Isla Porvenir

We had another amazing breakfast of coconut porridge, fruit and freshly baked banana bread - Hondur Games have officially been suspended! As we ate we watched a crazy storm - torrential rain, mighty thunder claps and the clearest lightning strikes I've ever seen - we could clearly see the strikes hitting the sea, then the islands and then our boat!! About 5 times! You could hear an almighty crackle right before it struck us each time. There was a lot of screaming. Apparently, Goeran had seen his boat being struck by lightning from the dock before and it had wiped out the electrics and broken a few instruments. This time however, the electrics were fine and the broken instruments came back to life!

Once the storm had let up, Goeran went ashore with our passports, only to return saying they were being funny and he needed proof of flights out of Panama within 72 hours to avoid us paying the $105 visa fee. Nobody had this, despite all the others actually having flights out...we of course don't have a flight out. Cue panic and trying to get online and print things off. Goeran had a flight confirmation template which he used to create 'proof' for himself, Rose and us - he 'flies' to Miami every time! Crazy system! So off he went for the second time and came back with free visas for all :) Hopefully will hold when we leave the country.

We went ashore to the capital island for a quick visit. It is very small, though does have an airstrip. The Kuna people live in tiny wooden huts but have solar panels, satellite dishes and iPads! Anna bought a bracelet and turtle oven glove for $5 each.

Then we had more amazing food - humus, couscous, roasted veg and nachos. As we ate we sailed about half an hour to Chichime island and were taken ashore. We went snorkelling but didn't find much to see so lay on the beach but it was overcast so it was a bit chilly. We went for a wander around the small island and then bought the hugest coconuts I've seen for $2 each.

BOB, we discovered that the boat is broken...something to do with transmission fluid leaking :( Goeran decided not to sail to Portobelo as planned that night and instead we will get a boat to the mainland and then a jeep to Panama City ($45, of which Goeran refunded us $40 as the trip from Portobelo is cheap, though not as easy so it sort of works in our favour).

Our last supper was steak, couscous and ratatouille; then ice cream and Rose's lindt chocolate. The chef outdid herself again - her first time cooking steak!

Overall impression of San Blas trip: we picked the best boat by a mile by the sounds of it - most don't have showers / fresh water (ours had a filter system so was unlimited even if it tasted funny) and are much smaller and more cramped. We also couldn't have wished for a better captain and first mate. However, the murky weather ruined it a bit and there was less snorkelling / time on the islands than we'd expected. It was great fun but I'm not sure it'll make the top 5!

Amy's most memorable quotes:
Picture perfect postcard photo (say it fast)
Dinner's ready...I'm just going to go and make room
Saint-Lindt
It makes more sense in DutchRead more