My Trolley Fucsia: 2014

7 dic 2014

Bocas del Toro: young, wild, and free in the Panamanian Caribbean!

[**Click here for the Italian version on Bigodino.it!**]

I just came back from a trip to Bocas del Toro with 2 of my dearest friends, Claire & Ben, who came visit me in Panama from far away.
...Needless to say that it was LEGEN - wait for it- DARY !!! Besides the beauty of the place, I had so much fun with the guys, enjoying both Bocas and Panama City and surroundings, Pacific and Altantic oceans.

Bocas del Toro is a beautiful archipelago located in the north-western side of the country, towards the border with Costa Rica, and which -thank God- is still not as touristic as many popular destinations and still gives you the pleasure to find youself alone in virgin beaches.

After the friday night out in Panama City and 0 hours of sleep, we ran directly to Panama City Albrook airport for our morning flight to Bocas! ...And after 40 minutes, paradise found!!

Partners in crime: ready to meet Ben in Bocas!

Not to miss:

Red Frog Beach - Ten minutes boat from Isla Colón (the main island where the plane lands and where we had the hotel), this emerald-water & white-sand beach is lovely. You can surf, body surf, chase coconuts, and simply have beautiful walks along the sand. And it is not crowded at all!

Arriving to the island of Red Frog Beach

Heading to Red Frog Beach

Ben =)

Coconut hunters!!

Fishing day - You can´t miss the adrenaline of fishing a tuna, spotting a shark, and (if you want) to snorkel in those beautiful waters! At the end of the day, you can cook the fish caught or in your hotel/hostel or in a restaurant. A Catalan chef cooked our big tuna and macarela for us and prepared DELICIOUS tataki, tuna tartare, tuna sashimi etc. Just the best thanksgiving dinner ever =)

Our second caught of the day! Tuna!

Isla Zapatilla - 30-40 minutes away form Isla Colón by boat, Isla Zapatilla is composed of two little islands which are incredible. They are covered of wild palmtrees, with pure white sand and cristalline water. Super wild and it´s inhabitated! You can combine it with the fishing day (as we did), or just go there for the day and make a pic-nic on the border of the blue water.

Isla Zapatilla

Claire and I arriving to Isla Zapatilla

Paradise found in Isla Zapatilla

Love them

Rent a bike and discover Isla Colón - Isla Colón is lovely and it really deserves a tour around, to discover all those places/beaches which are not so popular but yet amazing. You can rent a bike for some dollars for the whole day or some hours and just go around. For example, i LOVED Bluff beach (our footprint were the only ones on the sand of the whole beach - spectacular!), and the bike tour on rocky/sandy roads along the sea is very nice. (My bike was, of course, fucsia!)

Playa Bluff - just the three of us!

Lunch break

Arrived in Playa Bluff with our bikes!

Relax on a hammock after the beach day - If you stay in a hotel which is right on the water border, there´s nothing like relaxing on a hammock on the water after a long beach day!!!! Especially if you share the hammock with someone like Claire or Ben... (I have been to Hotel Olas, and for the position and price I can recommend it!)

See the dolphins - We didn't have the time to do it but there is a harbour where spotting a dolphin is almost 100% guaranteed!

What else to say...Visit Bocas! And see the amazing video that Ben made of the trip ;)
Gracias chicos!!!! I miss you

18 nov 2014

El Salvador: the land of Volcanoes - and Surf - and coffee fields - and much more !!!

My trip to Guatemala was followed by the little country of El Salvador: 7 hours by bus from Guatemala City, on my own, to reach my friend Karla, a real salvadoreña that was housemate of mine while I was living in Buenos Aires last year.

The smallest contry among the 6 republics of Central America, and the only one that doesn't touch the Caribbean sea, EL Salvador seems to be unique: the mild weather, the variety of landscapes, its people, its delicious coffee, the great surf spots...

VOLCANOES & LAKES
"Land of volcanoes" - Antoine de Saint-Exupery described this way the little world of the Little Prince, with most probability representing the country of El Salvador. Did you know that Saint-Exupery's wife was Salvadorian, and the Rose in the Little Prince story was probably representing her? El Salvador has indeed almost 25 active volcanoes, some of which today are lakes. I have visited the volcano San Salvador (some km from the capital San Salvador) from which I flavoured great cocktails while enjoying an even greater sunset and view the city, and the spectacular volcanic-origin Lake Coatepeque (whose water, in some periods of the year, becomes of a light deep turquoise color, due to some algae and sulphur).

Enjoying the view of Lago Coatepeque, with Manà music in the background!

With my personal guides <3 in front of Lago Coatepeque

Our road trip

Sunset from Volcano San Salvador

SEA, SURF & COCONUTS
If you -as me- are lovers of the sea, no doubt you will fall in love with the beaches that El Salvador offers. I have visited Playa el Tunco, 25 minutes by car from San Salvador, were I have been surfing with perfect waves and a peach-coloured sky, and after the swim enjoyed the fresh coconut my friends had ready for me =).

My deserved coconut after surf

Chicas lindas <3: Karla & I !

You can't miss the sunset from one of the beach-front bars. We literally spent 5 hours with my friends and their lovely group of friends just having fun at the bar with a perfect breeze and view of the sea.

Sunset, Playa el Tunco

If you have time, you definitely have to spend the night there in one of the hostels in the beach !!!

Five hours after the sunset...still there!!!

The entrance of la Hola Betos in Costa del Sol!

Costa del Sol

Hola Betos in La Costa del Sol

COFFEE FIELDS
Another experience I LOVED was viting coffee fields and my friend Karla's finca in Ataco (not far from the border with Guatemala). Look how spectacular the views !!!! We had so much fun and have been eating so well in her hometown city of Ahuachapan!!!

Karla's coffee field -amazing!!

The view from Karla's finca

Me, trying the coffee beans - they were too good!!!

My dream come true - me on the pickup full of coffee bags!

On the pickup! going back to Ahuachapan from the Ataco fields

Me in the coffee beans

Quads in Ataco

Ahuachapan

To eat, fresh ceviche (typical Peruvian dish also very popular in all Central American countries, based on raw fish) or sopa de mariscos (seafood soup), go to the rustic little restaurants in Puerto la Libertad or go to La Hola Betos (both the one in Playa el Sunzal -another great spot for surfing- and the one in Costa del Sol beach). Other typical food that you just CAN'T miss is the pupùsas (corn-based tortillas filled with melted cheese and/or other ingredients), and the frijoles (red beens puree). Have a look at the pictures to realize why I loved that much all these places!!