Isla Bastimentos
A short water taxi ride from Bocas Town you will find Isla Bastimentos. Away from the pumping music and student vibes of Bocas, Bastimentos sits quietly surrounded by golden beaches, crystal waters and a handful of family run local food restaurants.
Here we spent a fleeting three days playing cards, jumping off jetties, paddle boarding, and lazing on beaches surrounded by great friends and staying at by far the best place so far- Bubbas House. If you ever find yourself in Bocas be sure to head straight there.
After reading and lounging around in paradise all day we felt a bit spoilt/ fat from indulging in the local beer every night (I don’t even like beer), so we decided to get off our asses and cease the day! On arrival we had met a Dutch guy named Tom who made us both extremely jealous describing how him and his German friend Christoff had thrown it all in and were setting up a hiking/ adventure tour company of the island. They were scheduled to take a hike with a local to check out a new route only known to local farmers which would end up at red frog beach. Naturally we offered to be their guinea pigs. As there first customers they wanted to make sure they had the route down before signing us up, so they agreed to take us the day after they had figured out the route themselves, and to top if all off they would cook up a big BBQ afterwards… can’t say no to that!
The hike was perfect. Everything was overgrown and wild. The grass grew over our knees, the swamp mud swallowed our boots and with no path to follow, it was truly untouched. If you are looking for the whole “off the beaten track” sort of thing, this really is it.
Upon reaching red frog beach the guys hacked us open some fresh coconuts and we cooled off in the ocean before making our way back passed Wizard Beach and onto their place for a BBQ.
Even though the hike was only 12km, the challenging terrain and 30+ degree heat definitely made us work for our dinner. Thankfully Christoph cooked up enough freshly caught Mackrel to feed an army and we sat and drank beers into the evening discussing exciting possibilities and ideas surrounded by the beginnings of their future business.
A huge thank you to Tom and Christoff for sharing this hike with us and like with Bubbas House, if you are ever in Bastimentos definitely track these guys down.
