Thursday, July 30, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Puerto Lindo, Panama.
We drop of the lads and go and have a beer in the local restaurant, which is so cheap. 75 cents for a bottle of beer, how good is that. Even better the owner Hans and his wife have a Toucan called ‘Toucey’. It is amazing and so tame it’s unbelievable. It basically is free to fly off in the rainforest whenever it likes as the cage is open, but it chooses to stay in the restaurant most of the time, where he is feed fruit and rice. He is wicked!! But a bit of a piece of work and like to peck on your hand, twisting his mouth with all his strength – but it does not hurt whatsoever.
We chilled out for a few days there and went to go and register with Hostel Wunderbar. Within a couple of days Silvia had found us some backpackers to come back to Columbia with. We had 5 in all, one couple called Bart and Mary Ann from Holland and a Canadian women called Steph and her to children called Ariel and Jordon.
We had a couple of days to chill out and get the boat ready before our departure date so mistakably we went to go and visit the uninhabited island of Monkey Island
Attack of the monkeys…
I don’t know what it is with animals lately but they seem not to like us very much. Anyway Sym persuaded me to come to visit this island of Monkeys, so we took a bag of cornflakes with us so we could feed them. Sym filled my mind with false images of little monkeys sitting on my shoulder (like baboo off Aladdin) was how he described them ...............................
Well we tie the dingy up to the dock and go onto the island, within two minutes we had three monkeys swing down from the tree( full teeth / LARGE teeth showing) hissing at us. One monkey comes up from behind me and he comes to my shoulders in height!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I crapped myself to say the least, they looked so bloody aggressive… baboo my ass!!
I backed off slowly edging myself back towards the safety of my dingy. Sym on the other hand thought he was well hard and at one with nature and told me to chick over the food, he then kneels down and starts to feed them (I actually just got goose bumps when writing this remembering how frightened I was). Then the monkeys gather round closely and trying to grab the bag of him, showing them their teeth and waving their arms at him. Sym chucks the bag and within a couple of seconds he has two monkeys dangling off his arms biting into him. JESUS CHRIST… all I heard was Sym screaming and then he starting to make monkey noises back at them! He shouted to me to run, but I don’t think he needed to…I was already legging it as fast as I could…I jumped a mage distance. Something I did not think I was capable of (way over 15 ft) and landed into the dingy with such sheer force I had friction burns up all my arms and legs! Sym makes it in just after me and the bloody vicious monkeys had bitten his thumb down to the bone.
Picture of them starting to get a bit heavy!!!
Biten to the bone!!
We were quite worried, of course not knowing what diseases there were carrying and so we went to find a doctor. Bearing in mind we were in the middle of no where. Hans told us there a type – of nurse (not sure what qualifications that would entail) in the local village. He was drunk as it was Sunday and apparently everyone gets drunk of a Sunday! Anyway we were very grateful to here that the monkeys did not have any infectious diseases like Rabies and he gave Sym a jab – free of charge, can you believe that!
Anyway, I would highly recommend no one visits that island ever again
We chilled out for a few days there and went to go and register with Hostel Wunderbar. Within a couple of days Silvia had found us some backpackers to come back to Columbia with. We had 5 in all, one couple called Bart and Mary Ann from Holland and a Canadian women called Steph and her to children called Ariel and Jordon.
We had a couple of days to chill out and get the boat ready before our departure date so mistakably we went to go and visit the uninhabited island of Monkey Island
Attack of the monkeys…
I don’t know what it is with animals lately but they seem not to like us very much. Anyway Sym persuaded me to come to visit this island of Monkeys, so we took a bag of cornflakes with us so we could feed them. Sym filled my mind with false images of little monkeys sitting on my shoulder (like baboo off Aladdin) was how he described them ...............................
Well we tie the dingy up to the dock and go onto the island, within two minutes we had three monkeys swing down from the tree( full teeth / LARGE teeth showing) hissing at us. One monkey comes up from behind me and he comes to my shoulders in height!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I crapped myself to say the least, they looked so bloody aggressive… baboo my ass!!
I backed off slowly edging myself back towards the safety of my dingy. Sym on the other hand thought he was well hard and at one with nature and told me to chick over the food, he then kneels down and starts to feed them (I actually just got goose bumps when writing this remembering how frightened I was). Then the monkeys gather round closely and trying to grab the bag of him, showing them their teeth and waving their arms at him. Sym chucks the bag and within a couple of seconds he has two monkeys dangling off his arms biting into him. JESUS CHRIST… all I heard was Sym screaming and then he starting to make monkey noises back at them! He shouted to me to run, but I don’t think he needed to…I was already legging it as fast as I could…I jumped a mage distance. Something I did not think I was capable of (way over 15 ft) and landed into the dingy with such sheer force I had friction burns up all my arms and legs! Sym makes it in just after me and the bloody vicious monkeys had bitten his thumb down to the bone.
Picture of them starting to get a bit heavy!!!
Biten to the bone!!
We were quite worried, of course not knowing what diseases there were carrying and so we went to find a doctor. Bearing in mind we were in the middle of no where. Hans told us there a type – of nurse (not sure what qualifications that would entail) in the local village. He was drunk as it was Sunday and apparently everyone gets drunk of a Sunday! Anyway we were very grateful to here that the monkeys did not have any infectious diseases like Rabies and he gave Sym a jab – free of charge, can you believe that!
Anyway, I would highly recommend no one visits that island ever again
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Trip to San Blas
When the weather passed we left the anchorage in Cartagena and motored out to sea. The guys we all pretty excited and no of them had done much sailing before. The sea state for the two days was as flat as a pancake with no wind so we have to motor the whole way to the San Blas. To top it off we were going into about 1.5 knots of current the whole way ( hence it taking two days to get there) as we were only averaging about 4 knots, which is mega slow for us. Anyhow it was so nice and we had plenty of time to cook good food and relax. The guys one by one were a bit sea sick for the first part( apart from one of them ) – but by day two they were all fine!!
We saw some dolphins on the trip and managed to catch a fish. When we finally reeled it in, it was a bloody shark, only a baby one about 2 ft, but Sym said it was so strong and holding him down was really difficult. We or should I say Sym (I was standing well back on deck - you should of seen the size of his teeth – they were like a great white) managed to get the hook out of his mouth, chuck him back in the sea - Unharmed!! We also stopped the boat in the middle of the sea (2000 metres) while everyone dived off and went for a swim. I stayed aboard gladly!! There is something about swimming in such mega deep water that makes me feel a tadge uneasy…I was on shark patrol!
We also saw what we think were a pod of fin whales. Sym decided to follow but when they turned around and came towards us...sym legged it!!!
We finally arrived in the San Blas and went into our first anchorage called Swimming pool bay and BBQ Island. Wow, it was amazing. The islands are by far the best we have ever been to, and what was so great and unique about them was there were only a few boats there.
We spent the last few days hopping around different islands, swimming and snorkelling. We found this amazing wreck on Dog island which was the best ever. The ship sank in the fifties and the Captain tried to beach the boat in order to save the cargo, but hit a reef near shore and sank. The wreck is so shallow you can stand up at the bow of the ship. It’s fantastic.
We bought some Molars (traditional hand stitched overlaid pieces of material to create intricate patterns and pictures) off some of the Kuna Indians who paddled out to our boat in their traditional dug out canoes made form one tree. They also sold us some fresh fish and lobsters for very cheap prices!
The Kuna Indians are an ancient tribe of people who have managed to live on these Islands throughout the years without having to change too much. They have no main water or electricity supply. Or that is what we are led to believe!!The amusing thing was they came over and asked if we could re charge their mobile phone in exchange for a coconut!!! CAN YOU BEILEVE THIS!! I was gutted, they live in huts and live off rice and fish and yet they have a bloody mobile phone!! Jesus! LOL
We went to check into customs and spent an afternoon on inhabited islands of porveiner where the Kuna Indians live. What an amazing place. It’s not beautiful to say the least, lots of rubbish and sticks a bit etc but definitely a good cultural experience.
Some of the huts they live in
A pic of the school
We sailed up the Panamanian coast to Linton the last day where we hit a 50 knot squall with thunder and lightening.
I used to be so scared of sailing when I saw lightening in the distance, but now I am so desensitized to it. Its so common in this area…so many nights we have woke up to a crackling of lightening, looked out the hatch and we can see the bolt of lighting a couple of hundred metres from the boat! Quite frightening to say the least. We have even put all the electronics in the microwave it was so close one evening. So I have learnt not to worry about it now cos there is no point!!
We stopped for an evening in Isla Grande and then moved a mile to Linton the following morning when we dropped the guys off. What a wicked bunch of lads, they were really cool guys and it was a pleasure to have them on the boat!! Good luck with the rest of your travels and hope you find some good waves soon.
We saw some dolphins on the trip and managed to catch a fish. When we finally reeled it in, it was a bloody shark, only a baby one about 2 ft, but Sym said it was so strong and holding him down was really difficult. We or should I say Sym (I was standing well back on deck - you should of seen the size of his teeth – they were like a great white) managed to get the hook out of his mouth, chuck him back in the sea - Unharmed!! We also stopped the boat in the middle of the sea (2000 metres) while everyone dived off and went for a swim. I stayed aboard gladly!! There is something about swimming in such mega deep water that makes me feel a tadge uneasy…I was on shark patrol!
We also saw what we think were a pod of fin whales. Sym decided to follow but when they turned around and came towards us...sym legged it!!!
We finally arrived in the San Blas and went into our first anchorage called Swimming pool bay and BBQ Island. Wow, it was amazing. The islands are by far the best we have ever been to, and what was so great and unique about them was there were only a few boats there.
We spent the last few days hopping around different islands, swimming and snorkelling. We found this amazing wreck on Dog island which was the best ever. The ship sank in the fifties and the Captain tried to beach the boat in order to save the cargo, but hit a reef near shore and sank. The wreck is so shallow you can stand up at the bow of the ship. It’s fantastic.
We bought some Molars (traditional hand stitched overlaid pieces of material to create intricate patterns and pictures) off some of the Kuna Indians who paddled out to our boat in their traditional dug out canoes made form one tree. They also sold us some fresh fish and lobsters for very cheap prices!
The Kuna Indians are an ancient tribe of people who have managed to live on these Islands throughout the years without having to change too much. They have no main water or electricity supply. Or that is what we are led to believe!!The amusing thing was they came over and asked if we could re charge their mobile phone in exchange for a coconut!!! CAN YOU BEILEVE THIS!! I was gutted, they live in huts and live off rice and fish and yet they have a bloody mobile phone!! Jesus! LOL
We went to check into customs and spent an afternoon on inhabited islands of porveiner where the Kuna Indians live. What an amazing place. It’s not beautiful to say the least, lots of rubbish and sticks a bit etc but definitely a good cultural experience.
Some of the huts they live in
A pic of the school
We sailed up the Panamanian coast to Linton the last day where we hit a 50 knot squall with thunder and lightening.
I used to be so scared of sailing when I saw lightening in the distance, but now I am so desensitized to it. Its so common in this area…so many nights we have woke up to a crackling of lightening, looked out the hatch and we can see the bolt of lighting a couple of hundred metres from the boat! Quite frightening to say the least. We have even put all the electronics in the microwave it was so close one evening. So I have learnt not to worry about it now cos there is no point!!
We stopped for an evening in Isla Grande and then moved a mile to Linton the following morning when we dropped the guys off. What a wicked bunch of lads, they were really cool guys and it was a pleasure to have them on the boat!! Good luck with the rest of your travels and hope you find some good waves soon.
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