We went down the estuary with a group of friends and had crab and shrimp and fish. It was amazing as usual. I have never eaten crab like this. In the past, I have had only Alaskan King Crab legs, and was never even sure how to eat other kinds. Well, it is not hard, only messy. Depending on the size of them, of course. If they are small enough, you just eat them shells and all. The crab at this estaury restaurant was steamed or boiled and then sauteed in a tomato-pepper sauce. To die for! I now am a lover of crabs of all sorts. I want to get some and try cooking them myself. I have cooked live lobsters on this boat, so I think I can handle crabs, too. Here is some soup we had.
A couple days later, Mike and five of his friends went on a big fishing boat - we chartered it as a way for Mike to celebrate his 53rd birthday (he is a mere child compared with my 56 years!) in style. He has never done anything special for his birthdays since we have been together, and before that spent most of them on Navy ships. So this year I wanted to do something nice for him. And it turned out great - he got a 350-400 pound black marlin! Of course they did not keep it, catch and release all the way. Then his friend Ron caught a nice sized sailfish. This was a first for Ron, and we were so happy to have been a part of it. It took Mike one and one half hours to fight that fish! I have pictures, but they are on the other computer (of course!) so I will have to post them later. Too bad. I did have some stuff on Facebook.
Last night we took a night time dinghy trip into the mangrove jungle. It was me and Mike in our dinghy, and Ron and Rogelio (one of our local friends) in Ron's dinghy. It was absolutely incredible. We turned off the engines and just drifted with the tide and current, listening to the sounds of the jungle - all sorts of noises. The moon was full so there was plenty of light, even through the clouds. The jungle at night is completely different than the day time jungle. I would have been a bit hesitant to go if not for the presence of Rogelio, who grew up here and knows it well, and Mike's GPS chartplotter that leaves a Hansel-and-Gretel type trail to follow back. There are so many twisting turns through these mangroves one could get lost. We almost ran aground when we weren't paying attention, but we pulled up at the last minute and running aground in a dinghy is not a big deal anyway. Worse case scenario you have to get out of the boat and into water with a yucky bottom to pull it back into deep enough water. There are no dangerous underwater rocks here - the bottom is like an underwater dune. but muddy.
It is getting hotter by the day - well over 90 each day and lots of humidity. We are not getting the rain we are suppposed to have - it did rain nicely two days ago, but other than that, there has been nothing substantial for weeks. It rains everywhere but here - I guess that is why this area is called Bahia Del Sol. The locals are telling us this is very unusual. Dare I say it? Global warming????
So anyway, I am having a nice time and really enjoying things. We are planning to leave next week for an extended visit to Honduras, which will include seven days of diving off Roatan in the Caribbean, which is supposed to be some of the best diving in the world. We will also see Copan, a large Mayan ruin site. I have heard great things about Honduras, and look forward to the trip. I still have some reservations to make, but it should be fine. We will have a driver, but in some ways, I wish we were taking the bus. I have created a monster with our driver - gotten way too familiar and now he is taking advantage of us. I hate having to be the bad guy, but I may have to. I guess I need to keep some boundaries up - but it is hard for me to do that. I am a horrible judge of character - if someone is but civil to me I think and proceed as though they were the absolute salt of the earth. Not that our driver is a bad guy, but I am beginning to feel like an ATM with arms and legs. But I will work this out. It was sort of a good lesson, but the truth is I probably have learned nothing and will continue just as I am, making friends with all and sundry. The best I can hope for is that I am no longer going out of my way to befriend crazy people. That would be a big step forward.
I can't believe it is already August! We will be here until sometime in October, then head south to Costa Rica and then Panama. We think we will leve for the Marquesas and Society islands in the early spring, but who knows, we may stay in Central America for another year as there are so many wonderful places here left to explore. Plus it is muy barato (very cheap) to live here - not to be disregarded by any means. There are so many options! The one thing I know for sure is that I do not want to be in the US until after the election - it would make me crazy to have to hear all the ads and complaining and lying and distortions and all that sort of thing. Our plan is to visit around Christmas.
So anyway - that is it for today. I have no plans but to swim in the pool and stay cool. Steak and avocado and tomatoes for dinner!
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." (Soren Kierkegaard)
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