Santa Catalina is the tiny island off of Providencia, itself a tiny island, and is connected to the "main land" only by a floating footbridge. No cars or scooters cross over. There are no roads, only a sidewalk and then a nature trail that goes all the way to the giant rock at the end of the island known as Morgan's Head. You see, Providencia was once a pirate haven, and Captain Henry Morgan (you might have seen his smiling visage on the side of a rum bottle) roamed these waters, burying treasure and snagging the occasional Spanish galleon.
The island is full of references to Captain Morgan and his treasure, and Vlad and I decided to investigate. What we found were scores of mangos, fresh coconut, a secluded beach, a couple of rusted cannons and a ton of tiny lizards that scattered with each step we took. There was also an iguana eating a mango, but he split as soon as we showed up, obviously scared that we would snag his precious fruit. Perhaps he was right to be afraid.
At one point, I turned around after washing the sticky mango juice from my hands in the sea water and saw Vlad trying to crack open a coconut with a rock. We were slipping into the island lifestyle. Not perfectly perhaps because a local would have used a machete, but we were definitely making the effort.
That was just a smattering of the critters we saw while hiking to the end of the island. As for Captain Morgan's treasure, alas, we are not currently rolling around in a pile of gold doubloons, but we did see something kind of strange - a rectangular shaped hole submerged in the water that was just a little too close to the size of a treasure chest and seemed as though it must have been made by humans. No doubt, if there was treasure there, it is now long gone.
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| See the rectangular hole? Pirate loot! |
Instead, all we were left with was this view.
Tiny Hermit Crab!!!! Joy
ReplyDeleteThey are everywhere here!
DeleteYou both look wonderful! How awesome are those crabs??!!
ReplyDeleteWatson, the crab situation is under control. But the lizards. Oh, the lizards.
DeleteI don't know where else to send this:
ReplyDeleteDon't worry too much about bocas, this is the worst thing to happen here, and the community and I think the government is taking it pretty serious. The president flew in today. If you are alone, I would go to a marina, they are not too expensive and it is a lot more comfortable (safe). I was getting weird vibes from the anchorage while we were there. I don;t think it would be much different anywhere in this part of the world. If you do stay at anchor meet up with a lot of people at the happy hours and such. There is a group of expats and cruisers down here who have the Bocus Emergency Net, they call them selves BEN on the radio me and one of the Ben's responded to the call.
There will be extra eyes around now from the police and the cruisers. Still if you have to be left on the boat for a bit go to a marina, no matter where you are in Panama, or how vicious your hedgehog might be. In all honesty they had a very nice and rich looking boat with a lot of money hanging off of it in parts and stuff. I'm sure they were cased out.
Good luck making your decision, but life is really cheap down here, and of all the places you can walk the street and feel very safe.
Dave
Thanks so much for the note, Dave. I really appreciate the insight and advice on Bocas. I'm for sure staying in a marina while Vlad is gone. Safety considerations aside, it would just suck to have the anchor drag in high winds with only one of us aboard. No thanks.
DeleteAnd typically, I'm just not that scared in the general sense. A lot of other people seem to be, for whatever reason, but I just refuse. I'm not saying that I wouldn't be scared in a particular situation, but you just miss so much by being afraid of what might be. Still, what happened to that couple is just horrible, and I hope they are able to recover.
And I know the hedgehog won't protect me. Anything that eats that much cat food can't be any good as a guard animal.
I think the view was the treasure.
ReplyDeletePs can you guess where I am now?
That was what I was implying. And, no, I have no idea where you are now. Your blog said you were in Pensacola, I thought. Have you left? Are you in Providencia!!!
DeleteLooks wonderful! You just missed the Pirate Treasure, maybe next time.
ReplyDeleteLOVE the wildlife. That is something I am looking forward too alot, seeing a bunch of different wildlife. I grew up in the country around it, but live in the city now for the past 12 years. I miss it.
Dani
I've never been to an area with this many living things scattering before me. Honestly, it's both cool and bizarre. You could spend a lifetime studying this place.
DeleteWhat?!? No loot? Bummer but you might have grounds for a case based on false advertisement...
ReplyDelete