Hanging, hiking and howling on Isla Boca Brava......itīs for the birds
Pacific Island in the Golfo de Chiriqui
Arrived via bus from Boquete to David (school bus), then transferred to small minibus. Fortunately we were able to get two seats and not too cramped, then to fourseater truck they call a taxi from Horconcitos to a water taxi over to Isla Boca Brava. Approx 2 hours total if everything goes like clockwork, which it did for us. More certain way is to stay at Purple House in David, and pay them to arrange the transport. We saved money by doing it the chancey way. Others we talked to saved the taxi fare by hitching...
Getting to the Hotel, there is a set of stairs very steep and about 80 in number......
Word about the owners=Frank and Yadira; he is from Germany and she is Panamanian. She speaks mainly Spanish so we were limited in communicating with her. Frank can speak German, Spanish, and English so we communicated mainly with him. He is quite entertaining and is quite a genius when it comes to being creative in building the place. Unfortunately, he has quite a bit of maintainance at all times and so there were several projects going on while we were there.
The dining area is huge and very open with a nice breeze blowing through. We were shown a choice of rooms and prices and opted for the room without private bath. We are looking out over the water and can watch the boats arriving with people, supplies and other interesting things. There are a lot of trees with bromeliads in front of our room which regularily had howlers moving through them. Most of the rooms do not look out over the front but the other view from the island and this is through their window and not door like ours.
Our room has tile floor and the beds are on a raised tile platform with tile table with a fan. This is an absolute necessity and we panicked the night ours died but they were able to give us one from another room. We are a source of great conversation to the women who work here. We are staying in the cheapest room but come to the restuarant and spend all this money eating and drinking!!
It is amazing what they have here considering what it takes to get supplies over to here. There is one dirt-concrete track from the Hotel to the rampa. The rampa is quite steep but Frank did bring over his truck on a homemade catamaran with a platform to hold the truck. On the last day we saw them drive one of the small boats up between the catamarans and so this is evidently how they power the boat over to the mainland and back to the ramp. One day we watched as Frank unloaded a new refrigerator ---drove the boat to the shore and then two of his guys unloaded the refrig to the dry land and then carried it up another set of very steep stairs to the kitchen. We have also seen the unloading of the food provisions from the small panga (boat) up the 80 stairs to the kitchen.
On food----has 3-5 flavors of ice cream as a general rule and over 50 items on the menu and so you can have the meat dishes fried or baked with a sauce. Three types of spaghetti, spanish omelette, huevos rancheros, stir fry and many varieties of fresh fish all for prices of under $5! They also serve a very nice salad, cold chilled wine and ice cold beer (watched in amusement-amazement as a couple sent back their beer because it was toooooocold. They also serve mixed drinks that are very healthy on the shots. On the menu it states 7 shots = one bottle. Most amazing to us was the fact they served amarula, a South African liquer.
The flora and fauna---
Butterflies are everywhere. We have seen over 15-20 species. Some are quite exotic colors, some very iridescent, and some with very bold patterns. Unfortunately they do not seem to think it necessary to stay still for us to get a picture.
We have seen iguanas outside our room in the trees. One day we saw two stalking each other outside room 8. Room 8 has the same nice view we do with a private balcony and bath but also the whiff of the septic which of course is one of the projects Frank has to work on. One of the couples we met that stayed in room 8 saw a bird land next to the iguana and actually pick bugs off its neck and back.
The monkeys are everywhere. In the early morning quite often they set up their howling, booming call and then followed by the sounds of the birds and if we turn off the fan we also can hear the lapping of the water outside our room. Because the trees outside our room are in bloom we have an almost daily parade of monkeys through them at some time. We have also seen them napping in the trees with their legs and arms hanging over the branches.
Birds- We have seen some warblers, vireos, parrots and parakeets and then some that are not familar to us. We met some birders from Illinois that helped us with some of the names. One we saw a great deal was the lanced tail manikin-blue with red on head. From the top deck of the restuarant we have seen the common black hawk, yellow headed caracara, osprey,frigates and some flycatchers. On some of our walks we have managed to spot a lineated woodpecker which looks something like a pileated with an S stripe down its back. We also saw a barred antshrike, roadside hawk, and yellowed crowned euphonia along with others on our hikes. One of the more entertaining birds we have seen is the oropendula. It is black with sharp beak, rust on the back, and yellow tail. The male is evidently doing a courtship display--will make this strange call and then throw up his tail with a whistle. Their nests are like the oriole--a long sock like structure. There are two nests right by Franks house and we asked if we could go look at them up close. As we crept up to view them, one of the females came out of the nest. We really dont see how they can get in the nest and be comfortable. Another amazing thing we have seen with the frigates around here is when a fisherman is coming in and cleaning his fish, they are swooping and diving for the scraps just like a seagull!
The land--Most of the vegetation is quite lush except where they have cleared it away. Most of the trees are second growth but there are still a few large trees here and there. Bromeliads, dracenas, palms, and vines and more are throughout. There are several trails for you to wander around on and the road. There are two beaches within easy walking distance--one rock and the other sandy. One of the really nice things is there are no bugs to speak of which means you can go hiking in shorts, short sleeves and sandals!
We rented a kayak on our 7th day because we were not going to have to pay for a room. Unfortunately it is a sit on top so was not comfortable to those of us used to our kayak with seat backs! We set off very early but even then it was hot, the tide was out so we could not go up in the mangroves and so we only kayaked half day. We were rewarded with a immature hawk that was having trouble staying on a branch after he flew. We did get to see blue heron, snowy egret, great blue heron, ibis and a few more shore birds while we were out.
Some of the characters we have met in our two week stay--for every seven days you stay, you get the seventh day free so of course we had to stay for the two weeks and suffer through all those delicious meals and great conversations!
Most of the people we have met have been from Europe, Netherlands naturally the most common. We also met some people from the US and more people from Saskatchawan(sp) than we ever have.
Richard and Kati from Chico California who had just returned from sailing around the Pacific for two years on an 86 ft. sailboat. They bought it for salvage and gutted and refit it and took off! They are planning on selling it.
The birders from Illinois--Two are brothers and the others are friends. They were a great help with many of the birds we saw but were unsure of. One of them lives in Mexico five months out of the year when it is too cold to do construction
Vincent from Italy who decided to come to Isla Boca Brava based on a conversation he had with guy on bus and decided to take his chance. He made his living selling clothes made in the US in Italy and was a fun person to talk to.
Viviana and Dan - She is living in Costa Rica in the Wilson Botanical Gardens in San Vito. She is working on an advanced degree (not sure) in bird survival. Dan was helping her and they were catching birds in nets and banding them, taking blood, etc. to see what is happening to them. She had some interesting stories about what has happened to some of the birds that migrate with the loss of their habitat.
Sanil and Irma from Den Haag who we also saw later in Bocas del Toro.
Daan, Pauline from the Netherlands and Chad from Canada who arrived with Heather we had met in Boquete. They got to enjoy the eclipse of the moon with us.
Melissa and Kent originally from Santa Fe, living in Panama and are currently looking at some of the property on Isla Boca Brava that Frank has for sale.
Julio from Germany who has lived on the island off and on for at least 5 years. He bought some land from Frank, works in the restuarant off and on and is fun to talk with.
Wendy and Al from Montana- Our first conversation was political--fortunately for me we were all on the same page so had a great evening trying to solve the worldīs problems. They brought a inflatable boat with them and did some paddling around. We all traveled together to Bocas del Toro.
We also talked to a family that were homeschooling their children. They had lived in Alaska, had moved to El Salvador, and were visiting friends in Panama. It was heartening to see the girls doing their homework under the supervision of their parents in the evening after a fun day on the beach. There was also a missionary family from David we talked to. One of the daughters was going to school in Winterthur(sp)- city where our friend Marianne teaches.
Christine- the owner of the tienda on the beach. She is from Germany originally and bought some land from Frank and he built her house. She, her dog and two cats live there and she opens her place on the beach when she wants and sells beer and soft drinks. We spent two enjoyable mornings visiting with her and some of the locals
Mitch and Brian- Actually an entire family but we saw Brian and Mitch almost every day. The true vagabonds.....They live on a houseboat moored across the way about 5 months out of the year and in travels trailers the rest of the year. They have a bluegrass band, the Roe Family Band and play around the United States mainly for retirement homes if I understood them correctly. While they live down off Isla Boca Brava, they come to the restuarant every day and try and find people to go on sailing-diving trip on their boat. They have also homeschooled their children and so were an interesting pair to watch.
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