Page 236 - The Rough Guide to Panama (Travel Guide)

234 Bocas del Toro ArchipiélAgo de BocAs del Toro
name, with a few across the water on Isla Solarte. In addition to a chapel and primary
school, they have a restaurant, the heart of the community tourism project – whose star
attraction is a guided excursion up the Sendero del Peresoso (Trail of the Sloth) to the
Cueva Nivida. You’ll be paddled up a nearby creek, where you can often see the trail’s
namesake furled round a branch and crabs and caimans in the shallows, before heading
off on foot through forest that was once a cocoa plantation, to wade through a series of
caves thick with stalagmites and coated with several species of Bastimentos bats. If you
6 ring a day in advance, you can stop off at the community restaurant on the way back
and sample traditional dishes such as morongodo, a green plantain pancake.

Cayo Crawl
At the southern tip of Bastimentos amid a myriad of mangrove islets lies tiny Cayo
Crawl, where three thatched restaurants do a roaring trade in seafood lunches. After
rounding the point, you come to the gorgeous soft coral fields of the same name, which
feature on many day-trips. In order to protect the coral, fins are not allowed when
snorkelling.
Quebrada Sal
Near Punta Vieja • $22/person plus $5 community fee; guide $2 • T6142 1476, Waliatur.bocasdeltoro.org
On Bastimentos’ southeast coast, close to Punta Vieja, the Ngäbe community of
QUEBRADA SAL (Salt Creek) is seeing an increasing number of day-trippers, generally
from the lodges around that end of the island; they also offer basic accommodation in
the village itself. The surrounding wetlands and nearby Playa Larga – part of the
marine park that occupies a swathe of the island (see p.236) – can be explored via
several trails, which also provides a chance to learn about medicinal plants and other
aspects of Ngäbe culture.
arrIVal aNd GeTTING aroUNd Isla BasTIMeNTos
BY WATER-TAXI ostensibly goes towards maintaining the path across the
To Old Bank Boteros Bastimentos, from their jetty on C 3 island. To avoid the fee, hike the beach path from Old Bank,
at Av “C”, Bocas Town, offers trips to Old Bank (10min; $3); though be mindful of security issues (see box, p.223).
other boats charge $5.
To Red Frog Beach Jampan Tours (see p.229) runs a REACHING THE NGÄBE COMMUNITIES
regular service to a marina on the south side of Bastimentos If you want to visit a Ngäbe community and are
($15 return; $8 one way), from where it’s a 10min walk (or struggling to make your own arrangements, contact
3min shuttle) across the island to the beach. A $5 landing the Bocas del Toro Community Tourism Network
fee ($3 if you travel with Jampan) imposed by developers (Wredtucombobocasdeltoro.org).

CULTURAL ECOTOURISM IN BOCAS DEL TORO
several Ngäbe communities in the province have initiated cultural ecotourism projects
to supplement their subsistence livelihood: Bahía honda and Quebrada sal (salt creek) on
Bastimentos, sandubidi on isla popa and silico creek and río oeste Arriba on the mainland
are all trying to attract visitors. The less well-known and less numerous Naso, too, are also
active in community-based tourism (see box, p.242). While several day-tours from Bocas Town
include communities in some of their itineraries, you learn and experience much more by
staying overnight (see p.233, p.234 & p.238). in addition to the obvious interest of being able to
interact with the Ngäbe (or Naso) and learn about their culture, the communities often offer
traditional dishes, crafts for sale and guided walks into the rainforest, with good wildlife-
spotting opportunities and the chance to learn about medicinal plants. With some of the
mainland communities, you can undertake more strenuous hiking.
details of how to contact the communities directly, and therefore ensure that all your
money goes directly to them, are to be found in english and spanish on the red de Turismo
comunitario Bocas del Toro website Wredtucombo.bocasdeltoro.org.

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