Bocas

I got some information about a couple of small caves in the middle of Isla Colon, the island I am staying on, so of course I had to check them out. The New Year had good news for me as well – a bed for the next two nights! No more couch surfing for this Wild Woman. At least not for now.

I found where the buses were leaving from to head north to a popular tourist beach. Instead of lounging in the sun with the beautiful peeps, I would be getting down and dirty in some muddy holes. That, my friends, is just the way I like it! After getting dropped off on the side of the road next to a sign pointing the way, I walked the few hundred meters to where the cave entrance lay and paid the US1 tithe.

As is fairly common in many conservative Catholic communities, entrances to small caves often have statues of Mary and a place to worship and this little cave was no exception. The first thing that greeted me upon approach was a covered altar facing seating built into the slope which led down to it. A somewhat haughty looking Mary was disdainfully averting her eyes from the entrance.

The first cave was only about 100m long and followed the stream which ran through it. It was necessary to wade through the stream most of the way but it wasn’t deep. There was a large colony of bats in the cave and I sighted numerous cave crickets and a few spiders. The second cave was about 200m long and here the water reached hip level. There were several large, active crystal formations in both caves and I spent a very pleasant hour exploring them, as well as venturing further upstream to see if there were any other caves along the same stream way.

When coming back through the first cave, I came across a large group coming out. It turned out to be a group of about 15 students from University of Wisconsin with associated professors on a study tour of Panama looking at tropical biology. I was alarmed to learn only one student (and none of the professors) had scant knowledge about the fungal disease White Nose Syndrome which is wiping out bat populations worldwide. The disease is most definitely in Wisconsin and doing a lot of damage. To my knowledge Panama remains free of the disease at the moment but it can easily be transferred via contaminated clothing and/or equipment. The group assured me none of the clothing or equipment they had with them had been in a cave back home and welcomed learning more about the disease and its impacts.

I joined the university group for a while as they explored the jungle between the two caves. The group is staying at a Smithsonian Institute outstation in Panama and using that as its base for their tours of the region. It was interesting learning a bit more about the jungle and I was able to answer questions in relation to the caves and bats in general.

After leaving the university group, I wandered back to the main road to pick up a bus that would take me on to Playa Boca Del Drago. There was no point trying to get a bus back to Bocas as any bus coming from the popular tourist beach would be crammed and not picking up. Plus, I would get to see a little more of the island. I reached the beach on sunset and found a little local restaurant to have dinner at while the sun went down.

Sunset at Playa Boca Del Drago.

The last bus left Del Drago at 7pm which was perfect timing. Back at the hostal, I checked back in and was shown to my bed for the next two nights. This time I made sure I got a key.