Page 235 - The Rough Guide to Panama (Travel Guide)

ArchipiélAgo de BocAs del Toro Bocas del Toro 233
Old Bank (Bastimentos Town)
OLD BANK – affectionately referred to as Basti – the island’s main settlement, with
a population of around nine hundred, sits on the westernmost point, a short jaunt
by water-taxi from Bocas. An undulating, cracked concrete path acts as its main
thoroughfare, snaking its way between tightly packed houses built out over the water
on stilts, passing reggaeton beats, discarded bikes and old men slamming down
dominoes, and winding up to a steep, green hillside dotted with precariously built
wooden homes. A jungle path, occasionally impassable after heavy rains, leads to
several glorious beaches twenty minutes away on the other side of the island. 6

The beaches
Renowned for riptides that claim lives every year, the sea that pounds the northern
surfing beaches of Bastimentos is often too dangerous to swim in, but there is lots of
good walking to be had along these curved broad belts of creamy sand backed by palms
and thick vegetation. Heading along the overland path from Old Bank (see box,
p.223), you pass Playa Wizard (Playa Primera) after fifteen to twenty minutes, and,
further east, Playa Segunda, and then Red Frog Beach, though you won’t find its
namesake waving to you from a beach towel (see box below). A short hike further east
brings you to Playa Polo, a smaller, sheltered cove protected by a reef; it’s good for
snorkelling, though it can get busy, and the eponymous Polo, who lives there, happily
cooks up the catch of the day with coconut rice for visitors. Even further east lies
another surfing stretch of sand, Playa Larga (see p.236).
If you’re planning a whole day at the beach, take enough water with you; there are a
couple of restaurants on Red Frog Beach.

Bahía Honda
6km southeast of Old Bank • $40/person (for two people) including transport, guiding and lunch; one day’s notice needed • Community
tourism project T6726 0968 (ask for Rutilio Milton), Wtimorogo.org • Pick up from the dock by the mercado municipal, Bocas Town
The 25 or so thatched homes of the dispersed Ngäbe community of BAHÍA HONDA are
hidden among a dense tangle of mangroves at the eastern end of the bay of the same

STRAWBERRY POISON DART FROGS
probably Bastimentos’ most famous residents, the dazzling strawberry poison dart frogs
(oophaga pumilio), no larger than a thumbnail, are actually widespread along the caribbean
lowlands from Nicaragua to western panama. But nowhere is their colouration and size –
“morphs” as they are termed – as varied as here. That said, the place you’re least likely to spot
these amphibians, ironically, is on Red Frog Beach, where local kids have captured many of
them to impress tourists and charge for photos – or they’ve simply scarpered.
The most commonly sighted poison dart frog is the smart “blue-jeans” morph, whose
brilliant scarlet torso fades into cobalt blue or purple legs; on Bastimentos these seductive
amphibians span red, orange, gold, green or even white, and are often speckled with black.
The “poison dart” title given to the family derived from the likes of the colombian golden
poison frog (phyllobates terriblis) that secretes a particularly lethal toxin – sufficient to kill up
to twenty people – and which has traditionally been used by the chocó (ancestors of the
present-day emberá) to coat darts and arrows for hunting.
While the dazzling colouration aimed at alerting would-be predators to the poison beneath
their skin is what most attracts tourists to these fluorescent creatures, their behaviour is equally
striking. extremely territorial, male dart frogs can be seen locked in combat among the leaf-litter
like miniature wrestlers, comically teetering on their hind legs trying to pin their opponent down
in submission with the front legs. Mating occurs at any time of year and after the small clutch of
eggs has been laid and fertilized, the male periodically pees on them to keep them moist. once
hatched, the female gives each tadpole a piggy-back ride, one by one, up to the canopy,
depositing them in separate water-filled bromeliads. over the next few weeks, she returns
frequently to deposit unfertilized eggs in the water for the tadpoles to eat as they mature.

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