Bocas Province Offers More Than the Island

If you like 5 star vacations, then stop reading. If you like places where no other tourists ever go, keep reading.

We started our trip with the last bus ride from Terminal Caribe in San Jose to Sixaola, CR at 3:30 pm for 4.930 colones each. We could only buy one way tickets as the company is not setup to sell round trip.

When we arrived in Sixaola at 9:30 pm, it was a dark and lonely night in most of town. Fortunately, we had asked the bus driver where Cabinas Sanchez was and he showed us the Hotel Imperio and we were dropped off at Bar Yeleski (owner Urietta). Everyone in this small border town knows everyone.

We went to Bar Yeleski for a token drink to say hello to Urietta and found someone there who would walk us to Cabinas Sanchez in the dark (bring a small plastic flashlight). We woke the lady who owns Cabinas Sanchez and she handed us the key in exchange for 5.000 colones. This location had hot water supposedly, but we could not get it to work the following morning. The mosquitos were pretty much kept at bay by the large bats that flew in and out of the "bat hole" in our room. We were grateful for them and they were a treat to wake up to in the morning. Next time we might investigate Hotel Imperio to see if their hot water works. That is where the BUS MEPES drivers sleep overnight.

Then we awoke Saturday morning with the bats kind of early and walked with our carryon duffle bags to the only restaurant open that early. It is owned by the daughter of the taxi driver and he also cleans her front porch for her with a broom. The food was good, plentiful, cheap and very near the border crossing. (Remember this restaurant as this is where you will catch the bus heading back to San Jose, but you have to stand in front and wave your arms when it approaches – 7 am, 8 am, 9:30 am, 11 am, 15:30 pm).

We next walked to the CR Migration office to get "stamped out" of Costa Rica. We did not have to pay the 200 colones exit fee. Then we walked across the supposedly rickety bridge (in my opinion, it is very sturdy and I would easily drive my semi-truck across it).

On the Panama side, we showed our passports to the migration office (the window before the tourist card window). We then had to walk to the tourist card window and buy our tourist cards for $5 USD and take them back to the migration office window. TIP: go to the tourist card window first and buy your tourist card for $5 USD.

After that you should simply walk away as no one will tell you what to do. After walking 30 seconds 4 or 5 people will say "taxi" in your face. I recommend you keep walking and go "down" to the yellow bus that leaves every 20 minutes for 70 cents. This bus will take you into Changuinola bus terminal where you can connect to the BOCAS boats in FINCA 63 or the Rio Teribe boats in EL SILENCIO.

We walked the street looking for a hotel that took credit cards, had hot water and air conditioning. There were many hotels to choose from (at least 6). We entered Hotel Carol and tried their "hot water" and it never got hot. We entered Hotel SemiRami and their prices were to high (over $35). So we eventually ended up with Hotel Alhambra. Boy was I sure happy we chose this location. It was on a second floor above the supermarket that took credit cards. Alhambra took credit cards, had very hot water with great pressure and an air conditioner that blew ice cubes. This was the perfect choice! We paid for the first night only as we were not sure what we would find during this 4 day adventure, but we ended up staying there every night as Changuinola is the perfect "base" for doing anything in the area, including Bocas.

Oops, let me back up, we did not take the yellow bus from Guabito into Changuinola direct. We got off at the half way point on the bridge over the Rio San San. You should DEFINITELY do this! Enter the office of AAMVECONA upstairs and tell the guy in Spanish that you want a boat to take you to the PLATFORM. He will wake up the boat  captain (as they only get 2 or 3 requests per month) and charge you $70/boat plus $5/person with a maximum of 10 people per boat. Please email the office in advance if you know you are coming on a specific day at fdeLeondeLbarrio@.... You will put on your life jacket and enter the boat to go down the Rio San San into the San San Pond Sak HUMEDAL (wetlands area). On this river there will be crocodiles, but also the largest population of Manatees (72 of them) in Central America. The Captain and your guide will take you down river to their cabin on the Caribbean (mouth of San San) where you can watch several 20 year old volunteer females digging in the beach for eggs that didn't hatch and escorting the baby tortoises as they hatch to the water (with the shade from their body). These babies are so cute and I have some pics of them if you want. You can also buy but the only drinks they have are: coffee, warm water and fresh Coconut water from the coconut.

After a brief stop here to visit the tortoises on the beach, you will reboard your boat to go to THE PLATFORM. This deep jungle patform is very cool. The boat guide will hang fresh Bananas and banana leaves from overhanging branches so they are below the platform and at the water surface. This will become Manatee food in about 30-60 minutes. Then the Captain of your motorized canoe will drive under some overhanging branches and place you at the ladder to the platform (deep in the jungle so bring tons of mosquito spray and sunblock). Once the captain turns off his motor, the Manatees will circle around for a while and eventually come to eat your Bananas. On the day we were there, the rain had flooded the river 2 days before so the river was very high. Thus the water was dirty and we only saw noses and branches being tugged on. But usually, the water is clear and you can see their bodies while they eat.

After that we returned to the main office and said goodbye to the boat captain and guide to reboard the yellow bus toward Changuinola on the bridge for another 70 cents.

Now, back to where I was, after we got our stuff dropped in the hotel rooms, took a shower and changed into non-sweaty clothes, we were ready to HIT THE TOWN! We walked up and down looking for a restaurant or bar that took credit cards. There was only one and becz of the rains 2 days earlier, the town was without cell phone and cable tv for the week, so they could not use their credit card machine. Fortunately, I planned on coming to Changuinola with $100 USD in my pocket for our 4 days, so we had cash to purchase food. I was amazed
at the very cheap prices. Excellent food for $4.50 for 2 of us. Beers were only 60 cents. All the restaurants had fans and so the dining was pleasant on the patios. All the banks had very cold air conditioned ATM machines that spit out the countries money (dollars).

After dinner, Stephanie went to sleep early and I went in search of the local Lions Club meeting (Saturday nights at 7 pm) with Paul. The taxi there was only about $1 and we found it, but the club of 8 members had decided to not meet that night, so followed some music and found a huge drum and bugle corps practicing in the street in front of the Ministry of Education building (Changuinola has about 2,000 people). We would discover the next night that this same group was going to walk down main street playing their drums and bugles as loudly as they could. It was quite a treat to watch them march proudly down the street. As you might imagine, any town with 2,000 people in it and no tourists might get boring for the youth.

On our second morning we walked next door to the bus terminal and boarded the EL SILENCIO bus to take us to the end of the road where we could get the colectivo boats up the Rio Teribe and visit the 11 communities of Indians who sell handmade chocolate.

This particular day will offer you NO TIENDAS for buying anything throughout the day. You should carry liquids with you and a sandwich. Don't overload yourself as the canoes that take you upriver a very small. Probably no more than 6 people per canoe (and that includes the captain and the stick man up front). You will get wet on this trip. And your shoes will be very muddy/dirty/wet. Bring the mosquito spray and the sunscreen. The colectivo boat upriver costs $5/person and only runs on M-W-F, but on any day, you can probably
convince anyone coming up or going down to take you as an extra $5 is better than nothing if they are going anyway. We went on a Sunday and there were at least 10 boats that went up and down the river. I recommend you take the boat to the last community (their capital) to view the unused Kings Palace. Be careful about asking about the king. There are 2 of them and the community is split for the last 2 years. The Nephew who was king, now has moved from his palace to Changuinola to live in exile bacz he struck a deal with an electric company to build a dam. The Uncle Valentin Santini led an overthrow and assumed leadership, but he stayed in his house closer to the CR border and does not occupy the palace. King Valentin is 70 years old, and I suppose that King Tito is just waiting. The Rio Teribe moves too fast for Crocodiles and so you will be able to fresh water swim in this river near the shore.

On our third day (Monday) Stephanie wanted to swim, so we took the 70 cent bus to FINCA 63 (the sign says Finca 60, but it does the whole 60 series) and rode the $7 boat to the beach in Bocas Island. They will stop wherever you want on the island and we chose the starfish beach so we could see the starfish (there is no food here and they will pick you up at 12:30pm, 2:00 pm, or 4 pm). We spent 5 hours in the water just swimming (bring a lot of sunscreen and mosquito spray). The speed boat picked us up on time and took us back to FINCA 63 in Changuinola. The channel used from FINCA 63 to Changuinola is quite interesting. You will see primitive families living along the channel (children loading wood for the family day, kids sleeping in hammocks, etc).

When we returned to our hotel, we realized that we had been going through 2 t-shirts per day because of the sweat, so we either needed a laundry or something to have travel clothes back to CR tomorrow. We also realized that very good t-shirts could be bought for $1.49 across the street in the department store mall on the sidewalk. So being cheaper to buy new rather than wash old, we went there and ended up buying to excellent pair of blue jeans for $12 USD for both. Again, Stephanie was quite happy. We decided that for our final night in
this paradise vacation spot town, we wanted to visit the most expensive restaurant we could find. Although we tried hard, we couldn't find any restaurant that would take more than $10 for our meals, so we had to sacrifice and eat cheaply again, but the food was plentiful and great tasting. Afterward we walked to the POLLO RICO next to the bus station and bought slices of cake and cream filled something or others. They went great with the $3.50 bottle of wine we got from the supermarket.

For our return in the morning, we simply went to the bus terminal to board the yellow Guabito bus that leaves every 20 minutes for 70 cents back to the border. Crossing back was easy. Remember Panama is one hour later than Costa Rica in time, so change your watch as you walk over the bridge. Just stamp yourself out of Panama and into CR. TIP: walk past the CR migration office to purchase your $7 USD bus ticket to prove you are leaving the country someday as they migration officer will require you to show proof of departing the country.

After getting stamped back into CR, walk down to the restaurant owned by the daughter with the TAXI driver father and eat breakfast while you wait for the bus at 8 am, 9:30 am or 11 am, or 15:30 pm. Pay the driver on the bus 5.000 colones each and you are back in San Jose in 6 hours. It is a 2 block walk from Terminal Caribe to the Heredia bus station in San Jose. By the way, the foodstand in Terminal Caribe next to platform #6 is VERY CHEEP and has good Empanadas.

Mark Trinko
marktrinko@yahoo.com