A short stop at Linton Bay Marina
Saturday 30 April – Well, we had a busy day today, we arrived in Linton Bay Marina at 1pm where we were dropping off Jo’s family who had a taxi booked at 1.30pm to take them back to Panama City Airport, and at the same time, pick up Ian, Mike and Sheryl who had just arrived from Panama City Airport! It was all go, we had stacks of laundry to get washed and the fridges were almost empty, not to mention the defunct freezer which had nothing but empty ice trays in it!
We bundled all the sheets into the laundry bag and found the laundry, what a helpful man we encountered! He said he would do all the laundry, but we had to be back by 5pm as he was shut then and not open till Tuesday (no pressure in being late then!). Then Jo and I found the vegetable man who we had been told about – he had a van parked by the Marina entrance and my word, what a treat. Beautiful fresh tropical fruits, vegetables, eggs, some lovely pork, chicken and even a whole fillet of beef, freshly killed that morning (I tried not to think too much about that!).
We had also been told that there was a bread and cake van that was arriving at 3.30pm -music to my ears with my sweet tooth and a distinct lack of cakes over the last few weeks. We waited and waited but he never came. Time was precious so we took a taxi to the local supermarket to top up with other groceries. That was an experience, the shop wasn’t as big as New World Remuera but they managed to sell a reasonable amount of groceries, plus bikes, tyres and other random items that you normally find in the garage.
Upon arriving back, to my delight the Bread Van was there! I couldn’t get out of the taxi fast enough! I bought some lovely bread, a brioche loaf and beautiful pineapple tarts and fruit cake! I was so thrilled. We took all the shopping back to the boat and lo and behold!!!! Ian had already beaten me to the Bread Van and had bought a huge array of breads and cakes too!!! I’m in heaven – morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea with all these beautiful pastries.
Sunday 1 May – Whilst some maintenance was being done on the boat, Jo, Sheryl and I got a water taxi over to Isla Grande – about 15 minutes away. We thought we would have a walk and do a bit of exploring. It’s a popular island for tourists from Panama City, lots of small hotels, restaurants and weekend houses. What a surprise we had when we arrived – it was party central for all the locals – music throbbing from speakers everywhere, people in the sea, tables in the sea, drinking, bbq-ing, everyone dancing, everyone happy and having the time of their life.
We found a nice restaurant and booked a table for dinner, then carried on a great coastal walk, halfway around the island, culminating in a 106 step climb up an old tower which gave us the most wonderful view surrounding us. Back to the water taxi and to Linton Bay and then we motor-sailed Salanjo back to the Island so we could have drinks and dinner. We had to be careful in the dinghy on the return though as it was very dark, there were reefs, and the water taxis were unlit and going at great speed. What a great night we had, what an even greater night the locals had though –fireworks at midnight, music and dancing – still going when we woke up thjis morning!!!! We couldn’t believe how much they were partying on a Sunday night. This morning we found out that today is Labour Day – so that explains it all!
Off today back to some of the San Blas Islands until later in the week when we will be going through the Canal!