphin Bay to see the dolphins. We asked to go to Bastimentos to see the red frogs (only place in the world where these small red frogs are found.) Leonardo lead us into the jungle a little ways up a hill then decided it was too treacherous for tourists in flip flops, so he asked us to wait while he and Ricardo went ahead. Leonardo returned with two of the very small red frogs, which are poisonous if eaten or you have a cut on you hand. It was a great time. Boating from location to location when we chose to was perfect.
The accommodations at the Palma Royale Hotel in Bocas were very modern, clean and comfortable. In my opinion it’s probably the newest and nicest hotel on the island, should you ever decided to visit there. Most of the folks we saw there looked to be young, with backpacks and probably staying at one of the many hostels available. No beach, no pool, doesn’t fit my idea of a resort destination. But if you like to eat seafood, drink, snorkel, and scuba dive in shallow water, or surf it’s a great destination. The images on the link below will give you a good idea of what it was like.
bocas del toro - Google Search
Again, we were on a short schedule and couldn’t evaluate everything and I’m sure I’ve left out some stuff but you get the idea.
