I got two turn tables and.....a Cuba Libre

Location: Bocas del Toro, Panama

Ahhh Bocas del Toro. How I miss thee. Actually, to be honest I was ready to leave after a week of being in this tiny little town where there is pretty much nothing better to do than take water taxis around the islands and drink Cuba Libres (Panamanian rum and cokes in a can). No, we had complete blast, primarily due to the fact that our lovely, responsible, wholesome, clean-mouthed friend Ryan from Santa Teresa dropped out of the sky and onto the deck of the Aqua Lounge, a regular hang-out for us dirty backpackers. Not to mention it was his birthday which definitely made for some good times - aka BBQing an amazing meal on the ocean after a day at the beach where he wore a bright red speedo in honor of his ¨halfway to 62¨life state. If sitting on the dock overlooking the ocean-front towns sipping a delicious drink got boring, we simply swam to the water trampoline (or watched Ryan duke it out with his, shall we say ¨slightly insane¨girlfriend on the tramp and inevitably end up brawling their way off the edge and into the water).

Then of course my two favorite nights of the week (and I say this with the strongest sarcasm I can muster) were Wednesdays and Saturdays when this lovely dockbar hosted Ladies Night. I won´t go into much detail (wink), but let´s just say I´m shocked there are not more accidents/fatalities when hundreds of people squeeze onto a dock with fire dancers, no guard rails, and a floor topography that even MacGyver would have a hard time navigating in broad daylight. Nevertheless we made it out of there both nights - all belongings accounted for, no battle wounds, and some new reggae-inspired dance moves. In fact this 6´4¨ barefooted Caribbean rasta with dreds down to his bum took me for a spin (don´t ask me why I was the chosen one) and thought it would be a good idea to whip his body (and head) around during our tango, dreds flying, and of course hitting everyone in the face during the process. No wonder I´ve been single for so long. I attract the ones you´d want to take home and introduce to my Dad. ¨Hi Dad, this is Jonas. He´s tall, dark, and has not washed his hair in 10 years. That´s why his dreds are so well intact. He calls me babygirl and knows how to make a bong out of just about anything. You always told me to find a good, resourceful man¨.........Excellent. Farewell Bocas, we had a good run, but it´s onto new horizons. Granada horizons that is!



I honestly don´t know how firedancers don´t burn their limbs right off


We spent many a night playing pool and eating fish tacos at Rancho Sancho - Ryan´s restaurant. We´ll be back for sure.

It must be his birthday. How else would you drum up a grin like that?