Reefs to the Right of Us=?ISO-8859-1?Q?=85?=Reefs to the Left of Us

And Kunas in ulus next to us! We left the town of Ustupu and headed for Bahia Golondrina. This is a mangrove surrounded bay named for the golondrina birds. We have no idea what a golondrina bird is and were curious to see them. The guide book said at dusk they come out in full force. From Ustupu, we had to wind our way past islands, islets, points and reefs to get to Bahia Golondrina. It was a very scenic motor over sometimes very shallow water. Lots of Kunas in their dugout canoes were out fishing or paddling their loads of coconuts and bananas. One island had an interesting "resort" -a row of turquoise colored huts on the water, each with a solar panel on the thatched roofs. It was a very pretty day on the water with the majestic Panama mainland on one side and islands and reefs along the other.

We got to Golondrina and after anchoring, Tumshi and Ti Soaz (the French Boat) thought it might be too enclosed and too buggy in the evening. So after a brief stop there, we moved on towards Mono Island. "Mono" in Spanish means monkey - so perhaps this was an island with monkeys. We got there and anchored in this lovely bay - a bit more open than Golondrina, but still with lots of mangroves. Tumshi and Ti Soaz each caught a mackerel (Astarte is only catching very tiny Tunny). Ti Soaz invited everyone over for a mackerel dinner (with Tumshi contributing part of their large one).

Of course, within an hour of being anchored in this bay (no town on shore) - an ulu with a Kuna man and three Kuna women comes up to the boats to collect the anchoring fee. It's amazing how they do this. So another $8 to Kuna Yala. The women were selling handmade baskets as well - and we got one perfect for holding garlic for $2.

After a night in Mono Island - no monkeys - we moved on again to an offshore island. The destination was Aridup - a tiny island surrounded by reefs. It is a pretty little island (actually a few small islands) covered with coconut palms and little beaches. It took a few tries to find a good sand patch to drop the anchor and get it to hold. Several Kuna fishermen came by selling lobsters or crabs. Another boat came by to; you guessed it, collect the $8 anchoring fee. We bought two lobsters for $7 and enjoyed them for dinner. No luck fishing today (other than another few hook ups with the little Tunny).

We had a great swim to a reef and will explore more tomorrow. One Kuna "salesman" will be back tomorrow with Kuna bread and some eggs. We'll probably spend a few days here if tonight is pleasant.

Happy Halloween to all - we probably won't have any trick or treaters - but you never know!

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