Rio Diablo
03 March 2017 | San Blas Islands
Mark
This morning, just as we were preparing to launch the dinghy to go up Rio Diablo, Frederico shows up in an inflatable dinghy. "You going up Rio?" "Follow me." He went to a nearby trawler who was obviously the owner of the dinghy and picked up a husband and wife couple who had apparently hired him for the day to tour the river. We followed them across the delta and into the river. The delta is very shallow and constantly changing so entry is tricky at best. I had watched large ulus full of empty water tanks going up the far side of the delta, but Frederico took us up the near side. We followed a line of sticks in the mud then turned and ran with the waves, surfing at times, through the mud flats. Our engine bottomed out even though I had tilted it up a notch in preparation for the run. We were nearly caught broadside, but I got it going just in time and surfed into deeper water. Then it was dodging downed trees and limbs until we were into the river proper. We motored slowly up the river enjoying the scenery. We passed several family cemeteries. They bury their dead above ground, like in New Orleans, and often have a table and chair set up for when they come to "visit" their departed. At the upper regions of the river people were gathering fresh water to take back to their homes. Kids were climbing up the muddy bank and diving into the water despite its very shallow depth. We tied up dink and went for a swim in the 'sweet' water, then ate lunch. It was amazing how much the river had changed since our last visit. The beach where we had lunched before was nowhere to be found. It rained briefly and we ducked into the water to get out of the rain! Later we drifted back down the river. Exiting the delta was equally exciting. The tide had come in so we had more water, but the waves were still breaking continuously. We took a couple over the bow, but not enough to swamp us. Once back at the boat, we filled the tank from our jugs of diesel and then went and bought more from Frederico. (We had confirmed first that he indeed had diesel.) To our delight, when we got to his house, he told us that the veggie boat had just arrived with lots of fresh fruit and veggies! We got eggplant, zucchini, radishes, cucumbers, pineapple, papaya, and oranges. We are set again for a while. I was able to call Tito and confirm Eric & Lynda's reservation and arrange for them to be picked up at our boat from a nearby safe anchorage. Life is good.