DAY TRIP DELIGHTS

With the rigging inspector on board and the insurance assessor coming, Nic and I took the opportunity to visit Panama City yesterday.  It turned into more of a sampling of Panamanian public transport than extensive sightseeing!  We hopped on one of the brightly painted and decorated “diablos rojos” , actually ancient American school buses, from our anchorage to Sabanitas. From there we had air-conditioned luxury to Panama City on the express bus but it was full so we agreed to sit on little stools (sort of pouffes) in the aisle!   Arriving at an enormous bus terminal in Panama City was a challenge to figure out which diablos rojos would get us to the restored old town since every road and place has at least 3 different names.  Trundling along through a confusing road system we saw endless concrete ghettos, laundry strung out in the polluted air and rubbish everywhere.  We have been surprised at the amount of litter along the road side, in towns and outside houses, far more than the eastern Caribbean.

After 3 hours of travelling we finally arrived in Casco Viejo, not of the calibre of San Juan (Puerto Rico) or Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) but in a lovely spot overlooking the sea and across to the glitzy, soaring skyscrapers of modern Panama City.    It has some gorgeous colonial buildings that have been beautifully restored, from elegant palaces to streets of balconied buildings brimming with greenery and flowers on their first floor balconies and roof terraces.  There’s a long way to go with the area and in almost every street there are still many gutted buildings sporting only a crumbling facade and innumerable slum houses with people living in desperate poverty. To see this level of need is quite shocking when it sits amongst such incredible affluence.  Why haven’t some of the millions that must have been earned from the Canal not found their way into housing and education the underprivileged population, there is little sign that it has done much more than line the pockets of a few elite?

We tried to visit the Palacio de Garzas (Palace of Herons) which our guide book suggested was open to view.  We were met with a gated entrance to what appeared to be some sort of high government building.  Strings of Toyota landcruisers were arriving and their passengers greeted with Roman salutes by uniformed guards standing at attention as they walked in.  It was no place for tourists!

Our journey back to the boat was no less eventful.  A $3 taxi ride returned us to the bus terminal and this time we even had seats.  The very violent film showing on the tv screens caused no concern to the passengers with children.  At Sabanitas there were crowds of people waiting and we had to squeeze on to the Portobelo bus.  We were unlucky to find ourselves standing at the back with our ears under speakers blaring tinny accordion music at a deafening level.  The driver set off at breakneck speed and I found myself levitating off the floor more than once! 

Back in Portobelo well after dark, Robin collected us in the dinghy and told us the rigging found a crack in the boom.  It will have to be repaired when we get through the Canal because they have to send the glue needed overland.  

A RELAXING INTERLUDE

Our interlude anchored at Isla Linton was wonderful.   In a short time we began to meet some of the cruisers at anchor and I can imagine we would have known more or less everyone had we stayed a few days longer.  A girl on a neighbouring boat even painted a watercolour of Spiip and brought it around.  The local restaurant serves good inexpensive food and dangerously cheap beers (6 for $4.50).  The crowd is very different to the eastern Caribbean – younger and largely from Spain and France.  Lots of sailors are offering trips from Columbia to Panama to keep themselves afloat.

Sunday we scrubbed the decks, literally!  A six-monthly job, we attacked the teak with scrubbing pads and a layer came off like papier mache.  It felt like we were exfoliating the decks.   

On Monday afternoon we had to move back to Portobelo, a more accessible location for the arriving rigger and insurance assessor.  Happily the water in the anchorage is much clearer now with the lack of rain and we are able to swim here.  We explored up the river and into the mangroves with the dinghy at sunset and saw lots of birds and some capuchin monkeys.  Still no sloths!  On our return to Spiip we found a whole flock of tiny birds had taken up residence and were very reluctant to be shooed away.

SWIMMING LIZARD

My swimming companion this afternoon!
It was a female Basilisk lizard, nicknamed the “Jesus Christ” lizard for its ability to run on water.  They can sprint at about 1.5m or 5 feet per second but this one was swimming steadily from the island to the mainland! She was only a juvenile as they grow up to 2 feet including the long black-striped tail.

THE SKIES CLEAR

We finally woke up to sunshine today after days of dark grey overcast skies and a lot of torrential rain.  We left the marina on Thursday evening and anchored after dark at Portobelo.  This anchorage used to be the hub of the Spanish gold trade but now is a sleepy town boasting one or two colonial buildings.  Apparently Sir Francis Drake was buried at sea in a lead coffin just off the coast.  Portobelo is also home to "Jesus Nazarena", a statue of a black Christ associated with a number of miracles.

Murky water sent us further up the coast to Isla Linton.  Surrounded by jungle, only the sound of howler monkeys and birds interrupt the tranquillity of this pretty spot.  In the evening we visited the monkeys on the uninhabited island, captivated by their antics and human-like expressions.  Today we explored the waterfront of Puerto Lindo and had a much welcome snorkel out on the reefs, not much to see but a refreshing swim and our first in ages.  We are surprised to see a large number of boats anchored here and what appears to be a fairly settled cruising community.  It seems the western Caribbean is becoming more and more popular.