Pearl Islands
If there's one thing I like more than showing off this country to friends, it's having somebody else do it for me.
I love having visitors come down to enjoy the natural beauty that Panama has in its own backyard. It gives me a chance to do some new exploring of my own, and since there's so much to do here, I try to tailor it to my friend's preferences. Although my good friend Melinda's first choice of following the dog-fighting circuit didn't materialize (she only likes to watch the Dobermans fight - she's such a breedist), we went for the next best thing - sailing to the Pearl Islands.
Our original trip had us sailing from the canal on the Atlantic side to the San Blas islands, but as fate would have it, the sailboat we had chartered lost its generator the day before Melinda, her boyfriend Chris and friend Karl flew down. I argued that a sailboat doesn't need juice, it only needs wind. Unfortunately, that reasoning just didn't carry any weight.
So through my buddy Stu who owns a hostel in town, I tracked down Juan at the very last minute. Juan rebuilt an abandoned sailboat he bought in the States and brought it to Panama a little while ago. For $50 per person per night, he offered his services and his boat to us for the week. Among captaining the boat, his services also included great company and all meals cooked to Panamanian perfection. He was a real stand-up guy.
We sailed at night under an impressive blanket of heat lightening to Taboga Island, where we stayed until morning. After waking up to the sway of the ocean, we made the long trek out to the idylic Pearl Islands, an archipelago of about 90 islands - one of which is home to a sunken submarine and was also the site of Survivor Panama.
The islands got their name from the abundance of pearls found in its waters. Not surprisingly, the oysters than made the pearls were wiped out by Balboa and the conquistadors for the king of Spain years ago.
Five days sleeping on a cramped boat without a shower could have been pretty uncomfortable if it weren't for our covert nightly missions to the Hotel Punta Galeon's poolside showers - that, and the nightly beer run. My favorite part was snorkeling off the ship at night. When I'd wave my hands around under water, the bio-luminescence made it look as if there were bright constellations exploding in the Pacific.
The week's many highlights included all the snorkeling, sailing, spear-gun fishing, exploring and cussing - well, Karl provided the last one, and that way by way copious amounts of rum Abuelo.
Overall, the trip was incredible, except for getting a sunburn on my bald spot.
I learned how to fish with a spear gun - I didn't actually catch any fish, but I maimed a few of them.
A sea snake I followed as he was on his daily hunt for breakfast.
Juan speared us some fish, filleted it right on the shore, then made us some sushi and amazing baked fish on the boat.
This was the sunset I caught with my disposable underwater camera right after snorkeling.
Our comfy living quarters
Coconut milk straight from the source
This was crazy - after a night that seemed like the sky was falling from all violent storm, we woke up to this water spout about a mile or so away from the boat, which is basically a tornado over water. It swirled around for a bit, then retreated quietly into the clouds.
I love having visitors come down to enjoy the natural beauty that Panama has in its own backyard. It gives me a chance to do some new exploring of my own, and since there's so much to do here, I try to tailor it to my friend's preferences. Although my good friend Melinda's first choice of following the dog-fighting circuit didn't materialize (she only likes to watch the Dobermans fight - she's such a breedist), we went for the next best thing - sailing to the Pearl Islands.
Our original trip had us sailing from the canal on the Atlantic side to the San Blas islands, but as fate would have it, the sailboat we had chartered lost its generator the day before Melinda, her boyfriend Chris and friend Karl flew down. I argued that a sailboat doesn't need juice, it only needs wind. Unfortunately, that reasoning just didn't carry any weight.
So through my buddy Stu who owns a hostel in town, I tracked down Juan at the very last minute. Juan rebuilt an abandoned sailboat he bought in the States and brought it to Panama a little while ago. For $50 per person per night, he offered his services and his boat to us for the week. Among captaining the boat, his services also included great company and all meals cooked to Panamanian perfection. He was a real stand-up guy.
We sailed at night under an impressive blanket of heat lightening to Taboga Island, where we stayed until morning. After waking up to the sway of the ocean, we made the long trek out to the idylic Pearl Islands, an archipelago of about 90 islands - one of which is home to a sunken submarine and was also the site of Survivor Panama.
The islands got their name from the abundance of pearls found in its waters. Not surprisingly, the oysters than made the pearls were wiped out by Balboa and the conquistadors for the king of Spain years ago.
Five days sleeping on a cramped boat without a shower could have been pretty uncomfortable if it weren't for our covert nightly missions to the Hotel Punta Galeon's poolside showers - that, and the nightly beer run. My favorite part was snorkeling off the ship at night. When I'd wave my hands around under water, the bio-luminescence made it look as if there were bright constellations exploding in the Pacific.
The week's many highlights included all the snorkeling, sailing, spear-gun fishing, exploring and cussing - well, Karl provided the last one, and that way by way copious amounts of rum Abuelo.
Overall, the trip was incredible, except for getting a sunburn on my bald spot.
I learned how to fish with a spear gun - I didn't actually catch any fish, but I maimed a few of them.
A sea snake I followed as he was on his daily hunt for breakfast.
Juan speared us some fish, filleted it right on the shore, then made us some sushi and amazing baked fish on the boat.
This was the sunset I caught with my disposable underwater camera right after snorkeling.
Our comfy living quarters
Coconut milk straight from the source
This was crazy - after a night that seemed like the sky was falling from all violent storm, we woke up to this water spout about a mile or so away from the boat, which is basically a tornado over water. It swirled around for a bit, then retreated quietly into the clouds.
posted by Bram Fiebelkorn at
9:50 PM
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