Our Adventure Continues

Our plans for Friday fell flat when Lisa our tour guide notified us that her ponga engine was damaged and she would be unable to take us on our planned trip up the Rio Sidra (Sidra River). Lisa did, however, eventually make it to the boat to show us her molas. She is a renowned mola maker and Richard and I bought several. The mola selling process is interesting one. If you don't go into a village to look at molas, sellers come to the boat in an ulu or a ponga (defined previously) and offer to show you their molas and often beaded bracelets both of which they carry in plastic buckets in their boats. Sometimes Barbara and Mike invite the Kunas into the cockpit to show us their wares. We usually look at everything, show them what we want to buy, ask the price of each item, and then try to bargain. Some will bargain, but mostly we have run into fixed prices but they have not been too high. The whole process can last an hour or more. We have walked away from some deals that we did not think were worth the price.

Since we were not going up the Rio Sidra, we moved to the Western Holandes Cays and anchored South of Waisaladup (there are lots of "dups" in this area; do you remember "ooh poo pa dup?"). We had wonderful snorkeling this afternoon seeing lots of colored coral (the pink was especially beautiful) and magnificent fish. After snorkeling the reef on the side of the island where we were anchored, Richard and I walked across the island and then around it. We discovered a small Kuna enclave with about 8 huts on the Eastern end and we noticed a few men, women, and boys who cheerfully greeted us with, "Hola." It is so beautiful here; we could easily be in the South Pacific. We had no idea that Panama was such a beautiful country.

Saturday, we have decided to leave Waisaladup because it's too rolly and the Captain's rule of thumb is "Just one night of rolling and that's it." So we moved to the "Swimming Pool," a large circular area between two islands that is the color of a swimming pool and yes, one of the islands is another "dup," Banedup and the other is Bar-B-Que Island. We snorkeled over some grasses and saw some sea cucumbers called Donkey Dung (Mike claims he has eaten this stuff in Canada) but we passed. We saw lots of star fish that looked gigantic with the magnification effect of the water, sea biscuits, and sand dollars. We had fun swimming along for a while with a large trigger fish. We also found an old fisherman's or navy anchor with a large rode still attached. Many tropical fish had already found a home there. We all like it here.

Sunday morning we snorkeled over a close-by reef that was shallow enough to really look at the fish, coral, and sponges. I also saw two eels which were the first of this trip and a neat scrolled file fish swimming vertically, face down. We played around with some of the feather duster tube worms by touching them so they would retreat into their tubes. A small barracuda passed us by and we went the other way. The fish we have seen are too numerous to list but there are so many beautiful and unusual ones.

We swam so long in the am that we stayed aboard and relaxed that afternoon. Around 4:30 we joined Bob and Sandy from S/V Sapphire (from Tierre Verde) and their daughter Terry and husband Brian and 3 year old son Hudson on BBQ Island for hors d'oerves and drinks and a game of bocce ball. It was fun to meet up with old friends in this remote place. We had a great time on this beautiful little island that is covered with a low-growing grass and shaded with coconut palms; perfect for bocce ball.

Now it's Monday and we put the dink on the front deck for the 20 mile run back to Nonomulu where we will be picked up tomorrow for our trip back to Panama City. We have motored the whole way and made water too. As we were anchoring, some Kunas arrived in their ulu and were selling fish; they had one gorgeous snapper which Mike and Barbara bought for our last dinner on the boat. Richard jumped in for a quick bath while I did some packing. Another boatload of Kunas showed up who are to pick us up in the morning. It seems the plans have changed slightly and they will take us in their ponga (wooden boat with a motor) from Astarte all the way up the river where we will meet our SUV and driver for the trip back to Panama City. This is great news because we will have yet another adventure before going home!

After they leave and just before I am ready to jump in for a bath, Mike yells out that that a crocodile is swimming nearby so we all rush out for a look. Sure enough there is a croc cruising by and my plans for a bath have disappeared. However, there is an alternative since we just had a great downpour and have collected rainwater. I stood on the swim platform, got lathered up and Barbara poured a couple of buckets of pure rainwater over me for rinsing. Doesn't get any better than this.

Then we sit down to our grilled snapper dinner with yellow rice, and slaw, with a lobster appetizer and brownies for dessert. What a feast. And as out trip comes to and end, we thank our host and hostess for providing a fantastic week in the San Blas Islands with first class food and accommodations and consideration for all of our wants and needs. We wish Michael and Barbara Feliz Navidad and Fair Winds. With love from Rene and Richard.

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com