After getting off the 'plane we were just in time to catch a bus to Santiago and on to Sona & then to Santa Catalina and finally the following day by boat to Coiba Island off Panama's Pacific coast .
We had to wait in Sona for a few hours for our connection to Santa Catalina, so we went to the Fair. We decided to see what the fair was like. - it was just like the country fairs we have been to with Vanessa and Hugo except that the animals were Brahamian cows and not Fresians! And very beautiful they were too.
They must have been worth a lot of money as they had a keeper with them.
Once on the bus we traveled though ranching country.
Passing a group of gauchos on the way.
The hills dry.
We realised that the beautiful cattle were being raised for beef! We passed a small abatoir and later this lorry!
The houses along the road were very rural.
The fences had all been podarised for many years, and they were still doing it.
As we went along I noticed that everyone had two types of houses in one!
The traditional thatch and the modern brick houses were linked together. How sensible in the hot season they stayed outside cool and in the rainy season they stayed inside in the dry!
Santa Catalina is a small fishing village where we stayed the night before catching our high speed boat out to Coiba Island.
It was a two hour trip.
The granite islands were covered in rain forest.
Coibe island was a penal colony until 2004! It is now a nature reserve,mainly because most of the forest is pristine jungle and it has several animals unique to the island. It is famous for its snorkeling and diving reefs. The accommodation is very basic, although we did have air-conditioning at night, and we had to take all our food with us.
Snorkeling was off pristine white beaches.
After an hour of snorkeling right round this island where we saw a reef shark and three turtles we sped off to the prison.
This was the first view the convicts had of their prison.
It was not a happy place to be.
Although closed in 2004, there is still art work on the walls.
and messages to loved ones.
The new plaque tells us that the prison existed now the ruined prison is being converted into a Navy station to track the drug running boats from Colombia.
A rusty chain remains
and weapons found during the renovations are a reminder that the prisoners were pretty awful guys.
On the way back to the cabins we cruised around the islands trying to catch a fish.
The forest was beautiful.
We didn't catch a fish, and on our return we sat sipping our beer and gazing out into the calm waters of the bay.
On the way to our room we came across this!
The next morning we did a three hour walk through the jungle!
We saw very little that we had not seen before!
Twisted roots.
Huge trees
Very large roots
And mango groves.
The biggest surprise came on the way back to Santa Catalina. We came across a young whale! We stopped, he waved his tail at us a couple of times and dived down, quite magical, but no photos - but here is what he looked like!
We left early the next day. I snapped a few pictures of the tiny village.
The filling station was very small!
Homes were tiny
Little girls a little shy.
A gaucho was off to see to his cattle.
The village shop was was in full swing.
We were shocked b y the rubbish thrown around in the town.
A post told you how far you were away from home.
And our next destination was Bocas de Toro, islands off the Caribbean coast of Panama .
The bus was ready to go by the time I had finished my photos.
No comments:
Post a Comment