It was not until Brian and I woke up from our deep sleep that we realized the beauty of Bahia Honda. Bahia Honda lies in the province of Verguas in western Panama. It is a very calm and sheltered anchorage with only a small water front village on an island called Isla Talon at the northern shores of the bay, which lies within the bay. There were also a couple of bungalows tucked just off the beach on the main land of Bahia Honda. The village is the only population for miles and we have read that there are no roads; travel is by water via canoe or pangas. Surprisingly for us, this is the first Panamanians that we have come across since we have entered the country. Shortly after we arrived and stuck our anchor in the mud, we had one of the locals, Domingo, welcome us and asked us if we wanted to trade diesel for some fruit. At the time we were so tried we told him come back later. Later that day another local, Kennedy, came by and asked us if we wanted some fresh fruit, and he named a few items, papaya, pineapple, bananas, avocado etc. He said that his wife could bring it by in the morning if we are still here. We agreed, not really knowing what to expect but were hoping to get some fresh fruit since it has been a while for fresh items. Sure enough, the next morning, Olivia and her son Kennedy Jr,, paddled over to our boat with various fresh fruits (huge stalk of bananas, and papaya, pineapples and noni) as well as a request for items that they needed; some of the items the asked if we had were women shoes, toothbrushes, scissors, and dive mask. I tried to explain to Olivia in my broken Spanish that I may have some flip-flops but they would be "grande". She did not quite understand until I showed her a pair of shoes that I could spare....I think her response was "Si, pie grande!" We learned from them that Domingo was Kennedy's father and she also has a daughter Melanie. We paid for the fresh fruit as well as gave them some of the requested items. They were very thankful and brought us some fresh coconut (for the coconut milk and more bananas!) early the next morning. Olivia had paddle out with her daughter Melanie and their pet parrots sitting in the dugged out canoe. The papaya and pineapple was the "best"...very fresh! We are still enjoying the bananas, and will have to eat at a faster rate since they all seem to ripen at the same time! Where are those monkeys when you need them?
Since this was a calm anchorage, Brian decided to clean the bottom of the boat. It has only been a couple weeks since he last cleaned it but it is amazing how quickly the marine life grows in this warm water. Luckily it did not get a full beard but there were quite a bit of crabs and barnacles on it! Before cleaning the boat, he dove on the anchor and found the smallest seahorse hanging out on the anchor chain! He brought it to me to show it to me. This is the first real live seahorse that we have ever seen! I took a few pictures of Brian riding it around the boat...I hope they came out! No not really...he held in the palm of his hand then he put it back on the anchor chain. Stay tune for the pictures! Since Internet is still rare in this neck of the woods we hope to post them when we can get it.
Western Panama is very beautiful with many islands that have now been claimed as National Parks or privately owned. It is much more remote along this coast then we expected. Since March is quickly coming to an end and we still have a lot of miles to travel up the Caribbean coast we decided to keep moving so we have to by pass a lot of those islands. The next island we are going to explore is Isla Santa Catalina. There is a south swell due and by the time we reach this island we may be able to ride the waves at Santa Catalina!