We zijn terug in het land van de wifi, en het wordt een hele klus om een maand zonder updates van onze blog goed te maken. Momenteel zijn we in Shelter Bay Marina, nabij het Panama kanaal. We gaan waarschijnlijk rond de 15de maart door het kanaal, naar de Stille Oceaan (in het engels de vredige oceaan aka Pacific ocean). Na een tweetal dagen van klussen hebben we tijd gevonden om aan het bloggen te slaan. Eerst hebben we echter onze zeilen binnengebracht om eens na te kijken. Ons grootzeil had een zeillat die verdwenen was nadat de stop eruit gevlogen was (veiligheidspin verloren, stop langzaam uitgedraaid, en lat het wijde sop in) en onze genoa (voorzeil) vertoont een beetje slijtage op het UV-beschermingsstuk. Meteen ook onze zeilzak binnengedaan om wat vroege slijtage met beschermstukken te bedekken. En als het grootzeil dan toch van de mast was, heb ik de meeste lijnen (ophaal- en aanhaaltouwen) vervangen door nieuwe exemplaren die de vorige eigenaar reeds had aangekocht. Enfin over onze activiteiten in Colon later meer, eerst een blog plegen over wat reeds achter de rug is.
De nauwe ingang tot het ankerveld dat het begin van het kanaal inluidt. Gelukkig geen ander verkeer te bespeuren,Ilse in de marina aan de slag met Marcella, onze wasmachine,
October 20th, early in the morning, 6 AM, we are ready (we think) to climb the volcano from the leeward side, this the longer and more difficult approach and the trail is more overgrown….Rasta Kenny, our guide, is on time but we have to wait 20 minutes for our taxi driver. Stefan is already getting nervous since we need to get to the top before the hot sun is hitting us. By about 7 AM we arrive at the starting point, the beach in Richmond. Rasta Kenny smokes a joint, maybe it is not that difficult then….Stefan takes the lead after 5 minutes of walking and after one hour Kenny stays behind. It was the first time he climbed the mountain since 3 months. He definitely will stop smoking for about 2 months when the tourists are back 🙂 . He tells us about his jail time in Barbados because he tried to sell 450 pouds of marijuana in Barbados. If you can sell it there you are rich but obviously you cannot get caught. Kenny still has a ganja plantation but only sells in St.Vincent.
On the beach with black sand in Richmond, our starting point.7 AM Richmond Beach, crossing the river.
In the beginning the climbing is not too bad and the path is still wide enough.
Slowly going up in a dry river bed.
Soon the path becomes more and more overgrown and steeper.
Where is the path here…? Rasta Kenny, our guide, behind.
When we get to halfway point, I had hoped we were already past halfway…Good thing I did not know what still was to come…
Rasta Kenny with his rubber boots and machete..he had no water and food with him. Luckily we had enough to share.Taking time to take pictures…Marijuana plantation in the back of the picture. There are many on the way up to the volcano.We come from all the way down there at the beach…
Stefan must have an appointment up there…he is going so fast. I can hardly follow and Kenny does not know what is happening to him…Definitely no more smoking the next months…
Higher and higher, also the shrubs…
Almost there, speedy Stefan is probably on the top already.
Inside the volcano.The sight is worth it but now I am going to sit here for the next 15 minutes.
Now we still have to go back down! We arrived at 10 AM at the top, so in 3 hours where most guides speak of 4 hours…Rasta Kenny told me “your man is full of energy man”, I was happy to hear somebody confirmed my feelings. We went down in 2,5 hours, going down was not a peace of cake…luckily it did not rain! When we got back at the beach our taxi driver was waiting for us, it was 1 PM. We got a beer at the first bar, all the water we had with us was gone (3 liter). A nice thought to end the climb was written on the wall (elections are coming up)….
A great thought to think about the remainder of the day!
When we arrived back at the boat, after a two hour drive, the only thing we did was take a dive in the cool water, wash up, and read or sleep…For dinner we had mangos, nobody felt like cooking :-). Another great day in paradise! 🙂
