We arrived in Mantechen Bay under sail at 11:30 in the morning after leaving Isla Isabella at 3am. We were carefully watching for long lines as the fish boat were around, we manoeuvred the boat around a few of them along the way and at one point a fisher decided to guide us around his line. Most of them are marked with a flag at either end and pop bottles in between which are hard to see, they can be far apart also. When we got to Mantenchen Bay there was a long line across the entrance so we decided to sail across it so it could not catch in our prop. The anchorage was amazing and it reminded Ken and I of Thailand, the anchorage was surrounded by Palapas.
After a short rest we went ashore to explore along with our friends on Buena Vida, we found a place to leave the dinghy while we explored the shoreline and the Palapas. The fellow at the restaurant where we left the dinghy did not speak any English so we were glad that Julie (Buena Vida) was able to interpret for us. Our mission was to find out where we can book a trip on the jungle tour....we had success; our trip is booked for tomorrow morning. Mantachen Bay is known for its Banana Bread and of course we had to buy some, mmmm good! Time to go back to get the dinghy and have some dinner, we ate at the place where we left our dinghy, because of the communication issues we were not really sure what the dinner would be like but are pleased to report it was very good. Now it's off to the boat to get some sleep ready for our tour tomorrow morning.
We arrived at the Jungle tour at 8am where we met our tour guide Miguel, we had been told by many that this is a fantastic tour, it was more than fantastic, it was amazing, a must for anyone else who stops here. We saw Crocodiles, Maccaw's, iguanas, turtles and lots of birds. Other cruisers had advised us to take our swim suits as there is a lagoon where you can swim. We were a little leery of this until we got to the lagoon, the water was clear, it was fenced off so the crocs could not get in there and it was warm. They also had a swing attached to a tree which was great fun. Jeff, Julie and Carole all took a swing into the water. All in all it took the better part of 3 hours. We highly recommend doing this tour. We now had the rest of the day to see San Blas. As luck would have it we walked to the road and there was the bus, perfect timing. Twenty four pesos (2 people) later and we were in San Blas a quaint little rustic town. In the centre of town there is a market and vendors along the street and around the square, needless to say I had to make a couple of purchases, they had great stuff. Back to the boat for happy hour and dinner and then an early night as we set off for La Cruz tomorrow morning at 6am.