We didn't stay in the San Blas islands as long as we planned. The winds were high, we hadn't fond our idyllic swimming hole (the kiddos were dying for some play time in the ocean!) and it was overcast. We decided to forge ahead and depart early for Bocas del Toro. This was definitely the roughest crossing so far (more so than the previous one) and it was going to last 11 hours! 10-12 foot seas, up to 46 knot winds and waves hitting us on the beam. (damn that beam.) Dishes were broken, equipment came falling out of the cupboards, most of us slid all over the place and even the oven somehow got turned on. All the while Matt & Brad were upstairs expertly navigating the boat and hadn't a clue what we were all going through downstairs. I even was thrown out of bed 6 times as the mattress slid right off the top of the bed in the rough seas. All of us ladies and the kiddos had taken our sea sick medication and survived with not one case of "vomitosis!" It was a Christmas miracle.
Matt was a champ running the boat upstairs with Brad for the entire cruise!
We arrived at the Red Frog Marina in Bocas del Toro, and it was so peaceful and beautiful. We knew we found a great spot to ring in the New Year!
We found the monkeys!
Love of my life!
Mama bear and her cubs. Adorbable! This is hilarious. The local juice shack! Notice the roof deck. Ha.
The hammock tassel obsession continues!
Once the kids laid their eyes on this ATV "Flying Pirate" rental shack, it was game on! We were slotted to head out into the jungle on a self guided ATV ride the very next morning. It poured the rest of the day, so we weren't sure if it was "on", but the skies slightly cleared and the rain stopped in time for our jungle fever adventure. The kiddos loved the owner.. A peg legged pirate from Southern California no less!
I'm easing through this river below..
Everyone loved all the challenging terrain.
Especially the kiddos!
Cooling off at a jungle restaurant
A needed respite during our adventure.
Town is lively and filled with lots of international travelers.
Matt negotiating our taxi ride back to the marina.
The napping shack. Love this!
Uncle Toms Cabin.
These squirts would come by the marina everyday and mooch anything they could from the boaters in the marina. We gave them some cookies and juice boxes.
Two days later they showed up asking for more treats, and we gave them our Chasing the Sun Tour t-shirts.
Our slip at the end of the dock.
We had a great afternoon the next day as we headed out via private panga to explore some uninhabited islands.
Our panga driver took us to Coral Cay which was THE spot in Bocas to hang out, have lunch and snorkel.
We were loving it!!
The fam post snorkel and before lunch.
The snorkel excursion raft-up.
Luke was born ready for this.
I jumped in to feed the fish.
Matt was taking it all in underwater.
Here's Brad at the bathrooms. You have to take a bucket, fill it with sea water and put it in the toilet to use. Ick!
It was a busy snorkeling day for all of us.
We loved the view in Bocas..
Natural beauty was bountiful.
Directions in the red frog jungle.
The kiddos found a friend in the marina.
There's Brad & I.. Stranded on a deserted island. Ok, not really.
The grandkids loved the deserted island.
Treasures were everywhere.
We spotted this woman on our way back to the marina as she was paddling back home for the day. Just other-wordly!
Brads such a good sport & puts up with my need for photo poses. Muah!
We had an absolute ball having our family all together for the holidays and all the adventures we had!! We were sad to see them go, but knew we have many adventures together ahead of us. They got in their early morning panga boat and headed to the airport.
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