This is what I wrote in 2006:

Oh yes, now I can say that I’ve been to a Caribbean beach!

It was the best decision to come to Bocas del Toro, Panama. We lucked out, we stayed in a simple hostel but a delight, we have a natural swimming pool in our backyard!  A lake of the Caribbean, but salty water.

This hostel was truly great, too bad I haven’t registered how much we paid at the time. Probably not much more than US$10 each of us, per night. Our private room was large enough, but the shared bathroom was remarkable. A water-filled barrel outside could be used for flushing and to fill up a couple smaller buckets to shower. Mug shower at its best. Surfers loved the place since boats for a surfing day would pick you up right there at our ‘backyard’ deck.

Today we went to a beach called Bocas del Trago (photo below), lindissississima. Wow, that’s a Caribbean beach… Sea without waves, only the light and dark blues colors, palm trees, little sand beside the grass. You can imagine how beautiful the mixture is. This because a Panamanian we met told us that this beach is beautiful, but the most beautiful we will see tomorrow! Oh, I can’t wait.

Yesterday we went to a very lively party with many gringas dancing their crazy ways and the energy very good, a thousand times better than the energy of Puerto Viejo in Costa Rica. We were only supposed to be here until tomorrow, but we love it so much that we are staying for NYE.

I LOVED PANAMA PEOPLE! They are very similar to the Brazilians, but without that ‘smarty’ way. Everyone treats us very well, and the best: they understand that we are not gringas who can spend US$12 per ride, and always make us a special discount. Tomorrow, for example, dropped to $5. What a joy!

Please know this was 2006, and those prices won’t ever be the same… even if you are a cheap and cute Brazilian girl.