Isla Bastimentos Property Visit
A few days ago we trekked out to see the 50 acre property on Isla Bastimentos owned by my friend Bram. This property is about 25 minutes away from where we are living. The weather was beautiful but the water was very rough. High winds from the South created quite the wave action. We booked it through the rough open water, while avoiding the coral, to find protection near the islands. We arrived at the property where there used to be a dock which was wealth redistributed to the neighbors over time – if you don’t use it here, you loose it. The mangrove was pretty overgrown so the boat didn’t fit so well next to the pilings of what remained of the dock. I hopped into the water to pull the boat in as close as I could get it, then got...
Pseudosphinx Tetrio
We have em’, Pseudosphinx tetrio all over our Plumeria tree, probably over 60 of them. Pseudosphinx tetrio, otherwise known as a Tetrio sphinx moth or caterpillar (depending on the stage). Brightly colored, beautiful, kind-of scary looking caterpillars with what looks like a spike that moves forward and aft as they walk. Bella wanted to hold them, but I said hold up, lets google it, like the pioneers did back in the day when they came across similar situations. Sure enough, its a no-go on the holding of them, they bite. Later I checked with some locals who in turn said they “pican”, or sting. Here are some photos: Plumeria flower – awesome fragrance! Plumeria tree. Check out the eating this one has done to this leaf. Look...
Shu Mani Tutanka
“Shu Mani Tutanka O Wachee” is “Dances with Wolves.” (Proper spelling is “Sunkmanitu Tanka Owaci” in Lakota.) If you’ve seen this movie, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Over the last few days we have lived out a chapter of that story, with a Ngobe family. We call this chapter, first contact. A few days ago, in the evening, Falco and three of his kiddos stopped by for a visit, to play (Falco is the Ngobe man I met on my maiden cayuco voyage.) On that voyage I told Falco, “mis hijos necesitan amigos”, my kiddos need friends. Falco responded by saying he would provide my kiddos with friends. Cool. They played and played, running from place to place like a herd of wild chonchos (pigs). ...
Cayuco
This week we purchased a cayuco. A cayuco is made from a section of a jungle tree, it is hollowed out and shaped into a boat, all with hand tools. There are a couple Ngobe on each island that seem to have this skill. Most cayucos have a standard size of about six feet in length, cost $100, but that’s only Ngobe to Ngobe. If they know they are selling to a gringo, that price doubles, if not triples. I purchased about a ten foot cayuco that is at least 50% wider then the standard. This is mainly because I am a gringo, I’m heavier so the boat sits lower in the water and my balance is horrible compared to the locals, so a wider bottom boat helps me in that area, I hope. Alvaro found me a cayuco and purchased it from the Ngobe builder, so he...
Mimosa pudica
Mimosa pudica or touch sensitive plants are all over the place here. Ellie noticed that much of the lawn we have here is touch sensitive. Now that we know about the plants, we are in awe every time we walk through the “grass.” God really got creative here in the tropics.
Ethan vs. Gecko
Our house is filled with Geckos, which we love. They eat the many insects that also fill our house. These Geckos are smart. At night the congregate around any lights we have on and wait for the bugs to be reeled in, and just as they get close… slurp – they’re gone. The Geckos range in size from 1/2 inch long to about six inches long and come in colors from black to almost clear. They have awesome suction cups on their feet, which feel super weird when they run across your skin. This afternoon I grabbed a plantain to eat and noticed there was a gecko on it. I went to show it to Ethan, who LOVES them, and that is where our video begins. 😉 Gecko: 1 – Ethan:...
Red Frog, Police, Chocolate & Parrots
Over the last few days we have been doing some traveling around the area, getting to know the islands, people and boating routes. We headed over to Red Frog Beach on Isla Bastimentos from our house off of Dolphin Bay in Tierra Oscura, which is about a 35 minute boat ride, since I don’t know my way around the mangrove, rocks and coral yet. The Red Frog public dock. There was a sloth at the entrance of the park. Last time I was here in January there was a sloth here too, but it obviously infected with a disease called Leishmaniasis, which is transferable to humans. It is a nasty disease and requires ten days of IM shots of a chemotherapy drug. I have met many people in the area who have had the disease and still have the scars from it. Needless to...
Learned So Far
The random things we’ve learned so far: Luggage is fully insured by the airlines when traveling, except for the following items; wheels, handles, zippers, the physical case and the contents. Sharper Image luggage has a hidden advertising campaign to advertise from the garbage dump. Kirkland and Brookstone luggage is by far the most rugged luggage we’ve used. Lightweight clothing like REI or Columbia quick dry clothing drys very quick but also stinks about as well as it drys. Check for chicken poop in the shower before walking in. Buy flour in plastic bags, even if they are smaller, they have far less bugs. Roosters in Panama have no internal clock or an ability to know it is dark out and therefore they crow every 20 minutes to make sure they are...
Howler Monkey
We have howler monkeys living next to our house. When we talk to him, in his language, he talks back quite forcefully, sometimes spitting while howling. Here is a video of the male:
Shirlene’s First Blog Entry
How’s that for a title? 🙂 Bobby and I have both pretty much always considered ourselves “non-blog” people. I enjoy reading things other people post and like everyone, I have my favorites. You and I both know there are those really talented bloggers out there and those tend to be the ones I find the most entertaining and my mind finds great delight in. Those are the bloggers that could be writers and aren’t, you know the the ones I’m talking about. They write mind tantalizing posts with just the right amount of wit, humor, creative writing and interesting facts that your mind just gobbles up what has been written and you’re left feeling a little more informed, a little more inspired, and a little more alive...
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