Bocas del Toro to Providencia, Columbia

Jay, Natasha, Sol and Luna’s boat The Messenger is a pure sailboat and does not have a motor.  We agreed to leave the Red Frog marina with them and sail a short way out into the bay.  They were moving their boat over to an anchorage close to Bocas del Toro town and we were headed off to Isla Providencia.   The wind was light as we tacked out of the harbor trying our best (an really almost succeeding) in keeping up with them.  We had a wonderful sail and realized that, without their challenge to a race, we would have motored quickly out of the bay and missed out on a lovely experience.  A gentle reminder that sailing can sometimes just be for the sake of sailing and not always just a means of getting from A to B.  

Isla Providencia, Colombia is located, oddly enough,  about 250 nautical miles NNE of Panama and 130 nautical miles East of Nicaragua.  We expected this to be a nasty trip headed into the trade winds in the Caribbean Sea and we were, unfortunately, not mistaken.  It took us about 12 hours longer than planned,  involved long tacks into the wind or no wind at all,  and included short uncomfortable choppy seas.  A boring and frustrating trip saved only by the fact that it was relatively short.  We arrived with the big Pjotter in the dark and, judging from the chart and pilot that the entry was straightforward, we  slowly moved into the channel towards the anchorage.  It became very quickly apparent, however, that the GPS was off by approximately 200m.  It was a calm night but rather dark so we chose not to risk the reefs and rocks and anchored a little outside of the town to wait until morning light to attempt the shallower water of the bay closer in to town.  

Landlubbers in Costa Rica

The final bus dropped us off at the Cashew Hill Jungle Cottages.  Our cottage was situated, as the name suggests, on a hill and thus had a wonderful view of the ocean yet was situated in the middle of the jungle.  A tiny swimming pool delighted the monkeys and helped them cool off in the 35 Celsius heat.  And two hammocks (which Seb and I absurdly tried to reserve for ourselves) on our porch provided hours of giggling fun.  At night the jungle around us was positively singing with a variety of insect, amphibian and mammal life.  The insects were rather intimidatingly large and irritatingly abundant at times but all in all it was a charming spot. 

Our two day stay in Puerto Viejo saw us breakfasting twice at a little café call Bread & Chocolate followed by a visit to the Jaguar Animal Rescue Center.  This is a center to rehabilitate mistreated, injured and/or confiscated animals, which are then reintroduced to their natural habitat in protected areas.  Even under these sad circumstances we were thrilled to see the howler monkeys and the tiniest baby 2-toed sloth.  There was also a rather unsettling collection of local snakes and our guide explained in great detail just how venomous (and common) many of them were. 

A 7-hour drive took us the 350kms into the center of the country (just one hour South of San Jose) to San Gerardo del Dota and the Dantica Lodge.  The lodge consisted of a handful of lovely cottages perched on the steep walls of the valley with breathtaking views.  It was chilly at night and we snuggled under big feather comforters for the first time in a long time.  The birdlife was extraordinary.  Even our terribly unschooled eyes were popping out of our heads and our ears enjoyed an incredible variety of songs.  On two occasions we went on walks with Carlos, the local guide.  The first occasion was a quest to see the resplendent quetzal, named for the Aztec word quetzalli that means "precious,' or "beautiful.' Carlos lead us on a chase to rival the most exciting treasure hunt.  With him calling the quetzal call and we running fast and low from one side of the wood to the other until finally we saw a lovely pair (looking most resplendent).  They kindly posed for several pictures and we left them feeling rather thrilled.    

On the following day Carlos took us on an 18 kilometer hike from the top of the valley, through three very different ecosystems, to the bottom.  I am extremely proud to say that Emma walked the entire way and while Macsen was carried in his backpack much of the way, he also walked about three kilometers.  Seb and I collapsed in the grass with a beer after this intensive hike but Emma and Macsen still had enough energy to bounce about most energetically on the trampoline for at least half an hour.  Whew, kids!

Costa Rica is a wonderful country with so much incredible variety and loveliness to offer that we hope to visit again.  Our visit was much too short and all too soon we were back at Cashew Hill waiting for our bus, bridge, bus, boat, boat combo to take us back to Bastimentos and our Pjotter.    

There was another party in full swing at the Red Frog Marina when we arrived.  A large motor yacht in the marina was bidding goodbye to their captain, and their (Icelandic) chef had cooked an incredible meal to share with all of the guests of the marina.  Woohooo.  Once again, Emma bonded solidly with Sol and Luna.    

On our final day in Bastimentos we took a long walk along the beach and through the woods.  Fortunately, it was a little rainy and we managed to see two tiny spotted red frogs.  These are red poison dart frogs and can only be found on the Isla Bastimentos.   We also practiced the bird calls that Carlos tried to teach us and we imagined at least that there was a positive response.  

Bastimentos, Panama

The Red Frog Marina in Bastimentos (close to Bocas del Toro), Panama welcomed us in a special way.  As soon as we tied up at the dock we were invited to a birthday party.  Sol, the daughter of Jay and Natasha from S/Y Messenger was turning six years old.  We were feeling rather exhausted from our  journey but fortunately we decided to attend.  The party was complete with birthday games (Emma and I both won our round of musical chairs), birthday cake, party favours and a piñata.  Wow! Over the course of the next few days Emma became fast friends with Sol and her four year old sister Luna and the three of them were quite inseparable.  Jay is a professional chef and we were lucky enough to be invited to lunch on their boat and treated to the most amazing coconut rice, tostones (deep fried plantains), and wonderfully tender lamb. Mmmmmm, yummy.    

Kees and Marta babysat for us one evening and while they were entertaining the kids Seb and I walked up to the youth hostel for a night out.  Even though we spend 24 hours a day together it was still a special treat to get to spend an evening out together and we enjoyed ourselves fully.  Fortunately, so did the big Pjotters and the monkeys.  

After enjoying the marina for three days (including several visits per day to the resident sloth in the tree next to the marina) and some unsuccessful searches for red frogs, we headed off for a short inland trip to Costa Rica.  A very fast boat took us to Bocas del Toro and from there we took another very fast boat  boat, a bus to the Costa Rican border, walked over a very rickety train bridge and boarded another bus to finally land safely in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica.  

Emma’s New Idol, Discovering the Underwater World and a Sad Farewell

There is cruisers net in the Kuna Yala islands and one morning we heard that there was a party being organized for Laura Dekker, the Dutch single-handed sailor who is attempting to become the youngest solo circumnavigator.  She had just turned 15!  The party was to be held, appropriately, in the Holandse Cays so along with the R Sea Kat and the big Pjotter we hauled up our anchors and sailed to this blissful little group of islands with white sand beaches, turquoise water and palm trees.  

There was quite a media circus around Laura just prior to her departure from the Netherlands with one camp claiming it was irresponsible to allow her to go, one camp claiming that she couldn’t stay out of school and another supporting her endeavors.   We had remained relatively neutral on the subject until we spent time with her.  This girl really knows her stuff.  She is very self confident (in a pleasant understated way) , she knows her boat and she has equipped it extremely well.  Emma was rather in awe of her and relished any attention from Laura.  The only difficulty was that she couldn’t understand why she needed to sail alone.  “Isn’t she lonely? Wouldn’t she have more fun if she had her family or friends with her?”  

The next few days were spent enjoying meals together with Laura, Mike, Deana, Kees and Marta (we even introduced Mike and Deana to pannenkoeken), walking on the beach, dinghy explorations and snorkeling and diving under the expert tutelage of Mike.  Seb and I discovered a new world in these days and learned to really delight in all things underwater.   Mike had us drift diving in the currents between the islands and free diving through some amazing reefs.  I even swam with a rather large group of 1 meter long barracudas and came quite close to a pair of sand sharks.  Emma would usually bob along with us wearing her fins, thoroughly enjoying her new mermaid status but not yet comfortable with her snorkel and mask.   Macsen watched from the dinghy and ‘fished’ or sent his boats out over the side.  

On March 23^rd we hauled up our anchors and headed back to check out in El Porvenir.  Two Pjotters and the R Sea Kat enjoyed a lovely spinnaker sail for the 18 nautical mile journey.  It was a lovely sight, quite a competitive race and a fitting end to our time together.  

After check out in El Porvenir, Deana and Mike, with characteristic kindness, invited us to their boat for a last meal together to fill our bellies before our 2,5 day sail to Bocas del Toro on the mainland of Panama.  Deana had cheffed up a delicious corn chowder and the most scrumptious conch fritters that I have ever eaten (and I have sampled several of these tasty treats in the last few months).   After dinner and a tearful farewell, we hoisted anchor with the big Pjotters and headed off into the night.  Mike and Deana will head on through the Panama canal.  They have become special friends and we will miss them.  

Molas and Vanuncio

The Kuna Indians are famous for their bright molas, a colourful textile art form made with the techniques of appliqué and reverse appliqué.  Mola panels are used to make the blouses of the Kuna women's national dress.  The quality of the molas vary greatly based upon number of layers, size of stitches and design.  Every day that we anchored at least one mola seller (mostly women) would come alongside in their canoe hoping to sell their work.  

There are also famous mola makers who dedicate their lives to making molas and are well known within the community.  Vanuncio was one of those artists and he came alongside one sunny afternoon (let’s face it,  it was always sunny there) to show us his life’s work.  I’d purchased a couple of ‘unsigned’  molas but had heard about Vanuncio from another cruiser and was anxious to see his work.  Deana, Marta and Mike came over and we spent the better part of two hours first admiring and then negotiating with him.  He drove a hard bargain and we departed ways feeling a little frustrated with the process but as the happy owners of a couple of absolutely beautiful signed Vanuncio molas.   

On the Hip

Our propeller was sill vibrating in a most unsettling manner when we moved the boat to Nalunega so we decided to move the boat under sail to shallower waters of the Lemmon Cays rather than risking motoring until we could diagnose the issue.  The trip to Lemmon Cays was a short 10 nautical mile hop and relatively uneventful until we started to enter the narrow reef-lined channel into the bay.  Kees and Mart had kindly agreed to tow us ‘on the hip’ (alongside) through the channel until we could drop anchor.  

The winds were relatively high and our maneuverability was limited by our lack of motor and our proximity to a rather daunting reef.  Under these circumstances,  Kees brought the big Pjotter alongside  with great skill as though it were a calm day on the IJsselmeer.  Unfortunately, as we tied up one of the fenders was too high and as the boats met there was an awful scraping sound. Ugh! Once we were safely anchored we investigated the damage and discovered a large and deep scrape in the immaculate hull of the big Pjotter.  Seb and I felt absolutely terrible to have been the cause of such a rent and Kees and Mart were incredibly kind in downplaying the damage.  Thank you! 

Once again Kees, Mike and Seb set about analyzing the propeller, took it off again (underwater of course), realigned it slightly and since then it has worked like a charm.   Difficult to express the relief and gratitude that we felt once again.   

Nalunega, Kuna Yala

Customs and Immigration procedures in El Porvenir were uneventful and informal but relatively expensive and once again we were a little unsure of how much of the fees were actually official.   Following this we wandered around the small island and played airplane on the landing strip (there weren’t any flights coming in).  Apart from the run down landing strip and a very basic group of huts calling itself a hotel, there was little to see on El Porvenir.    

Shortly after we returned to the Pjotter an ulu (dugout canoe) came along side and the man inside introduced himself as  Nestor and explained that he lived one island over on Nalunega.  He offered us a tour of his village and invited us to the birthday party of his daughter Carolina who was turning four.  

Our tour started at 0930 and Nestor met us on the small beach and instructed us to leave our dinghies next to the ulus lined up there.  He led us through the village of palm huts explaining that up to 14 people lived in each of the houses, men moving in with the families of their wives and taking their names when they married.   Narrow paths curved between the houses tightly packed upon the small island.  Around several corners we were greeted by groups of people cooking, cleaning or sewing.   The women were almost all dressed in red and gold headscarves, traditional mola shirts, skirts and beaded leg coverings.   Very beautiful.   The school house was full of children dressed in crisp uniforms enthusiastically welcoming us as a break from their studies.  The village has an aura of relative wealth and independence apparently driven in part by the fact that they were close to the ‘touristy’ part of the Kuna Yala islands.  

 

The birthday party started later in the afternoon.  Deana had baked a birthday cake and we and the big Pjotters brought presents, the rest of the guests we from the island.  We were welcomed kindly and then became part of the birthday celebration.  Nestor’s wife Nuedi had cooked up a tasty mixture of yucca, rice and fish and this was served to all of the approximately 40 people present along with a slice of Deana’s birthday cake.   After the party Nestor took each of us out one by one in his ulu for a short sail.  He and his crew sailed this tippy boat with incredible skill and pushed it to great speeds.  Wooohooooo!  Emma went along with Deana and claimed that she wasn’t scared…  I offered to take some of the local kids out in our dinghy and ended up with 11 people (fortunately all small) in the Spikkle.  Quite a crowd. I expect that they may have been a little disappointed that it didn’t go as fast as the ulu but they seemed to enjoy themselves none the less.