I am sure you have heard the word Mañana which means
Tomorrow in Spanish. Over the years we have learned that Mañana also has
another translation: not necessarily tomorrow either but definitely not today.
Mañana can be tomorrow but most of the time it’s any time thereafter or weeks
or even months. You probably wonder why I bring this up. Well, it seems that
the Mañana thing has gotten the better of the Boatbumms Blog, seems like it
takes months now for updates. We do have a legit excuse though and we are very
sorry about this problem which has been very frustrating on our part. The San
Blas Internet Service provided by Digicel only, can only be describes as “sux”.
Last year’s coverage was not good either but a heck of a lot better than this
year’s. The problem is that Digicel out here does not install Antennas, rather repeaters
that are repeated from antenna to antenna to antenna from Panama City until the
almost none existing signal reaches the San Blas Islands. For almost a year we
have had no Internet service or just limited. There are a few areas in the San
Blas where data service is better so each time we needed Internet we sailed to
those places. Last time in Banadup in the East Lemons where Mas Mobil can be
accessed which definitely is better than Digicel was a disappointment as coverage
was minimal to nonexistent and Digi didn’t work at all, so the following
morning we pulled the anchor and sailed the other direction to the Green Island
Group were Digicel is the strongest, but more disappointment very slow
Internet. From there it’s only a 2 mile sail to Nargana where the Antenna is
located so you would think being under the antenna would be a super duper
strong signal right? No signal at all it goes right over the anchorage but
there is about a one miles stretch from there towards the Green Islands were a
strong signal can be found, unfortunately it’s in the middle of a channel which
can be bumpy when the wind blows. In that one miles we go as slow as we can and
at least download our emails. So you can imagine after one Internet frustration
after another we just gave it up. We are back in the land of civilization and
no more excuses to update the Blog. Well, easier said than done. One thing
after another came up, we ordered boat parts we will need and they all got
stuck in Irma, that takes a while to chase them down, then our cruising permit
was to expire but we needed the renewed boat documentation papers for that
which are also stuck in our mail forwarding service in Key Largo which got hit
pretty hard by Irma. I guess we are pretty lucky that our mail forwarding
office is still intact but will need some time to get power back and getting
all the well wrapped in plastic mail organized again. So here we are taking
each thing at a time.
We spent almost a year in the beautiful San Blas enjoying
it immensely. The San Blas is such a beautiful place we wanted to share it with
all our friends and family, unfortunately a very few took advantage of it but
we sure did have a blast with them and we always try to spoil our guests to the
fullest. Janet was our last victim.
As I needed to provision and didn’t want to take any time
away from Janet’s vacation I headed to Panama City 2 days prior, rented a car
at the airport, did all the shopping and returned the car back at the airport
an hour before Janet arrived. I had organized Lam Tours to pick us up at noon
and drive back to the San Blas. Usually we use Tito which is the most reliable
taxi service to and from Carti but unfortunately he does not have afternoon
rides unless you rent the whole taxi. I was reluctant to use Lam Tour again as
last time he charged extra for my two bags. So this time when I asked for the
quote I told him we had 2 bags each, quote was $25 each. First problem was we
were not picked up until almost 2 pm. He had 2 passengers and lots of stuff in
the trunk so our bags had to be loaded on the roof rack. After arriving in
Carti I handed Alex the $50 and gave him a $10 tip. He did not look happy and
pointed at our 4 bags and said we owed him more money for excessive luggage. 2
bags each excessive?!!! With Tito I sometimes have 3 to 4 bags and he does not
charge extra. I asked him how much, he wanted: $40 more. I didn’t say a word
gave him the money but will never use him again and definitely not recommend
him. So keep that in mind if you think of hiring him.
For Janet it was an exciting ride, guess I am getting used
to the sharp turns the steep up and down roads and the ever changing scenery
from farm land to pine forest, to jungle then just fern and jungle again,
seeing those beautiful blue morpho butterflies fluttering next to the car and
toucans resting on top of barren trees. The drive could not have been any
better as the weather was crystal clear and at the highest point over them
windy mountain roads we were able to see all of the western San Blas islands. No
better introduction to the beautiful San Blas Islands.
We had about a 20 minute wait for Blas’s team to arrive and
drive and 20 minutes later at 18:00 we arrived in the East Lemons were Sid and
Paradise were anxiously waiting for us.
Sid had made arrangements for dinner at the small island
with the restaurant we call “The Red Roof Inn”, the one we celebrated Miguel’s
Birthday. As I brought parts back for Freya, Louis and Jules and two of their
friends John and Frances joined us as well. We had a fantastic lobster dinner,
the lobster was topped with the traditional Panamanian Creollo sauce, served
with coconut rice, tomatoes, and cucumbers. It was amazing.
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| Her first sunset |
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| Red Roof Inn |
The following morning when we enjoyed our morning coffee
and Janet in aaaah and ooooh over the beautiful view of palm covered islands, a
familiar Ulu approached with the smiling face of famous Mola maker Lisa. Janet
had a great time and was happy that she bought most of her presents for her
friends and family already on her first day in the San Blas. Lisa makes by far
the most unique mola things like wine holder, mini purses, place mats, pillow
cases, cozies, tablet covers, eye glass holders etc.
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| My walking island |
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| Island built out of conch, wasn't there 6 years ago |
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| all the trash from provisioning |
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| Anchorage in the background |
Later
we sat on our noodles enjoying at cocktail, well Sid and I did while Janet was
wrestling with the noodle no matter what she did she would tip over. (Thanks to
Janet’s notes my memory of her visit is being refreshed and since she WILL read
this I will not leave out the dinners she wrote down. Tonight’s dinner was
Sid’s delicious BBQ pork ribs and potatoes. I prepped garlic sauteed green
beans, asparagus drizzled with a garlic mayo/cream sauce and Caesar Salad with
Parmesan cups. Janet and I enjoyed watching the stars in the hammock.
After breakfast we took Janet on the island I usually do my
morning walks and also took her to the ankle deep sand spit. We collected lots
of sand dollars and some shells, (unfortunately the in a plastic tub stored
sand dollars survived almost to the end of her vacation when somebody’s foot
stumbled on it and most broke).
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| baby conch |
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| An approaching thunderstorm made us return to Paradise |
For dinner Janet enjoyed Chateau Briand with a
green pepper corn sauce, steamed broccoli, saffron lobster risotto and garden
salad.
We were going to leave early for Green Island the following
day but the wind had picked up to the point we decided to postpone our trip.
Good thing as Lisa showed up with more stuff to buy for Janet plus we both
ordered a few things as she told us she was going to Green Island and also
Cocos and we were headed there ourselves (unfortunately she never made it). Plus she was able to see how we provision out here as the veggie boat showed up
We ended up leaving about 1:30 for Green Island. It was a
bit choppy out there and Janet was happy she had taken some Sturgeron. I wasn’t
feeling to well myself and took a nap. Four hours later we dropped anchor in a
very abandoned Green Island Anchorage where usually at least 50 boats are
anchored, mostly charter boats. Not one boat was in sight.
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| Rare day to see the mountains this clear. You can see the Azucar Village |
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| Waisalidup our Xmas/New Year's/Birthday Celebration Island |
Ever since the
crocodile attack here nobody wants to anchor here anymore, big plus for us. We
enjoyed it until sunset when a Colombian registered back packer catamaran
parked, they didn’t anchor, they literally parked on top of our anchor. I went on
the bow watching. He said just tell me to move and I will, I responded yes
please that would be nice you are a little too close. He moved but was only
about 5 feet further to the right, still over our anchor area. I don’t
understand this, there is lots and lots of room to anchor, about 30 boats could have fit around us, but no they have to anchor
as close as possible.
It was close to 7, the sun was just down and the now anchored boat’s guests started jumping in the water after the darkness
settled in, plashing, screaming and having fun. Which is wonderful for them having fun and enjoying it, but
obviously the captain did not tell them of the crocodile and as we know
crocodiles roam at night. I brought it to their attention so they got out of
the water. Now the captain turned the music on, it was loud, so Sid asked him to either turn it down or to move to which the Captain turned it even more up.
So for dinner we were accompanied by loud rapcrapp and
techno music. Dinner was Penne Putanesca with a spicy sausage and a salad.
Sid asked the guy one more time politely if he could turn
the music down resulting in to turn it up instead, plus the Captain, Mate and
some idiot kids started calling profanities, didn’t go over well with Sid after
his third rum. On top off the unfriendliness the group went ashore built a huge
bonfire and smoked us out. I had revenge in mind and set the alarm for 4 am and
had my air horn, pots and pans and any other noisemaker ready. It would have
been such a pleasure circling their boat, getting their dog all wound up and
blasting our air horn waking them up, but the weather had other plans as it
started raining cats and dogs just as we were going to get into the dinghy.
Guess Karma will have its revenge.
I did go over to the boat later on that
morning before they left to explain to this guy why we did not approve of the
too close anchoring as in this time of the year the boats can face any which
way and if you don’t leave enough room they will hit. The worst of the worry is
of a local wind called chocosana hits with 45 plus knots and blows for hours
and usually hits around 3 am, both boats could have been in trouble. The guys
right away started screaming at me f*ing Americans and that he had been in the
some Blas way before us, 7 years. I couldn’t help saying while laughing that
when we arrived here he was still pooping in his pants. He tried to tune me out
with lalalalalalalala, very childish. So I was just going to leave when one
couple signaled to me and apologized for the captain and crew’s behavior. They
thanked me for warning them about the crocodile, and they understood that he
anchored dangerously close to us and they were pissed at the captain for doing
so and especially for not warning them about the croc. Comes out they are from
Australia and said Crocodiles to them is a serious matter. In Australia when
you go camping and you see the same croc the second day in front of your camp,
it’s time to move camp as you will be its next dinner, yikes.
It was actually
funny when they pulled anchor and left the captain’s obnoxious mate kept
flashing her boobs, Sid just laughed and said “You have enough to pay
the rent" and I don’t think she liked that a bit. I did wish the backpackers a
safe trip and with the incompetent captain to better check if they had enough
life jackets on-board, there was some worried looks between them LOL. Janet was
just in disbelief how rude these people were. The charter boats are notorious
of anchoring too close and dragging onto other boats, but this one took the
prize.
After breakfast I took Janet to our Xmas/New Year’s/Birthday
Island called Waisalidup while Sid lost himself in a good book. This once very isolated
island has now a palm thatched roof, table with benches. Two big pangas dropped
about 50/60 people off who spent a few hours swimming plus lunch on the island.
This is a new tour to get to and from Panama to Colombia and vice versa other
than by air or boat. The 4 day trip takes them from Carti to Waisalidup for a
swim and lunch, from here to Isla Tigre, where they spend the night. Then to
Sabzuro and another island and finally from the border of Colombia via bus to
Cartagena. Sounds actually like a trip we would do.
The global warming theory claims that the San Blas islands
are sinking, which is far from the truth. Wave, current and storms erode the
island or move the sand beaches from one side of the island to another like on
Waisalidup. In 2000 this island was double the side and the beach was on the
East side, 4 years ago the beach was on west side and now the beach goes almost
around the island (La Prensa a Panamanian newspaper brought an article out that
the San Blas Islands were sinking and the Kunas have to be evacuated to the
mainland. I was sitting in the Nargana Clinic at the time and showed the
article to the local Kunas, everybody shook their heads and said our islands
are not sinking, we would know of it, we live here. One doctor got mad and said
“that’s a lie”.)
These tourists had watched us coming in by dinghy and of
course had lots of questions including the San Blas sinking question. There
were 4 people talking to us while sitting in the water, but the number grew
until we were about 20 people around us and the questions flowed.
Janet
described in her notes: Manuela was a wealth of information for
them. She told them in Colombia places
to eat, about getting soap repellent for no-see-ums. She asked if they knew about the crocodiles
in the area. They said no one told them
about the crocodiles. She said it was safe here and the crocs were only looking
for the whitest bodies. It was very
funny because a couple of the girls were very fair and looked at her in shock.
That was very funny seeing the especially one very fair
girl’s eyes almost pop out of her head. But they all had a good laugh including
her.
When we returned to Paradise, Sid couldn’t wait to tell us
what had happened while we were gone. I have never seen him this excited and
noticed the hair standing up on his arms. He said he was just reading his book
when he heard from Green Island a noise we know crocodiles make, naaaah can’t
be, but then he heard it again and of course looked into the direction the
noise came from. Didn’t see a croc but at that time a similar croc cry came
this time from the other direction from the little tiny mangrove patch in the
middle of the anchorage. At this point of his story my hair stood up as well,
my gosh there is more than just one croc here.
We lifted anchor and headed to the Coco Island which is said
to be the most beautiful part of the San Blas. We have found nicer places, as
here you get a good current and choppy water when the wind blows. It also has
room for a few boats only and is most of the times packed with charter boats. We
didn’t have much wind but it was choppy. Luckily there were only 5 boats
anchored and left us a free spot. I think the Cocos and the East Lemons
including Chichime are the only Islands left with no crocodile sightings.
We woke up to lots of rain, Sid had to bail out the dinghy
and since the anchorage was rolly (we encountered the same last time) we
decided to head to the calmer Swimming Pool our favorite spot. We waited for
the rain to stop and had a decent sail to the Pool. None of us got sick this
time.
Janet couldn’t believe that where we anchored it really looks like being
in the middle of a swimming pool with water as turquoise and clear as in a real
pool. She finally met Debi and Reg and delivered their repaired Binoculars Deb
was able to send her and some gifts for both of them.
Dinner that night was a
treat: cracked conch with potato pancakes and garlic green beans. After dinner
Sid hung the underwater light out and within no time we were surrounded by
dozens of good size barracudas, she also got to see a beautiful spotted eagle
ray. There was no breeze so a few no-see-ums made it over to Paradise finding
Janet a tasty morsel.
Later on Janet joined us for our daily snorkeling. Janet
was a trouper trying to catch up with Debi, Margo and I, but mainly stayed in
the shallows concentrating on her underwater breathing and enjoying the
colorful fish checking her out.
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| Waiting for Debi to pick us up |
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| J. Cousteau |
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| Debi with Bug Island in background |
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| Cute little baby octopus, look at the incredible blue eye. |
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| and cute little baby queen trigger |
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| Cute little Janet Cousteau |
Dinner was on Runner and as always gourmet. Debi had
prepared a delicious Rigatoni pasta with lobster on a lime flavored sauce. She
also made a dessert that looked like ice cream but was jello with evaporated
milk. It was yummy. We usually lock all our hatches before we leave the boat,
but Sid felt confident we would not have rain, after all there were practically
no clouds in the sky. Well, it never fails, Sid had to rush back in heavy rain
to close our hatches.
Pretty much every night Janet and I would lay in the
hammocks and chat until we fall asleep or until rain drops chased us down
below. This night we talked till late as the rain cleared the air and the stars
were just sparkling.
The following morning Debi delivered some fried Kuna Bread
(Panamanian breakfast special called Hojaldra). We ate that with my banana bread
I had made for breakfast, definitely a treat the Hojaldra.
While Sid and Reg were slaving away on the island Debi
picked Janet and I up and gave Janet a tour of her big boat. Janet was impressed
how roomy her boat is including the big household freezer and space she has
plus laundry machine.
After the boys came back the girls went snorkeling. This
time Janet got to see a lot more fish in all colors and found a big shell. I
took my sling with me and shot my first lion fish that was very exciting, I am
turning into a hunter LOL.
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| Two cuddle fish dancing |
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| Look my first kill |
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| Get that thing away from me |
Just as we got back to Paradise an ulu came by
selling lobster and crab, I took advantage of it for another yummy dinner for
Janet. She was amazed the one big crab, one big and two smaller lobster cost 8
dollars.
In the afternoon I took Janet to Victor’s Island around the corner
from Bug Island. There is about 8 families living on this island. Janet bought
me two wini bracelets plus one for herself. One of the fishermen I bought the
crab and lobster from was on the island and we found out he is a medicine man
and was 87 years old and proud of it and has been married for 65 years to one
of the ladies we bought the winis. He also said this was his last day on the
island as he was going back to Nargana to die. I questioned him on that, that’s
when I found out he was 87. I told him he was too young to dye and that I will
see him next time. I did see him again a couple months later. Death here is not
a big deal, they are just going to another place.
After I told Janet that you can arrange lunch or dinner on
the islands she insisted to invite us for one. I took her to BBQ Island where
we made reservations for the following day. Janet enjoyed another one of what
she calls delicious dinner: BBQ lobster and potatoes, Caesar salad in Parmesan
shell, stuffed zucchinis with mushroom baked over with cheese and dessert and
afterward was lying in hammock looking for shooting stars.
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| Another beautiful sunset |
We did get a lot of rain that night with loud thunder and
lightning which was followed by an overcast day. It was a relaxed day, reading
books then wonderful lunch on beach. We had fried fish, coconut rice and a
delicious lentil and bean dish. Debi brought her homemade hot sauce and we all
enjoyed it.
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| Isla Morrodub which means Turtle Island is our BBQ island |
The girls decided it was time to relax in the water on the noodles
and since Janet was still very unstable on the noodle I tossed her a blow-up
ring, it was too funny, she looked like a little girl wearing a tut-tut.
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| Our Pet. Sid calls him Nipper, I call him Sharky. He get a lot of attention by tourists |
Another dinner treat: Mango/Pineapple chow for appetizer
(marinated in jerk seasoning with rice wine vinegar, garlic and cilantro), crab
cakes and sautéed lion fish. Dessert was my 2 minute chocolate mousse always a
hit. It’s very rich, thick and delicious.
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| Since we had that big lunch it was more an appetizer dinner |
2
Minute Chocolate Mousse:
In a
blender add 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate (or any chocolate your choice, my
favorite is Toblerone if I can find it), bring ¾ cup of milk to boil, pour over
chocolate, add some vanilla, blend until chocolate is melted and add a 8 oz.
block of Cream Cheese and blend until well mixed. Pour into champagne glasses
and chill. Before serving I top it with whipping cream and add a hibiscus
flower (if both available). Get creative and add some mind schnapps, baileys,
Kalua etc. If it is not sweet enough you can add sugar, I never do.
Janet has been very lucky with the weather as it is rainy
season. We woke up to yet another clear and a beautiful day being able to see
mountains of the mainland. Today’s
snorkeling was at Barracuda a small but very pretty reef off Bug Island. Margot found a small conch shell for Janet
and she got to see her first school of Cuddle Fish plus a lot of colored fish
she hadn’t seen yet.
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| Queen Angel |
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| Dinner |
Some of you may not know that Lionfish are not native to the Atlantic therefore have no enemy. They are an eating machine devastating the fish population wherever they are. For me it turned into a sport to shoot everyone I see. Unfortunately we help only a small part of this big problem.
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| Baby Drum, no worries it was let go again, was just to show it to Janet |
Sid was working on Reggie’s boat and had lunch over there
so I prepared some quesadillas for us and since I know Janet likes hot sauce
let her try a wonderful chipotle sauce I buy here in the store. She loved it so much I left a bottle on her
bed to take home. Later in Panama City she bought a few more for presents. Last
night while BBQing the lobster Sid accidentally dropped the plate into the
water so after we washed our hair in the water I dove to retrieve it.
Janet’s notes: Another
fantastic dinner of pork, carrots, chayote and yucca. Yucca was very good like a potato, which I
had never tasted before. Debbie came
over after dinner and gave me a bottle of her secret hot sauce.
Debbie called around 9pm wanting to know what we were up to
and if she could join us. We had a fun several hours sitting on the bow just
chatting away, felt like a sleep over. It was fun. Oh I think we killed a
bottle of bubbly.
7/1/17
Last
day in San Blas Islands. Manuela made a
huge breakfast (eggs, pork chops, and fried potatoes with onions). Today did not go snorkeling, just stayed on
boat and read and packed. Manuela was
busy most of the day prepping for dinner tonight. We went in water later in day. Very strong current so went to bow and hung
on to anchor chain.
Debbie
and Reggie came over for dinner. Manuela
put on a really big spread, glass noodle salad w/veggies and Debbie’s secret
sauce, sushi rolls with tuna/veggie, and just tuna, and conch salad. Debbie brought some white fish for
sashimi. For dessert, we had a
pineapple/chocolate/almond cake. So much
food.
We got up early the following morning as the water taxi
picked us up at 7:30. Instead of heading back to East Lemons we decided to take
the water taxi from here so that Sid could hang out with Debi and Reg instead
of being alone, as I was gone for almost a week. From here the fair is $60
instead of the $20 and it takes 1 ½ hrs. to reach Carti. It was a very calm and
beautiful clear day a real pleasure drive. We shared the taxi from Carti with 3
Italian and 2 Swiss girls, who had a lot of questions where to go. We were
dropped off at Sixt car rental downtown PC and drove from there to the
Miraflores Locks to watch the boats go through the canal. We ran into the 2
Swiss girls sitting in front of the entrance realizing that they did not have
enough money for the entrance fee. We felt sorry for t
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| Long walk to our room at very end |
hem and would have bought
the ticket if it was just one person. Janet watched a sailboat and a big
freighter go through the locks and enjoyed the museum which tells you the whole
history of the Canal.
On our way to the Gamboa Resort I stopped at Pedro Miguel
where in 2000 we spent a month at the then Pedro Miguel Yacht Club in the
Miraflores lake by the 3rd lock that takes you to the Gaillard cut.
Unfortunately it was torn down as a big hotel was going to build there but
nothing has ever been done with the property, a shame.
Janet wanted to experience some local food so I took her to
Melania’s favorite breakfast place in Sabanitas which is on the way to Colon.
We had Caramagnola (fried mashed yucca pockets filled with meat, very flavorful)
and Hojaldras the fried flat bread, also Mondongo (tripe) on a creole sauce as
well as lungs cooked the same way. Everything was delicious except we weren’t
sure of the texture of the lungs. (http://www.vivapanama.org/cuisine-of-panama.html this
website shows some of the Panamanian specialties).
After we dropped the radio off at the mechanic I drove
Janet through fugly Colon. It was a big eye opener for her to see this once
very beautiful, thriving city now run down, dirty and streets crowded with poor
people and traffic. Besides it is very dangerous here. I did drive her to the
Cruise ship terminal at the 2000 Mall for some more souvenir shopping. Janet
loaded up and had a present for everybody at home plus some Christmas Presents.
Just as we were going to leave town the radio man called stating the radio was
not working because a plate was much corroded. So our plan changed we returned
to the shop and he said he could repair it by maybe Thursday, sounded good.
Instead of heading to the north coast I decided to show Janet the Panama Canal
on this side.
We left the canal and drove to the El Ray supermarket to
shop wine for Dinner at Ida’s. Funny as
we were at the register we ran into Ida. We had a wonderful afternoon and
evening at Ida’s and enjoyed a wonderful dinner we prepared together and we
talked into the later hours.
After a wonderful Ida breakfast we left for Portobelo where
I showed Janet the ruins of the old forts, the Black Christ church, the old
slave cemetery and took her to the Embera lady by the old custom house and
Janet found some more souvenirs from her when she realized she is going home
with more stuff then she brought down LOL.
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| All the boat to the right are victims of Hurricane Otto of last year. You can see on in the very back, that's Tomas, his was lucky his boat made it across the sand bar, but he is stuck in the mangrove lake back there. |
Further down the road in Puerto Lindo I showed her were we
used to live and also visited the marina. Time was running out so we drove back
to Panama City with a brief stop and Jim and Melania’s house to say hi and
introduce Janet to them as well. Melania knowing that Janet likes hot sauces
gave her one of her home made killer spicy hot sauce.
Before checking into our hotel in Panama City I took Janet
to Riba Smith which is the high end market like a Gelson’s. She was impressed
how modern it was and how much gourmet stuff they sell, except for the items
she brought from LA.
We stayed at the Eurostar Hotel, former Royal Sonesta and
had a room on the 21st floor with the incredible Panama City Skyline
view. Relaxed for a bit and also enjoyed the cold pool on the 27th
floor. For dinner we went to my favorite restaurant Machu Picchu as the name
suggests a Peruvian Restaurant. We enjoyed the Peruvian national drink Pisco
Sour and the second one was flavored with Passion fruit, yum. We share an
appetizer sampler with various seafood and the entre was black rice with
seafood. I never go wrong with the food here.
July 5th was her last day in Panama City. We had
breakfast at the yummy Swiss bakery across the street and sampled the many
wonderful desserts and a Panamanian ham and cheese roll with a good cup of cappuccino.
Paradise is in dire need of a new dinghy so we went to look
at them at Centro Marino sells and did buy the 10 foot AB ultra-light. I realized
the dinghy was too big to take to the San Blas so instead made a down payment
for when we return in September.
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| It got our name on it |
From here I drove her across the Bridge of the
Americas that crosses the Panama Canal, which once was the only connection
between North and South America. Then to the Causeway at the Amador all the way
to Flamingo Island from where you have an magnificent view over Panama City’s
skyline. I bet it looks amazing at night with all the lights. By accident I
found the long lost artesian market that was years ago at the YMCA and was
moved. Janet was a happy camper buying some more souvenirs. Next stop was the
famous fish market, famous for their ceviche. We must have sampled corvine,
shrimp, Mediterranean mix, combo, and black sea snails ceviche which was our
least favorite, actually we did not eat it, it was horrible.
Next on Janet’s list was Casco Viejo the old town of Panama
City. I could not find parking so told Janet to get out and walk and I followed
her in the car, had to do some circles at time but it worked out great. We did
a few more things like the big Albrook mall, bought my new Samsung Prime 7 phone
and stopped at a few Asian markets before we headed back to the hotel to pack
and rest.
The Hotel’s restaurant on the 26th floor and
nothing but windows for a spectacular view has dinner specials for 10.99 with
choice of appetizer, main course and includes dessert and a glass of wine. That
was just perfect as Janet had to get up at 4 am to leave for the airport at 5
o’clock. Besides we both were tired.
It was so wonderful to have Janet with us. Haven’t seen her
in at least 12 years. We hope she will come visit us again anywhere we are.
I was going to move to the Cocos Inn Hostel where I
previously stayed as there is a freezer and kitchen available. But it was just
so nice in this hotel I decided I deserved to stay here. Which was a good thing
as the same night I woke up at 3 am with the worst what I thought was seafood
poisoning. The following day I did my provisioning but was really not feeling
well and later back at the hotel I had a high fever, could not get warm, not
even after a 20 minute hot shower, then standing in the sun up on the 27th
floor so I went next door ordered a hot soup then went to bed which was at 5pm.
The bed was soaked when the alarm woke me up at 4am. Luckily I felt better and
met the taxi at 5 in the lobby. I was happy when I arrived several hours later
in and on Paradise. It took me a couple of days to recuperate and feeling
better but then it went downhill. So after about 10 days we sailed to Nargana
as I had the same symptoms as Sid had with his amoeba. Test came out negative,
but it showed I had a virus. Researching it I found that I probably had a
stomach virus you can get through a person handling food that was infected with
it (Gamboa came to my mind, buffet). It’s highly contagious and nothing you can
do about, as a virus cannot be treated with antibiotics, ones immune system
fights it off.
We went back to the pool were I slowly recuperated which took
about 3 weeks. The tropics may be nice but it is harsh on health.
We went back to our routine Sid working on the island with
Reg and Debi and I snorkeling, except now I did carry my sling with me and
every other day I came home with either lionfish or lobster or both and conch.
The underwater world is just fascinating and such a relaxing, meditative thing
to do.
hem and would have bought
the ticket if it was just one person. Janet watched a sailboat and a big
freighter go through the locks and enjoyed the museum which tells you the whole
history of the Canal. 
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