Pictures, Finally

I finally got some pictures prepared for posting.  So here goes.  The internet here is dicey and kicks us off at the drop of  a hat, so we will see what happens.  There are a ton of pictures, and it takes a lot of time to sort through, then shrink them for posting, resaving, etc.  They are a mixture in no specific order, so here goes. 

First of all, I think this is a strange name for a beer.  But here it is.  This is in Panama

 

We Spent a week in January in the Darien jungle, visiting a village where the Embera people live.  It was a wonderful experience and Mike took some great pictures   This is an Embera baby.

 


                                                     And this little girl had no problem having her picture taken.

 

 

This is what can happen when you anchor where there is a currant, like in a river.  It took over an hour to clear an bigger one.  I was able to clear this with the boat hook.  We had to use the dinghy and the engine to clear the other one.                                               

                                       

 Here are the houses where people live in the village.  If a ladder was down, it meant the people were ok with company.  If the ladder is up, it means no visitors.

 

Here are some of the kids that came to visit on the boat. 

When we got to the village after walking up about a half a mile through the jungle, everyone was out to visit us.  The men usually wear shirts and tshirts, but the women wear the traditional dress all the time. 

I got myself all painted up just like the women there do.  I have it all over my front too, as well as bands on my legs and the bottom half of my face.  It took about three weeks for it all to go away.

OK, switching gears, here is me at the equator, as proved by the position shown. 

 And for anyone who wonders, this is what my kitchen (galley) looks like when the place is clean.

 
This is the jungle along the river we visited.  Except for regular paths, it was really dense and we did not try to hike in it.

This woman is making the dye used in the tattooing process.  These kids were on a boat that organized this trip, and it was fun to have kids with us.  It opened things up in a way that I don't think would have happened if it had been just adults.

Here is Mike with some of the men.  He was quite the center of interest among the women.  We suspect it was the beard.

Here is Mike taking the kids out in the dinghy.  He let the kids drive and they were tearing it up all up and down the river.  There was another man taking kids out, but the little girls refused to ride with anyone except Mike.

Here are out boats at rest in Bahia Caraquez.  MJ is off by herself, in the middle.

 

Here is Bahia Caraquez from atop a hill, looking down over the estuary as it empties into the ocean.

 

Now we are back in Panama.  We saw these guys in their Cayucos, which are the canoes made from a single piece of wood and carved out.  The dogs are along to help hunt iguanas.

Here is a California needle fish I caught.  They are really good to eat.

 

 

Here is a close up of the teeth.  We had to be careful handling it.

 

These are ibises, roosting in a tree. 

And where would we be without pelican trees?

Here is the living room (saloon) where we spend most of our time.  This is from the stern of the boat looking towards the bow.  I have the door to the vee berth closed because it was being used for storage and was messy.

 

 

So finally, here is some evidence of what I have been doing.  There are more, and I will try and get things up.  We are getting ready to head off for the US - we will be there for about six weeks, traversing the country.  I am looking forward to it, and hope I can sleep on the plane as it is an overnight flight.  The airport is about six hours north of here, and we are taking the bus.  So the next post will likely be from the good old US of A. 

 

 

"Common sense is not so common"  (Voltaire)