31. Tourist Activity in Bocas Del Toro

Friday I went down to the tour office for the catamaran and confirmed they were going out.  It appears they decided to go despite the fact that there was only two of us.  The other passenger was a nice German girl, whose name I have forgotten, but she was friendly.  The skipper also spoke German so I felt a little isolated as they chatted away. This gave me the opportunity/excuse though to go up the front and just spend time lying on the trampoline and watching the water pass under us as we sailed along.  I might have spent too much time up there as shown by the photo attached! 

My reflection through the mesh

It also gave me the opportunity to have  a good look at the boat and was surprised to find it was in quite a poor state of repair.  Broken life lines, torn sails and in general not so well maintained.  Despite being out on the water I still didn’t feel connected to this place.  I certainly wouldnt say stay away from here, this is just about what I was feeling about the place.  We did see a dolphin which is always a highlight in my book.  One of the places we snorkelled, The Garden, had a great selection of colourful corals.  The other places were murky with colourful but comparatively small fish.  I do think perhaps my perspective was spoilt by the beauty of my experience in the Galapagos Islands.

The day was great weather wise, we did get to actually sail and we had a nice lunch.  The spots we visited were nice and I guess all in all it was a nice day out on the water.  It was my fellow passenger's first time on a boat so that was exciting for her.  We celebrated on the return with a beer!  It had been a pleasant day and good to get out and about.  What better way to end the day I thought than with dinner at "the best pizza place in town" that Bill had recommended to me!  He was right, the pizza was good!  Or was it....

I think you probably know whats coming next, it starts in the middle of the night...that unsettled feeling in the stomach.  You try to ignore it, hoping its nothing...hoping it will go away...sometimes it does, but sometimes...eek!  So suffice to say I spent all day Saturday with my body purging itself with all means available of whatever nasty I had picked up.  It may not have been the pizza, it may have been lunch or the water or any number of things...but whatever it was, it was nasty and I was not sure how I was going to deal with the flight home on Sunday...and it was only an hour to Costa Rica then half an hour home!