I’m stuck on a bus in Columbia for 20 hour and am very
behind in my blogs; time for some catch-up. Due to our spontaneous 2 week stay
in Puerto Viejo we were way behind schedule. In Panama we’d had plans to
explore the mountainous coffee plantations and island hop through Bocas.
Instead we took an epic night bus down the country and arrived in Panama City.
This is a beautiful, rich and cosmopolitan city unlike any other in Central with
a great night life, shopping and a picturesque old town.
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| Cosmopolitan life |
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| The big city |
We had friends here so
spent our time shopping in the malls(new cameras bought) and going to students
apartments for rooftop parties and crazy techno concerts in warehouses. Lucky I
hate techno and was completely sober when a woman tried to stick her hand in my
bag and grab my wallet. I was glad for the distraction, stopped her and then
stopped her a second time with another drunk girl. A close one.
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| Basil and ginger flavoured icecream |
We were ready to leave and travelled out to our yacht the
next day. Our original boat had engine troubles so eight of us crammed
ourselves into a dinghy to be taken to a small 7 person yacht, the Corto, owned
by the 26-year-old Argentinean, Sebastian, and his cockerspaniel Sheida. It was
a beautiful boat with 3 bedrooms and a couch Jade and I shared. The next 5 days
was a blur of Island hopping, sun and amazing food.
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| Sheida |
The San Blas Islands are a collection of small islands owned
by the Kunas people. They are usually deserted or with one family inhabiting
them. The water is crystal clear, the palm trees plentiful and the sand pure
white. This place is idyllic with a balmy Carribean breeze softly blowing and
the sun warming our souls. It was straight out of Pirates of the Caribbean!
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| San Blas sunsets |
My crew mates were an
English couple, Becky and Johno, an American Bliss, two German girls we’d been
travelling on and off with since Flores in Guatemala(Irena and Julaa), an
Australian Connie and the Captain and his dog. We were lucky with these guys as
they were young, fun and interesting and provided hours of entertainment in the
long nights.
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| Land Ahoy |
A typical day was this:
Wake up around 7 and don bathers. Jump into Caribbean blue
water and swim to nearest island with sheida in close pursuit. Do a lap of said
island saying hello to the family living there then lie on the beach for a
further 20 minutes having deep life discussions with Jade before swimming back
for breakfast.
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| Morning swim |
Breakfast: homemade muesli, fruit, eggs, toast, dulce de
leche, Columbian or Panmanian coffee.
Morning: Set sail to the next island then jump into water
for a day of snorkelling, sun baking, reading or lying on the giant floating
crocodile. Included in this is some sort of delicious lunch and
nibblies(olives, cheese, crackers, dip-the kind of stuff Jade and I can’t
afford to buy!). Finally finish the day with sunset drinks.
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| Sailing |
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| Sneaky afternoon rum |
Night: dinner ranges from freshly caught lobster to fish
amazingly done by the ex-chef turned sailor Seb.
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| Lobster |
This is followed by music,
watching the full moon rise and chatting or sleeping on the deck.
Everything about this trip was amazing and beautiful and
fun. Five days at sea really is total isolation, no internet, no mobile
nothing.
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| Hammock time |
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| Showering was under a hose on deck with an audience |
A few things I learnt about boats:
1.
All waste goes into the water so don’t go swimming
15-30 minutes after breakfast
2.
Don’t use the auto-pilot controls as something
to hold onto when on deck. If you press standby the boat turns 180 degrees and
is at risk of capsizing(I don’t know how they let me stay on the boat after
that)
3.
I get sea sick...badly. Luckily Phenergan is
amazing and strong enough to keep me asleep for the two day open sea bit to
Columbia.
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| Before I almost capsized the boat |
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| First mate taking a break |
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