Up at around 0700 to pack and get brekkie before the taxi arrives (hopefully) at 0830 to take us to the shopping centre, where we will buy our last few provisions before seeking out the bus to take us to Colon – which is at the opposite entrance of the canal to Panama city i.e. we go from the Pacific side back to the Caribbean side! – The 1st part of our journey today should be on a coach and take around an hour. At Colon, we’ll get on a local bus for a further 2 hours going east along the coast where we should hopefully end up at the Marina where Pipestrelle is moored.
It all went without a hitch. We didn’t manage to squeeze lunch in but apart from that we did good. (p.s. Bernice is ok again today with tablets, hurrah).
Bernice managed to get some photo’s of the local buses too. They’re all individually owned here, although the govt. control the pricing of the fares. Being individually owned they are all painted amazingly with great colourful tags, to help them attract customers and/or just for fun. Who knows. It makes reading the destination signs on the windscreen entertaining as it’s also written in crazy fonts. As long as you don’t need to catch a bus, they’re great to look at. Old US school buses too.
We arrive at the Marina and it’s really just someones waterfront property with some mooring buoys off the end of the garden and a jetty. At the back of the house is a lovely gazebo that serves as a restaurant. It’s very much a little oasis.
We shout on Bob and he comes across to pick us up and we go back to the boat to meet Elaine. The boat is lovely and the design is quite different from others we’ve been on so thats exciting. The plan is for us to fill up with water and “check out” (customs) tomorrow – means a bus/taxi ride away to the next village.
Bob & Elaine go off in their dinghy to say hi to some friends on another yacht – Super Ted – while we stow away our gear on board. They have already suggested we eat ashore in the restaurant tonight as it´ll probably be our only opportunity to ´eat out´ on the whole trip, and when they come back they´ve also invited their friends Jean and Matt to join us. In the meantime we all go ashore to do some internet. A road (which is only accessible by 4×4 anyway) is out of action as a result of all the recent rain, and Bob & Elaine are worried we´ll have trouble getting a flight back from La Porvenir to Panama if we don´t book it before we set off. Here in Panamarina is one of only two locations where we can get internet access!!! Bob & Elaine also have a few things to sort out via the internet. It takes, as always, much longer than anticipated (its via a satelite link) and Matt and Jean are already ashore before we have finished. Oops! We hurry back to Pipistrelle do a quick turnaround and back to join them. Food is really good. as promised. The place is owned and run by a French couple who sailed here in their catamaran and never left.