The San Blas Islands, Panama (March 1st - March 4th, 2007)

I awoke this morning to the early crowing of roosters after awakening late last night to the freezing wind that swept through the thatched roof hut that Scott and I called home and our owner called his kitchen on the island of Chichime.

Yesterday, we finally got in touch with the Colombian, Hernando, who after walking off his dingy with a bad right leg and a left leg circumduction gait, the muscular dystrophy called to me. We got on his dingy and to the boat where a group of Irishmen and Australians dressed up as pirates greeted us:, "Aye Matey, we be pirates, and you gonna have to walk the plank." I immediately felt much better as Scott and I cracked open a beer and got to see the drunk captain at work. With a single sale raised, we cruised out to the outer islands to stay with the "hermano" of Hernando, Umberto. We were greeted along the way by two groups of Dolphins and rolling waves, as the boat pitched pack and forth. We arrived at Chichime several hours later around 2:30pm in the afternoon and all jumped off the boat and into the crystal clear water to explore the island.
We were introduced shortly to Umberto, an older Kuna Male who inhabited/owned the northeastern part of the larger island. He charged us $10.00 for accommodation and food. We watched hungrily as he grilled up a fish, only to discover our dinner would be a bowl of rice, a sausage like thing, and instant coffee.
I then walked to another part of the island to sit on some drift wood in the middle of a Coral atoll and watch the sun set before returning to the Pirates and a game of Maya, Exhausted and drunk, I passed out around 9pm.
Breakfast the next morning, was more sausage, plantains, and coffee. YUCK does not begin to describe the sausage like patties. Now it is important we get back to Porvenir. We are being charged $5.00/person for the boat ride back which is a canoe and an outrigger motor. Going through the sea and three to four foot waves in a canoe is pretty scary. We are arrived safely, and had a fish/plantain dinner and coconut. Scott gave me an airborne which made the drinking water tolerable. In the afternoon, I took a nap, went to hermit crab beach and took more photos.