Daisy's Stationary Store

Wednesday 15^th June.   Location:  Bluefield Lagoon

Word spread quickly among the school children of Bluefield Lagoon, that the lady on the big blue boat has pens!  And so they came, by the boatload, with their angelic smiles, and sweet faces, wanting pens and pencils, who could resist?  I gave as many as I could find, leaving Daisy quite pen poor, with only a couple left on board, I need to remember to bring plenty back with me when we return next time.

hard to resist this sweet face

 I suggested we leave quickly before more children arrived and I had to tell them in whatever sign language I could muster that I had no pens left to give, that would have made me feel really mean, and I didn’t like that, so we weighed anchor and left.  Happily for Bob there was enough wind to raise the sails and we enjoyed a quiet sail over to the Zapatilla Cays. The snorkeling is supposed to be great around these 2 Cays.  We dropped anchor about a mile offshore, as it was so shallow, then launched our sad, damaged, little Woops-a-daisy and motored over to the island where we tied up to a mooring buoy and swam ashore. 

Snorkels were an absolute waste of time we couldn’t see a thing, because of all the storms lately the seabed was really churned up and there was zero visibility. The Zapatilla Cays are a sanctuary for the seriously endangered Hawksbeak turtle; visitors to the island are asked to be careful not to disturb the turtles or their precious eggs. I couldn’t help wondering how well the local Indians respected that request. Back in the San Blas islands the Kuna Indians have over-fished and practically wiped out the turtle population throughout that area. We didn’t see any turtles, or eggs, but we did see hundreds of little yellow sand crabs, and enjoyed a lovely walk around the island, and some fun in the surf.  Late afternoon another storm rolled in; this really is not the best time of year to visit this part of the world.  Our evening was spent relaxing and watching television, “Life” a series with David Attenborough.

It’s quite odd being here alone (meaning the only boat) we haven’t seen another boat since we left Shelter Bay. Where is everyone, are we the only people crazy enough to be here in rainy season?