Late Friday night the technician from Halls arrived to do the carbon fibre repair on the boom. Poor Bill endured a bit of an ordeal in customs and immigration and we finally had to get our Canal agent, the very helpful and resourceful Eric, to make a phone call and get him released! With perfect timing for the job, the weather has changed bringing violent thunder and lightning storms and torrential rain so we have had to put a tarpaulin over the boom to facilitate the work. We’re still awaiting winches that are doing a very roundabout journey from Spain to France (everyone wants to get involved) and don’t expect to see anything here for another week.
We had a short interlude at Isla Taboga, a small atoll about south of Panama City and a popular weekend haunt for Panamanians. The island has quite a history...ransacked by both Henry Morgan and Sir Francis Drake, it is steeped with tales of buried treasure. Later it became a base for the Pacific Steamship Company, a refuge for canal workers, a temporary home to Paul Gauguin and even an internment site for German POWs. The seaside town is very pretty; its hills are lined with colourfully painted houses brimming with flowers. There is a very strong Roman Catholic element because there seems to be a little shrine in every corner. Spanish ships setting off to plunder the Incas gold were blessed from the church, reputedly one of the area's oldest.
Back at our anchorage at Las Brisas we have been exploring the shopping opportunities in Panama City. We visited the Artisans Market and were tempted by the exquisite baskets on sale. They are very tightly woven, enough to hold water, and beautifully decorated but the prices were very high; $90 for a small one. Miranda bought some the molas, panels of material, finely appliquéd and originally sewn for the Kuna Indians costumes. Perfect for cushions they come in an array of colours with traditional designs, each one unique.
At the other end of the scale we hit the huge shopping malls here – acres of shops filled clothes at bargain basement prices. Miranda and I have renewed our bikini wardrobe at $5-10 each and bought some lovely tops and dresses.
The highlight today was a trip to the fruit and vegetable market. It stretches across a huge area and is housed in warehouses and outside stalls. There are enormous mounds of pineapples, papayas, mangos and melons, crates of giant avocados, peppers and root vegetables and sweetly smelling herbs in massive bunches. We struggled to carry our bags and a whole bunch of bananas out to the taxi!
