While traveling for several weeks along the southeastern coast of Costa Rica, through the wonderful villages of Cahuita and Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, our small group of about eight travelers decided to cross the border and visit the islands of Bocas del Toro.
It turned out to be an excellent decision. The following week became one of the very best parts of my four-month Central America road trip. It was exactly the kind of spontaneous travel I loved: meeting people along the way, making plans together, crossing a border, and discovering a place none of us wanted to leave.
Bocas del Toro and Bastimentos
Small boats, tropical islands, and an unforgettable week
We hired small dugout canoes and traveled among the islands to Parque Nacional Marino Isla Bastimentos. The water, dense tropical vegetation, beaches, and scattered islands made it feel almost unreal—one of those places that seemed far removed from ordinary life.
I was grateful that our group had decided to make the crossing. Some of the best travel experiences of my life came from choices like this, when there was no detailed plan and no certainty about what we would find. We simply heard that the islands were worth seeing, found a way to get there, and went.
Across the Continental Divide
From tropical lowlands to the mountains of Boquete
About a week later, we crossed the continental divide and dropped down toward Panama’s Pacific side. We spent a few hours in David, resupplied, and then five of us headed uphill into the mountain village of Boquete.
One day we took a bus and then hiked to a remote hot spring beside a river. The spring water was wonderfully warm, while the river itself was swift and cold. The contrast made the place especially memorable.
After the long walk back to a small tienda, we waited and waited for a bus that never came. Eventually we realized we had missed the final bus of the day. As dusk approached, we persuaded a local man to drive us the roughly forty minutes back into town. We were beginning to worry, and meeting him when we did felt very fortunate.
Coffee Country and Horseback Trails
A cooler escape from the tropical lowlands
The Canadian couple in our group soon continued toward Panama City and then South America. I stayed behind with the two German travelers. We spent more time around the coffee plantations, rode horses on beautiful mountain trails, and enjoyed the countryside immensely.
Boquete was a refreshing change after the heat and humidity of the Caribbean lowlands. The air was cooler, the landscape was greener and more mountainous, and the pace felt completely different from the islands.
A couple of days later, I boarded a bus north toward Costa Rica. My next adventure would be a week-long backpacking trip through the wild tropical rainforest of the Osa Peninsula and Corcovado National Park.
Thinking About the Darién Gap
Knowing when an adventure carried too much risk
I thought long and hard about continuing south toward Colombia through the Darién Gap. The idea of linking Central America and South America overland was tempting, but the route was simply too dangerous.
I have always believed in taking chances and saying yes to adventure, but that does not mean every risk is worth taking. Deciding not to attempt the Darién was one of those moments when judgment mattered more than proving anything.
Panama remained one of the highlights of the larger Central America trip, especially the northeastern islands, Bocas del Toro, Bastimentos, and the cooler mountain country around Boquete.
Panama and the Route Across the Country
The Caribbean islands, the continental divide, and the Pacific side
This map shows Panama’s narrow shape and helps place the journey from the Caribbean side around Bocas del Toro, across the continental divide, and toward David and Boquete in the west.
Panama was only one part of a four-month journey through Central America, but it stands out because of the variety packed into a relatively short time: border crossings, tropical islands, dugout canoes, hot springs, coffee plantations, horseback rides, missed buses, and the constant companionship of other travelers heading in different directions.
I remain grateful that I had the opportunity, time, health, and curiosity to make that trip. Travel does not have to look the same for everyone, but for me, this loose and spontaneous way of moving through the world became one of life’s greatest teachers.