Off to Colombia... first stop Bogota

To save time we flew from Bocas to Panama city.  We spoiled ourselves in a nice hotel for the night, and then made our way to airport in the morning to fly to Bogota.  In line to check in at the airport (something that could have been avoided if we had remembered that we booked business class tickets).  Declan was a sport as usual, taking it all in and making friends in line.

Zoning out a little on the plane.  It's been a long time since he's seen a TV.  Put the earphones on him and he was quite intrigued!  For 5 mins anyway... :)

 

 

 First night in Bogota.  Our guesthouse was on the corner of a plaza where a ton of people hang out at night.  There was huge stoop where people, eat take out,  drink beer, and just chill.  We thought that was a great first night. Declans first backpacker stoop beer drinking!  With a little dinner too... :)

 Next day, time to check out the city.  Some epic walking.  A lot of ground covered...

 

Tired boy after an afternoon of walking around Central Bogota.

 The funky digs in Bogota.  Bedroom loft upstairs, and a little living room and bathroom downstairs.

 Time for some dinner!  Declan's not going to know what I high chair is when we get home.  He wants to sit in his own chair just like us!

Bogota is pretty city, but a city none-the-less. 2 nights 2 days was enough for us. We headed out and have spent the last 3 days in Villa de Veija.  A 5 hour bus trip north of Bogota.  Pictures and blog update to come, but that's all I've got time for now.  We'll have to try and remember our experiences on this trip I think, because I have to admit.  When we're traveling with Declan, we just don't pull out the camera as much.  So much other stuff going on!

Bocas de Toro

 Fun trip to Panama.  Bus, customs, bridge to Panama, customs, bus again, and then a boat to Bocas.  Time for Declan to learn what backpacking is all about!

 

We spent just over a week in Bocas on 2 separate islands.  Just a couple nights at the party town on Isla Colon, and then the rest of our time on the relaxed Caribbean village on Bastimentos.  It wasn't what I had imagined when we headed there, but man did it grow on you.  To live amongst the super laid back, friendly, and at times hilarious 'Bastimentians' was nothing short of great.

Declan was a big hit on the island and I'm pretty sure most people on the island knew whom he was before we left.  He handed out the smiles like hotcakes at a stampede breakfast...

This was Declan playground at the place we stayed during our short stay on Isla Colon.

The view of Bastimentos town... taken from our hill top balcony of the guesthouse we were staying in.

We never once took a camera with us to the beaches we visited... so we don't have any pictures. But there are a few pics to give you an idea of what it's like there.  All taken from a few of the many boat rides we needed to take to get around.  Water taxis take you everywhere here!

 A little reading in the hammock...

  Restaurant over the water...

Play time at another favorite place of ours... a great little place to go for dinner, or just a beer a few feet form the beach.

Peurto Veijo

A 5 hr drive, overnight in San Jose, and 4-5hr bus ride later from San Jose we arrived in Peurto Veijo.  Declan was  champ throughout the entire journey.  Skipping naps, and/or cutting them short.  As you can see he was just happy to be taking it all in, and to arrive!

This isn't a calm Caribbean coast.  The waves here are huge!  You have to be in a pretty serious surfer to get in these waters...

We spent 3 nights and 4 days here... the weather was everything from sunshine to cloudy with rain.  Main activities included riding our rented bikes along the coast to check out the many beachs, taking in a few of the sites, and chilling while we hide out from some of the epic down pours while Declan caught up on some much needed sleep.

 

If anyone gets tired of the dry dessert like conditions in the Guanacaste Pacific, a day trip away you can be in some of the most humid/green conditions going.  There is nothing but crazy thick jungle here and it doesn't stop until it hits the ocean...

Tired after a long morning on the bike.  Little does he know that this is just a pit stop for lunch!  We need to make it back to our hotel. Needless to say he falls asleep on the ride home... :)

Peurto Veijo was great... but we needed to head to Panama!  We wanted to have a little time there at Bocas De Torro before we made our way to Panama City to catch our flight to Bogota.  Panama here we come...!