Panama: Bocas Del Toro New Years

This place seems to never sleep. It´s always Friday, the clubs are packed, and you can dance until the sun comes up. You walk or take water taxis across to the bars each providing their own theme. Most are situated right on the water with back docks where people are jumping in with all (or none) of their clothes on.

Hostel: Hostel Heike ($10). The hostel doesn´t take reservations so we chanced getting in. Luckily we got beds because the entire town was booked for New Years. The rooms are loud but there was a great balcony and upstairs lounge area which we spent a lot of time meeting people, trading stories, curing hangovers, and getting ready for the night. Four people in particular became our close friends.  They come from Holland (Jurjen), England (Tony), Finland (Petra), and Australia (Luke). We talked like we had been friends for years and laughed about west coast lingo probably a bit more then necessary.

All in all it was great fun but it is nice to be sitting in a new quiet town where I will get a restful sleep.

Starfish Beach: Starfish beach is a $5 round trip cab ride to the other side of Isla Colon. You walk along the beach for about 20 minutes. The water is a pristine blue and the forest comes right up against the beach. The water is only thigh deep for 20 feet or so and is the perfect temperature to just float among the starfish. One of the nicest beaches I have seen this trip.