The lovely sunset view off the back porch of our hostel on Bocas del Toro in Panama. We could wake up, do yoga on the dock and jump right into the water afterward. Wow
Greetings friends! Happy New Year!!!!!
Aviv and I, and our new good friend Tatiana from Barcelona, are in the
Carribean now so this email may be more relaxed than the others, and
when I say relaxed I mean it may make considerably less sense to
anyone who is not also presently in the carribean.
We are on the Islands of Bocas del Toro (mouth of the bull), Panama.
We arrived here on December 30 late at night by water taxi from the
mainland. This was the first time being back on the Carribean sea for
me since I sailed 3 years ago. Me and my turks head (woven sailers
bracelet-which I have had woven onto my wrist all this time) were
happy to be back here. The taxi over, which was a magical after hours
taxi we only met because we were ripped off by a road taxi who only
took us half way to the harbor where we got on a bus in the middle of
the highway and met people who knew how to get another water taxi, was
lovely. It was a speed boat so we got a little wet from the spray,
plus it was raining, but there was fireworks in the sky on the island
we were approaching and in the water. When I sailed, one of my fondest
memmories is how the bioluminescent zooplankton would flash when
disturbed. So at night the wake of the boat would sparkle with all the
little plankton being swept aside. In the speedboat this sparkling
trail was more like a sparkler or firecracker because rather than
sweeping behind us there were spraying all over the place to either
side.
Our actual arrival on the island was a little more haphazard which we
must expect at least a little of when you travel sans a plan. As I
said, it was raining and it was also two days to new years and every
hostel of hotel on the island was booked full. We wandered, we
wandered, we got soaked and eventually, THANKFULLY, we found a single
single bed which the prorietress was less than happy to allow us to
share but we were dripping and puppy eyed so she relented.
The rest is all beaches and piña coladas and stereotypical carribean
situations complete with raggae and less than legal activities...
New Years: We drank, we danced, we drank, we kissed strange men, we
danced, we played with sparklers in the streets. Just before midnight
we took a water taxi out to a deserted beach and we went into the
water with candles, a bottle of champagne and no clothes. We were
reborn at midnight, naked, in the sea. A perfect new years ceremony
for 2008, which we all agree here, is going to be a very important
year.
From here, we bide our time on the islands working on our tans (mine
being an English-Irish sort of tan and hence, in fact, a burn). Then,
we sail to Columbia. The sail is 5 days and not so much more than
flying to be prohibitive. Certainly it is a sort of pleasure cruise as
sailing around carribean islands is wont to be, but it will be our
splurge for the trip, for everything else, we are quite frugal. I
cannot wait to take to the high seas once again. My name, in Welsh,
means ¨of the sea¨ and to it, I must always return.
Best New Years wishes to all once again. I shall speak once again once
we arrive in South America.
Love,
Morgan
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