UrbanSwirl.com - Lifestyles of Color

There are no shortage of beaches and water activity here in Bocas Town. One can tell the difference between the local verses the tourists. If the large backpacks on young college-age students did not give it away, shorts and t-shirts are widely worn by tourists. Some are carrying surfboards. The locals are use to the warm climate and are usually wearing long slacks and for some long-sleeve, rolled up shirts.

I forgot to bring my sandals so I purchased a pair of flip-flops for only $2. The main neighborhood strip is very rustic. Dusty.
There are local street vendors on the main strip selling souveniers, jewelry, art, etc. Finally - shopping for stuff to bring home. It seems all the mini-foodmarts and supermercados are owned and runned by Asians. So the locals are very diverse.

I came across a vendor selling hand-carved ornaments. These ornaments begin as a seed with a hard shell. I later found out it is called Tagua Carving. With my limited spanish, I could not find out where this seed comes from.


But fortunately, the internet has the information.

The tagua nut, also known as vegetable ivory, comes from several species of rain forest palm. The carvings usually depict the birds and animals of the Darién Rainforest. One tagua nut carving is approximately the size of an egg. Link

Because of its close resemblance to animal ivory the nut of the tagua palm has had a long history as a useful product . Before the invention of plastics tagua was used in the making of buttons and other common items such as jewelry, dice, chess pieces and cane handles. In fact, some expensive "ivory" pieces from the Victorian era were actually made from tagua nuts.

Tagua products are experiencing a comeback in an effort to protect endangered species such as elephants, whales and walruses that have been a source of animal ivory . In one year a tagua palm produces the same amount of "ivory" as one female elephant. The tagua nuts, however, are harvested by hand without harming the tree.

Here, I took a pic of the owner carving the nut out by hand. Its a very intricate process and he's good at it.


Here he displayed his ornaments sold as necklaces, keychains, etc. All about $10 or less.

I bought a $10 frog.


The best type of food here is seafood. I found out that their red meats are shipped in from the US - so we avoided that. To taste the local flavor - seafood is your best choice. Our group decided that this is our favorite restaurant at Bocas.
The Reef - this restaurant is located at the end of the main strip.


They served the best seafood. After dinner the other night, we came back the next day for lunch!
We all ordered the Reef Salad.

Its a mixture of seafood (shrimp, squid, clams, fish) cooked with a red sauce over a bed of green. No dressing necessary since the sauce covered everything.
It was delicious. Too bad we couldn't come back the next day for lunch (we're leaving for Panama City early tomorrow morning).

Next to the Reef Restaurant, we stopped for coffee at the Starfish Cafe. Does the sign give you an impression of "Starbucks"? Hmmm!

A tiny little coffee shop. Their cappucino was very good but avoid their chocolate brownie, it had a bland taste (the brownie was missing something - I think it was chocolate).

I really enjoyed my time at Bocas. It seems when you Google Bocas Del Toro - I find page after page for real estate.
It seems they really want people to come and move here.

Hmm, something to consider when I retire.