Bocas Del Toro

I have just spent a little over two weeks in Bocas Del Toro Panama, a beautiful group of islands located on the Caribbean side of Panama, a half an hour boat ride to the border of Costa Rica if that gives you any perspective on where it is located.

I started going to Bocas four years ago. I remember finding myself in awe of the place partly because of the Jamaican culture. It's different from any other town, islands, or cities that I have visited in Panama because it is a mixture of Latin America and Jamaican Creole. The main island of Bocas is small. Like most buildings in the tropics, no buildings in Bocas are any bigger then a plum tree (an actual rule), and there are not many cars other then a few crazy taxi drivers who will hit you if you don't move out of their way ( seems to be another rule on the island). Mostly people ride bikes. The other islands are about a five to ten minute water taxi ride away. This is one of my favorite parts about Bocas Del Toro. The boat rides are amazing -- they carry you through bright blue water that looks like an airbrushed postcard. At night, you often can see electric storms in the distance while the stars above you burn brightly.
Bastimentoes is my favorite of all the islands because it is less inhabited and influenced by gringo culture. The island makes you feel like you are walking through a scene in Jurassic Park. Raw Jungle. I visited a farm there that was created on a clearing that was made by locals. Five years ago nothing but cleared land was there. The plot of land was cleared for cattle -- a process that is not uncommon for Panama or anywhere in Latin America for that matter.

Clearing jungle for grazing often destroys the land and makes it almost impossible for regrowth. But five years ago, a group of people who wanted to use the land on Bastamientoes for agro forestry started working on plots of land that had been cleared for cattle. As a result the farm I visited is wild; you can see every tropical plant you can dream of: pink Bananas, fresh coffee, beautiful water lilies...the list goes on. When I first walked up to the farm, I felt like I stepped into the Secret Garden or what I imagined it to be when I was a kid reading the book.

Spencer was one of the main contributors to regrowing this jungle. He took my friend Liz and me around, and as we hiked he pointed out every plant and flower and why it was important for them to grow in that location. We were in awe -- they planted a jungle!! Unfortunately, the farm is abandoned because the people who started it lost funding. It now gets the odd college student volunteer who heard about the farm through word of mouth, but mostly its just Spencer who comes to Bocas once in awhile to check on the plants and give his best to the locals. We sat in an abandoned kitchen in a casita ( no walls, just a hut), but you could tell that it once was a beautiful meeting place where the ideas for the layout of the farm used to flow. Now the place is covered in spider webs with huge banana spiders that are harmless yet intimidating due to their vast size and bright colors. I cleared the dust off of a hammock left behind and watched Spencer cut different fruits that he had picked. He fed us this one berry that makes everything you put in your mouth taste sweet. The Jungle harbors so many wonders and remedies -- it seems unreal that so much of it is being destroyed.
As we left the farm, I realized what a beautiful and rare place these islands are. And, later, as I sat in the small Bocas Del Toro airport, I glanced around at all the posters of the new high rise developments, resort after resort, beach after beach for sale. I wondered how long this place will stay magical and continue to be tropical paradise with a rich culture. I wondered if I would ever return...