Sunday, October 11, 2009

Heading for Isla Catalina

We are continuing down the coast of Western Panama, with islands everywhere around us, very small remote pueblos connected only by dirt roads and miles from any major highway, and mucho rain. This is this essence of the rainy season, but we hear that it gets more intense in November.

My eye seems to be better, but I am still not sure whether we are going to Panama City or Ecuador when the time comes to make our turn. By then I hope I will have heard back from Diana, given my symptoms. I am being extremely careful, not doing anymore diving, and, when I am near any internet connection, I will try to make our way home a bit earlier so I can take care of this.

I'm sorry you have not been able to find these pristine spots [I told Suzi I couldn't locate some of their islands on Google Earth]; they are so removed from any tourism that I guess there is no reason to put them on google earth. That's why they are so wonderful to explore! It is really interesting to find two little poor pueblos so close in proximity but so very different. Yesterday everyone was so friendly and seemed to be filled with joy; today the people did not seem happy at all. We are in Bahia Honda tonight, and we may leave for Isla Catalina tomorrow, depending upon when a very helpful local, Domingo, can get some extra deisel for us. He brought us some homegrown spinach, culantro (like cilantro), peppers, and bananas yesterday. Thank goodness! The fresh food has disappeared, and I have grown to fully appreciate the hardships of being out in the middle of beautiful nowhere during the rainy season where supplies are extremely scarce. Phew! We certainly are fortunate! We have beauty and bounty! We are still a long way from being near internet connection, so have patience.

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