A tranquil and remote shoreline on one of many islands within Isla Bastimentos National Marine Park
that something special is hidden behind the thick jungle on the steep hillside above. A path appears and, like a machete, cuts neat and clean through the dense growth to lead guests uphill. They trudge past organic gardens and tangled greenery until they reach the lodge to be greeted by owners Margaret Ann and Henry Escudero. “Don’t step on the leafcutter ants,” their four-year-old son, Lucho, advises the new arrivals. “We came here because we wanted to get back to the land, back to nature,” says Escudero regarding Isla Bastimentos in the Bocas del Toro Archipelago. “Growing up in the States, I remember more wilderness and fewer cities, and now it’s changed to more cities and less wilderness. We fell in love with Bocas, with having beaches and jungle in the same place along with the mix of cultures. It’s rewarding to see the effects of wilderness on our guests. It rejuvenates them. Everybody is so connected to technology, 126 | M A R C H /A P R I L 2 014
while here they switch onto something more real as they experience our amazing environment and culture. We take pride in integrating with the indigenous Ngöbe people by supporting local schools and financing the education of fourteen students.” Four thatched-roof cottages, which are open on three sides, elevate guests into the forest canopy, where they can look out over dense tropical jungle stretching out to the bay. Spacious rooms with gleaming wide-planked locust floors, four-poster beds draped in clouds of mosquito netting, and vibrant flowers popping from vases make guests feel cocooned in a tropical paradise. The hosts provide nifty items such as a survival kit containing high-powered binoculars, a flashlight, and mosquito coils. They add exquisite details such as orchids growing in alabaster shells that are placed in outdoor showers with pebbled floors. Thermoses of hot coffee and muffins are delivered promptly at 7:00 a.m. each day.
Freebies include a cacao farm tour, trips to Red Frog Beach, visits to Bahía Honda School, and the use of kayaks and cayucos (native dugout canoes). The lodge offers additional outings such as cruising Bahía Honda creek and hiking a bat cave, or a spectacular day of snorkeling off Cayos Zapatillas in Isla Bastimentos National Marine Park. After all this outdoor activity, guests dive into luscious meals. Escudero clinks his spoon against a glass to announce house specialties such as banana leaf–wrapped black snapper with spicy cilantro and tomato chutney concocted from produce grown on property. It seems that communion with nature inspires more authentic conversations. The group is animated and enthusiastic, using gestures and expressions to share experiences in nature, a universal love that transcends language barriers. The forest comes alive as dusk settles upon La Loma. The night is filled with sounds of capuchin