Rob and Anna's travel adventure

Bocas del Toro, Panama

Anna´s entry -

We immediately could tell we were no loner in Costa Rica! As soon as we walked across the border, we got immediately hassled by taxi drivers and young kids. They were more polite and less obnoxious though compared to what we experienced in Guatemala and Nicaragua. We took a boat to the island of the Archipielago de Bocas del Toro. Unfortunately, Rob got really sick again. Poor thing, he spent the entire night throwing up, and his limbs got covered in awful red blisters. This is the fourth time he showed that reaction, so we are wondering if there is something in the rain forest that he is reacting to. Anyway, Rob spent three days in the room, and I myself had an adventure that somewhat shook me up... But before I explain, I must share our experience with a Doctor on the island. We went to the hospital to hopefully get some info on what´s happening with Rob. The doctor turned out to be fluent in Russian, in addition, he graduated years ago from a medical school in my home town - Petersburg, Russia - and is very fond of it. He could not help Rob much (he instructed us to consult a specialist in Panama City asap, which we did today), but we spent an hour chatting in Russian, and the doctor invited us to stay with him and his family the next time we are in Panama.

Anyway, going back to my adventure... One day I decided to join a group for a tour of the islands. The first part of the day was awesome - we saw dolphins, did some great snorkeling, saw a stunning coral, etc. For the 2nd half of the day they took us to the gorgeous beach...and this was where my adventure began and luckily ended. A couple from Germany decided to go for a swim, and invited me to go with them. The waves were somewhat high, so we decided to stay in a shallow water. Well, we jumped over the 1st wave, and the 2nd wave, and... all of a sudden, we could not feel the sand under our feet, and all three of us were getting away from the shore. I am suspecting it was a riptide. We tried to swim back to the shore, but the waves were too high, and we got pushed by them under the water surface. This was the first time I got scared for my life, also I felt stupid for going against my judgement - not to swim in the waves, even though someone else was doing it. Luckily, I am a trained swimmer, and was able to stay over the water as much as I could. And, not being able to swim against the waves, I tried to ride them (kinda like a surfer without a surf board, just swim-surf). It is possible that that worked, or maybe the riptide stopped, and myself and the other girl got back to the shore. Her husband however was another story... He could not overcome the waves, and stayed behind struggling, his wife was in panic too - he seemed to be drowning bit by bit. As soon as we got back to the shore, we run for help. A local guy working at a restaurant dropped everything, and rushed into the water, as well as another young guy (a tour guide, who coincidentally was on a shore with another group) swam back to the drowning guy and helped him back to the shore.

That day I found out that two other people were taken out by another wave (but luckily they also got out OK); as well as I learnt how much respect we need to pay to the ocean and waves. I can not imagine what the professional surfers must go through, and I´m sure glad I am not one of them. I was definitely shook up after that mishap, and even though I was able to stay calm, not panic, and get out of the waves OK, it was definitely a scary experience. I am very grateful that all is well, and the lesson about the waves has been very much noted and will be remembered. Bocas del Toro turned out to be a very different type of experience after all.

Internet links with Bocas del Toro photos:

http://www.bocasdeltoro.com/bocas6.jpg

http://www.scubapanama.com/marcas/deepsee/Clipart/bocas5.jpg

http://twoday.net/static/sierralog/images/RedFrogBeach.jpg

http://wsb.brinkster.com/safaripanama/Images/reef%20bocas.jpg

http://www.panamajetboatexplorer.com/sitebuilder/images/Dolph_4A-300x185.jpg

posted by Rob and Anna @ 1:05 PM