I left Nuevo Arenal this weekend and took a shuttle to San Jose. I spent the night in San Jose, then caught a very early flight to Bocas. The town is small, so I walked from the tiny airport over to my hostel - Hosteluego. It's a nice joint, which I think I need for my first big hostel experience. Below are photos of the hostel, shared bath, my private room (worth the extra $), kitchen and common areas. I probably won't post this many photos of subsequent hostels, but for now, I am a true first timer (and it's a really sweet place.... by way of hostels).
My new school is small, similar in size and number of students to my school in Costa Rica; however, the classrooms are all indoors here. It takes some getting used to. I kind of enjoyed the open air classrooms in CR, even when it was a million degrees. You could learn, while still keeping an eye on everything going on at the school, stop class if anything interests was happening, wave to people on their way to the bathroom, etc. Here, it's all business, all the time, in the classrooms :)
The 'big' town (and I use that term loosely) where I am staying, is the biggest town on the islands. It's VERY different than anywhere I visited in CR. The town is really dirty, kind of run down, and full of people that are here mostly to party. Costa Ricans keep their cities, towns, and land really clean, so the trash here is probably the biggest shocker for me.....it's all what you're used to, I suppose. Anywho, it's an interesting dynamic here, nonetheless, especially since the backpackers/vacationers/locals all mix together here more than I saw in CR. It's a unique place, for sure. Below are some photos of the town. There is a special kind of charm here though, I will at least say that- super laid back and easy going.
Right now, it's the super slow season in Bocas. The hostel is quiet, the town is sleepy, and it's kind of hard to find tours that are running, since they don't have enough people to run them. My plans to explore every afternoon take a little more finesse under these circumstances!
My first 2 days were rainy (boo!), class placement for school was a bit frustrating, and I was sad that the other students here aren't my friends from Tamarindo. :(
Even though I got off to a rough start, today, the sun came out and I got to visit another island. I took a water taxi with a couple people from school to Red Frog beach, and the 'how do I like Bocas' scale, is now tipping back towards 'like!' The beach was amazing! Best beach I have seen in a while. Crystal clear, warm water, small waves, very few people around, etc. We even needed to hike a bit from the boat dock to the beach, so we got to check out the jungle for a bit too. Way cool place. More fun times in Bocas to come.....hopefully!
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