Week 12 -- Border Jump

Costa Rican visas only permit visitors to stay for 90 days before having to leave the country to 72 hours.  We are thankful for this rule because we ended up spending a wonderful three days in Bocas del Toro, Panama, in order to satisfy our visa requirements. 

Our children LOVE the beach, so Bocas was a great place to have a get-away.  We flew in a tiny plane from San Jose to Bocas and got to really see Costa Rica from a birds-eye view.  In reality, much of CR isn't inhabited; so much of the land is mountainous and difficult to maneuver, the population is concentrated in certain areas.  The views of the mountains and valleys and GREEN was breathtaking.  Just the flight in itself was amazing!

Our first day, we relaxed at Playa Estrella and were astounded by the number of starfish in the shallows.  We also took a short boat trip through a mangrove cave; on the trip back to the beach, the kids rode a hot dog, much to their delight.  L and E screamed, "Mas rapido!" again and again.  Poor H would retort, "NO!  Despacio!!" 

Futbol stadium from plane

Our itty-bitty aircraft



Pretty CR

High-flyin'

God's creation is amazing!

My boys

In Panama

Central American country #3 for the Jett kids

J and I loved this boat at the beach.

E looking for starfish.



L breaking the rules and touching a starfish.



How many starfish can you count in this picture?

So cool!

Headed into the mangrove cave.

 

 

On the second day, we went out to Coral Caye to snorkel.  E is a fish and could snorkel for hours, if we let her.  L swam around like a natural, too.  We saw lots of beautiful creatures,  including several different types of jellyfish, and were wishing our underwater camera hadn't gotten stolen. 

After snorkeling, Jimmy fished for a bit on our way to Red Frog Beach.  He caught a barracuda!  At the beach, the kids played in the awesome waves; the red frogs eluded us.  However, when our boat returned for us, our guide led us into the woods and turned over leaves and looked in many crevices until he spotted some of the tiny frogs for us.  Way cool!

That night, we had another amazing animal adventure -- we walked Bluff Beach with a guide and were fortunate enough to watch a Hawksbill sea turtle lay her eggs and return to the ocean.  The group providing the tours does so in an effort to protect the three varieties of sea turtles that return to this beach every year -- giant leatherbacks, green sea turtles, and hawksbills.  After the eggs were laid (almost 130, golf-ball sized), the volunteers moved the eggs to a new nest so locals couldn't follow the turtle's tracks and steal her eggs.  On our hour walk down the beach, we walked past a leatherback turtle's tracks from the previous night -- wow, they were huge!!  The nest was giant, as well, and it's amazing to think about these fascinating creatures God created and how he put in them this ability to find "home" to lay their eggs.  We couldn't take pictures of the turtle, so hopefully I'll find something on the internet to show how large the turtle was . . .

This kid -- E -- could spend hours exploring the underwater world.

y Luke tambien!

H was a little more cautious and disturbed by the jellyfish.

A pic from above water doesn't do this justice!

Our little fish!

Several parrots were hanging out near the beach. 
There was another pair, too.

Fishing

J's barracuda!



E took this great pic!

Red Frog Beach Lookout

H took this pic.

Taking a break from the waves. 

These guys are tiny -- no wonder we had a hard time finding them.



After the beach adventures, the kids swam in the pool.
J and L went kayaking and tried to
catch fish with a handmade fishing pole and
some crabs they caught on the beach.

From the internet:

                              

 

Our final day, we relaxed at the beach again.  For the first hour or so, J rented a traditional Panamanian boat, carved out of a solid piece of wood, and tooled around with the kids trying to catch fish.  Then, J and E patiently fished in the mangroves and finally caught a snapper.  What a prize!  Had we had more time, we would've had one of the beach restaurants cook the fish, but our time was up and it started pouring rain, so the little guy got "off the hook." 

Oohing and ahhing over the turtle fountain at our hotel.

J trying to figure out how to balance in this boat.



Fun with dad!

Patient fishermen

E hatched a plan to throw the line right into the mangroves.

Meanwhile, H and L "made coffee" with sand.

E's plan worked!

Proud fishermen!

Our cuties at a restaurant the last night.

The flight home . . . what a great trip!

Looking back, these pictures don't do Bocas del Toro justice.  It was overcast a lot of the time, so the clarity and brilliance of the water is hard to discern from photos.  It was beautiful!