Who said Travel was enjoyable?

Following 30 hours of 'tear your hair out' travel, It's taken me 2 days to reach a frame of mind where I don't want to strangle someone, and can actually write calmly about my experiences without resorting to foul language and feeling a desperate need to stick hat pins in a voodoo doll.

But, before I continue, I should point out that Delta (an airline I absolutely despise) had surprisingly the most wonderful flight attendants on the flight from Atlanta to London, they were friendly and attentive, it took me quite by surprise, and reminded me of the attention I used to receive in first class.

I've become quite complacent over the last few years about the treatment dished out by miserable, dissatisfied, sour faced flight attendants, but then I fly coach these days.  In first class the attendants have to be nice.  I became quite used to the special attention one receives in first class service, and its been a bit of a slap in the face moving back to coach.

Usually I manage to snag an exit isle or a front seat, but this flight was so overbooked, Delta seem to do that a lot, and the miserable desk clerk curtly informed me that I had no chance of changing my seat.  The flight was so full I only saw one empty seat, but at least I was fortunate to be seated next to someone very nice.  The airline food was absolutely disgusting, I just couldn't eat it, and breakfast was really special, some slimy, sour tasting yellow gunge in a soggy bun,  it's almost insulting the bad food they serve.

Upon landing in Gatwick I was greeted with more problems at the car rental desk, and after an hour and a half of trying to sort it out, waking poor Bob and Danni on the phone at 3:15am desperate for help, and throwing a few tantrums, I eventually gave up and decided to take the train instead.

As it turned out, train travel was lovely, all the trains ran on time, they were immaculately clean, and comfortable, and the views of the countryside were spectacular.  I had to change trains twice, at Reading and Bristol, but there was only 5-8 minutes between the trains so there was no waiting around, it was all very easy, other than that I was lugging a bloody heavy, huge great suitcase with me, without that, the train travel at least would have been great.  Whoever said travel was enjoyable probably has their own plane, professional chef, and a chauffeur!

Back in the beautiful West country, in the stress free, relaxed atmosphere with my Mum, it's given me the chance to wind down and forget at least for a couple of days all the trauma of travel, even the trials and tribulations of dealing with airline staff and car rental companies... Sadly I'm boarding a plane again on Wednesday to take the long flight to South Africa, I'm excited to be going but dreading the actual trip.  I'll be taking my own food with me this time.

The weather here in England is lovely, and Mum and I have been driving around the beautiful English countryside enjoying the views.

Wells, Somerset, UK

Somerset Countryside

Killing Time !

Just killing time here at Panama airport, posting some photographs of the very lovely, Bocas Marina, 

possibly the most friendly marina I have ever had the pleasure of staying at.

I can fully recommend this marina to anyone visiting the area, and don't whatever you do miss eating at 

Dyllan's lovely cantina on the waterfront, possibly the best burgers I have eaten, no floppy thin 

processed stuff here, just real juicy home-made burgers, served with fresh crisp salad and fries, OH and 

the fries are to die for, I'm actually glad I'm leaving because if I stayed any longer I would be gaining 

even more weight.  The prices are so good, make sure you tip well.

Thank you Dyllan and Dana we really enjoyed our stay, and look forward to returning soon.

The Cantina

One of the many beautiful flowers in the grounds

Here I go Again

So the next leg of my adventurous life begins today.  Ferry boat to the airport this afternoon for the flight to Panama where I spend the night. Thursday morning flight to Atlanta, Thursday evening flight to London, arrive London Friday morning, pick up hire car drive to Bristol, arrive at Mum's and go to bed for a few hours, I hate jet lag. Then I have a few days to adjust to the time change before flying on to South Africa, I'm expecting to have plenty to write about there, if I'm not sleeping.

Life (and Death) in The Bay...

Monday 20th June.  Location: Bocas Marina, Bocas del Toro

We were all up early this morning to take Niki to the airport, I use the word "airport" cautiously! Bocas airport is very much under construction, and aside from the runway, perfectly resembles a building site.  We almost had to climb over rubble to get to the desk, fortunately the plane looked to be in good order and left on time.  It was sad to see Niki leave I probably won't see her again until November.  The trip to the airport was very quick, it involved a 5 minute dinghy ride, followed by a 5 minute hike through town.  The island of Bocas is basically a runway with a tiny town built around it.

Across the bay, crystal clear, clean water

Later in the morning Bob and I went back to the same place we snorkeled yesterday, but this time with trusty camera in hand.  It didn't take us long to find the same spot we were in yesterday, and Bob managed to get some pictures of the Lionfish,  who according to a local we spoke to, told us of a competition being organized (for fun) to see who can kill the most, because lionfish are not indigenous to this area; it's true that Lionfish are indigenous to the Indo-Pacific, not the Caribbean, but you can imagine how I felt about such a competition, I said the fish were worth more than the people who would do that! Perhaps not the best response, but I can't condone killing creatures for the sake of it, to kill for food is one thing, but to kill for fun is sick. Anyway I'll get off my soap box now! Here are some of the photo's...

Lionfish & Angelfish

Colorful sponges ans brittle stars

Beautiful Cushion Starfish

Floating Doctors

Friday 17^th June.  Location: Bocas Marina

Nic studying local area book, while we wait out the rain

Aside from the water taxis transporting locals and tourists from the mainland of Panama to Bocas, the water was still and the bay peaceful.  With the davit fixed, and Woops-a-Daisy miraculously still afloat, and still there! (We hadn’t locked her up overnight, almost hoping someone would steal her, no I’m just kidding) We all headed over to the marina to arrange to bring Daisy alongside, where we met Dana the very friendly Harbor Master.  

Bocas Marina

Once all the arrangements were made we headed over to the main town on the island, tied the dinghy up outside one of the local markets and walked through the little town sightseeing, The rain came about 15 minutes later so we darted into one of the café’s overhanging the water, and sat there with a beer until the rain stopped. 

Bocas Water Taxi outside town

We picked up some groceries in the market and headed back to the dinghy.  I couldn’t resist running up the steps to a gift shop selling hand carved wooden elephants, Danni has a passion for elephants and I thought it would make a great gift, sadly I face-planted on the top step, how embarrassing! And no I wasn’t drunk, certainly not after only one beer, the shop assistant rushed over to assist the idiot sprawled on her top step (ME) but I quickly jumped up, smiled, brushed myself off, and limped away as quickly as my bruised legs would carry me. Ouch !  I can be such a clumsy oaf at times. 

Beautiful Bocas Marina

Later as we pulled Daisy into her slip at the marina, the whole place was a hive of activity, people were busy everywhere preparing for an event taking place that  night to raise money for “The Floating Doctors” a group of professional Doctors that live aboard their boat and travel from island to island treating islanders that can’t afford or don’t have access to treatment.  

Floating Doctors Boat leaving the fuel dock at Bocas Marina

The evenings event was a fashion show, with a buffet, raffle and auction.  There were local vendors selling their crafts, a man carving wood with a chain saw, and the best amusement of all, drunken sailors.  As I’ve said many times we’re a strange bunch, and no funnier than when drunk in public.  Watching everyone was more entertainment for me than the show, although the show was great, and judging by the number of people that attended probably a great success.

Daisy alongside at Bocas Marina

Everyone in this marina is very friendly, we must have had a dozen or more people admire Daisy, and welcome us to the marina.  I think this would be a nice place to stay for a while, you would never be lonely or short of a drinking buddy…

Needing that Vodka Tonic !

Thursday 16^th June.  Location:  The Zapatilla Cays

So this morning just for a change it rained! I cooked omelets, grilled tomatoes and bacon for brunch.  We’re down to our last few ounces of drinking water, although we do have gallons of beer, nothing new there, Daisy’s always well stocked with alcohol!  However, the need to get to a shop and buy water is pretty urgent now.  We headed out around 11am, and made the short trip up to the main Bocas area, I slept the entire way.  The lagoon was really difficult to navigate with the depth rising frighteningly fast from 60 feet to just 6 feet, Bob’s charts on the area couldn’t have been more inaccurate, and we almost ran aground a couple of times.  

Once we were safely anchored, the plan was to shower, change and go ashore check out the marina and buy water; sadly Daisy had other plans, one of the davits refused to function, meaning we couldn’t lower the dinghy into the water, this discovery preceded 7 hours of working to release the dinghy from the malfunctioning davit and get it safely into the water without injuring either ourselves or the dinghy, it was a lengthy difficult procedure, and not without many associated problems, which I won’t go in to.  Then we (we being the royal we, meaning Bob) had to dismantle the davit, investigate the cause of the problem, drop one of the parts into the lagoon, cuss, swear and throw a few toys around, and then work into the night putting the damn thing back together.  In the midst of all this, once the dinghy was in the water Niki and I went ashore and bought the much needed water.  Dinner was late, and no exploring was done, but it’s just boat life, and I did have the vodka and tonic I desperately needed, all be it without ice  :o(

Lionfish...

Sunday 19th June.   Location: Bocas

This is posted out of date order because I was so incredibly excited at what I saw today I couldn't wait to post it:

Snorkeling off the island this morning we came across this amazing reef with millions of brightly colored sponges and tube worms, and the largest collection of brittle stars I've ever seen, sadly we didn't have the camera with us (how typical).   The seabed was a profusion of color, with yellow, red, purple, blue and white coral, sponges, tubers, and fish it was breathtaking.

Info and photos from Google on this amazing fish, (click on this link)

Without a doubt the most exciting sighting was of three Lionfish, hovering around a crevice under a giant coral rock, they were quite large about 8 -10 inches across.  For those of you unfamiliar with Lionfish I have posted a photograph here taken by John White, which I found on Google.

Lionfish are the most graceful, beautiful fish, they look almost like floating plants with their long wavy, delicate spines.  This brightly colored fish is most commonly found in the shallow waters of the coral reefs around the Indo-Pacific, I have never seen one in the Caribbean before, so my first actual sighting of not just one, but three, was really exciting.  Don't be fooled by their beauty, Lionfish have very venomous fin spines that will give you an excruciatingly painful sting.

Photo by John White

This copied from a google site, on the effects of the sting by the Lionfish:

A person punctured by one of the sharp spines will immediately feel strong pain. Rapid swelling of the affected body area develops which may make the movement of limbs very difficult. Lion-fish stings can cause nausea, breathing difficulties, paralysis, convulsions and collapse. Even death may occur in exceptional circumstances. Most people survive in spite of the great pain. The venom in the spines remains active for days, so even discarded spines should be treated with caution. It may take several months for a full recovery and if the sting is left untreated, gangrene may develop. 

So, needless to say, being very aware of this we didn't venture too close, particularly as they seemed to be guarding a few hundred babies...

WOW it was an exciting morning...