A Very Good Day.
18 June 2015 | Ogopsibudup
Mark
What a day! It started before breakfast when a cuyuca approached selling fresh bread! He had come from Tigre and had a cooler full of fresh bread at twenty-five cents a loaf (about the size of a hamburger bun). Now we bought them at the pandaria for ten cents, but he has to cover his fuel costs of bringing them all the way out here for 15 cents a loaf? Wow. We bought 8. Next came Serapio. I remembered him from before as he is one of the very few locals who has a fiberglass boat instead of a dug-out. He is also known for taking money for orders he never delivers. I got burned on that last trip here. Well, maybe things have improved. He took our list of desires (mostly veggies) and promised to deliver them this afternoon or tomorrow morning. Never once did he ask for money up front. (I would not have given it.) We'll see if he delivers. (Note: nothing yet as of this post.) Finally, there were a pair of fishermen selling crabs. Jana was all over that, but let Bryan negotiate. "How much for one?" "$6.00" "How much for all 8?" "$50.00" "No, that doesn't work, I need a discount if I buy all 8." "I also have lobster." "How many?" "8" How much for everything?" The lobsters were small, but he assured us they were a different variety that never got very big and "taste better." I wasn't sure I believed him, but later looked it up and indeed, the Caribbean spotted lobster is much smaller than the Caribbean spiny lobster. We got everything for $50 - plus a 7-Up and a $3.00 tip as Bryan felt guilty getting the lobster essentially for nothing. All this before breakfast! Breakfast was bacon and tomato sandwiches on fresh Guna bread - yum! First we took pics and then "disassembled" our 'catch' - keeping the lobster tails and crab legs, but discarding the bodies. Much more compact. I will use the lobster instead of shrimp to make cajun ettufee tonight and the crab will go in the freezer - at least two dinners worth. And then we went diving. We did the same ridge as before, but this time we were looking, not hunting. It was great. The variety of coral - both soft and hard - is just outstanding. The usual fish - a couple nice angels, but the coral and sponges were the stars. We were @ 50' for quite a while so Bryan's dive computer watch said we needed at least 1 1/2 hr surface time before going back. No problem. A couple beers, a good book, some snacks. Ready to go again. We had checked out the area behind the boat and it was more of the same, but diving in that direction meant riding the current in the beginning and fighting it back - not the best plan. So we swam a bit behind the boat and then circled the ridge again, this time swimming about half way between the floor and the top of the ridge. It was a totally different dive. Different coral formations, different fish. Great. We did see one lion fish (which we had seen before). This time Bryan had his spear and got it. (of course, then he couldn't get it OFF his spear so swam around with it until it died and then knocked it off on a piece of coral.) No sign of Serapio. Drinks in the cockpit. The ettufee was a hit. All in all a very good day.