At Coco Banderos

3rd March, 2013

This afternoon while we read on the internet about the drought at home in NZ, the rain has set in. I wish I could send it home we certainly don’t need it here. We are tucked up at a place called Panamarina, 45 miles closer to Panama than when I last wrote. We are about to leave Tuatara for about 3 weeks of land travel. We have spent the last two days organizing the boat, putting together everything we need to take with us and spending time on the internet.

“remember we are travelling light.”

“ just a little longer on the internet , then I will get some more things done.”

“ its not raining again is it?!!”

Three regular comments on board Tuatara at the moment.

We left the San Blas Islands 3 days ago, under grey skies with once again the prospect of a worsening weather forecast. We are quickly learning to move between blows. The thick haze over the Panama mainland hid the green hills just 5 miles away from us. It was time to leave the islands, no more lobsters and no more Molas. The ladies sell beautiful appliqué needle work called mola, each piece is unique. The Kuna women use the mola as part of their traditional blouses which they wear every day. The mola seem to be used for the mid section, front and back, of the blouses then the sleeves are made from bright material. The ladies sell the mainly square pieces of art without the sleeves. Needless to say it was hard to resist buying a few. On the last day I said, “no gracias, I have ocho (8) already.”

“ well you could have nueve (9) “ or something similar in Spanish, I got the gist and understood nueve!!

I did resist and have put them in a pile on the couch to look at an admire one at a time, I did have them spread out but that only reminded Alan how much money I had spent!

Tonight the high winds and rain has arrived, a small swell is easing its way over the reef and we are pleased to be safely moored.

My head is full of flight plans, hotel bookings, will the washing get dry, will we be organized to get the bus on Tuesday morning, how many guide books and Spanish dictionaries can I sneak into my bag without Alan seeing, will I have time to get my hair cut in Panama City?….I feel another list is about to be written.
Adios for now. First stop Cuba then onto Mexico.