Impressions of our last two weeks in Panamá before heading to Europe

On By syaltimateIn Atlantic, Caribbean, Colon, Linton, Media Blog, Panamá, San Blas, Guna Yala

Saying goodbye on our very last day in San Blas

from the left: Bernhard, Janis, me, Julia, Daniela, Debbie, El Capitano, Mark and Lukasz
with the Kuna family, left in the back Ibin, Fransisco, Levy, Myrta, Edgar and José

Some pics from our stop at Linton Bay

when we stopped at the fuel dock at Linton we saw the big cat “Pan Day” from Lucie and Michael which we had met in the pool
we were at Casa X, the restaurant of the old dutch guy Hans, the heron also seemed to like his place
walking flowers- its super hard to see, but ants were carrying all those blossom to somewhere- so cute
just some intensive colours

A short stop at Portobelo

The feature pic is from the big bay of Portobelo where we were anchored at the north part of the bay. We had been here before by bus but never anchored in the bay. Portobelo seemed to have better days. Years before it was a preferred anchorage for sailors. Due to theft incidents the anchorage lost its attraction to sailors, which is a pity as it is a beautiful and pretty protected anchorage.

Portobelo town
the view a bit to the south
here we had some late lunch in a hotel which was quite nice and not as run down as most of the places in Portobelo
the hotel provided some (expensive)art the tourists could buy
as everywhere in that area the “jungle” started just behind the road- even on cloudy days very pretty
at the west end of the town
a resting area in the middle of town
and of the few prettier buildings
a lot of areas of the town looked rather sad

Shelter Bay Marina

Norbert taking a pic of that couple; on weekends locals did come to the marina to have lunch and enjoy the area; a bit surprising for us but ok
Altimate’s dock
Altimate had a new hometown “Essen”
French connection one evening at the bbq area
Wikus checking the engine
and his guy helping him
that was my enormous working space to sew the frames for the solar panels
here they are two more frames and panels
the day we left the marina to head to the airport this little fellow crossed the street, I think it is a white nosed coati

Quinceañera

Throughout Latin America, a girl’s 15th birthday is considered to be a special occasion in her life and calls for a big celebration. The first time we realised that kind of tradition was in Santiago de Cuba when we were visiting the fort. A photographer took many pics of a girl who was dressed in a very fancy dress. I had asked them what that was about but I hadn’t understand. Later we had met them again at the beach when they were then taking pics of the girl in a bikini. We found that a bit weird. Now we know more! I read:”Traditionally, in the eyes of Latin American communities, the 15th birthday has marked the point of a girl’s maturity. So, to celebrate this significant birthday, families throw elaborate birthday parties called quinceañera. This is similar to a “sweet 16” party in the United States, but the quinceañera tradition has older roots and religious implications, making it more similar to a bat mitzvah from the Jewish tradition.” And nowadays they also take professional fotos in fancy dresses. But why am I explaining that? Well, one day in the marina a woman had asked me if I own a boat and if yes, if they could take some pictures on the boat for the Quinceañera of her daughter. I said yes and it would be a pleasure! So very excited they followed me to Altimate and took some pics. I again had asked the photographer if he could send me some pics in return – which he did!!!

the two of us – that foto was taken only for me
they naturally know how to pose perfectly
pretty girl
the old lady and the princess…

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