We have enjoyed being in Ustupu.   We are here with Gene and Brenda on S/V Queen Mary, and Steve and Mary on S/V Barefoot.  We all go in daily for lunch, which usually is fried chicken, rice, and beans for $2.50.  We walk around and talk to the locals and buy the fresh Kuna bread, which is ready around 3 p.m.

This father and son paints pictures on feathers.  We bought three from them.  Two are of Kuna women and one is of a monkey holding a baby.  He also showed us a real picture of a man and the portrait he had painted on the feather, and it was excellent.   He sells them for $5 each.

When we arrived at Ustupu on Feb. 24th, we met Andres.   He is a young man, and friend of Romelo.  The first three or four days when we would go to town, Andres would be at our side.  Very nice young man.   We met his wife and his 15 day old baby girl.   They do not name their babies here until some time after they are born. When we were in town today, we saw Andres' wife and little baby.   She announced to us that their baby's name was Sonny. We plan to return to Ustupu to see our friends again.

They all came out at 4:30 p.m. in Romelo's very large ulu.  All nine of them.   I thought I could entertain the young boys down below with a Nemo movie, with Spanish subtitles.   So, I started the movie, and the four boys and both moms stayed below to watch the movie. 

We all went over to Queen Mary's for our last evening together.   Romelo said, "My heart already hurts for you not to be here tomorrow."    Goodbyes with friends are hard, but the good news is, we can always return to Ustupu.

It is beautiful here.   Calm anchorage, tucked in behind the islands with mountains behind us for the sunset.

Cruisers do not come to this area very much.   The locals are most curious about the boat and are pretty bold to try to get on to look around.   When they are beside the boat in their ulus, they are bent over, trying to get a peek in the portholes to see inside.  They want to talk, want to sell fish, molas, avocadoes, or just want candy, drinks, or anything you will give them.

We are about 28 miles to the Panamanian/Colombian border, but have a few more stops we want to make along the way before we check out of Panama.

So, we got on the VHF and told Queen Mary and Barefoot the rules, and we all decided we did not need to stay at their island, we could go down a little further.  So we did.

We continued our journey to Puerto Escoses.   It is a protected anchorage surrounded by mangroves, but hopefully there will be a good breeze and no no-see-ums.

We took the dinghies up the rivers nearby to explore then all had dinner on Valentina of the fish we caught while trolling.  We caught two little tunies and two cerro and Gene (Queen Mary) caught two cerros.  Gene also prepared patacones and Mary (Barefoot) brought coleslaw.  Delicious! 

I made some guacamole from some of the avacadoes we have bought lately from the locals.  We bought 12 in one day, so they are all ripe and need to be eaten.  The locals go to the mountain in their ulus each morning, gather the fruits and vegetables and sell them to us on their way home.

We had four very nice boys row up to our boat this morning.   They were going to the beach.   We are in a cove, completely surrounded by mountains and asked where the beach was.  They pointed to the north, so we watched them as they rowed their ulu into the mangroves.   We asked Queen Mary and Barefoot if they wanted to go find the beach, and, of course, we all did.

We took our dinghies to the same spot, up the very, very narrow channel of mangroves to the end, then got out and the fun began.  We walked through mud, sinking and loosing our shoes in it, then followed the trail for about 20 minutes until we reached the beach on the Caribbean Sea.  We found the boys and they got us some coconuts and we walked the beach and collected sea beans.

We towed the boys' ulu back to their home and met their family.

We left at 6:15 a.m. this morning and headed to Obaldia to check out of Panama so we can go to Sapzurro, Colombia.   It took us five hours to get to Obaldia and it is completely exposed to the seas, so Brenda and I stayed on our boats while the guys went in to the Police Station, Customs, and Immigration.   The officials here were very nice and easy.  They had no knowledge of the mariner's visa.  Each place in Panama has been totally different to their requirements.

When the guys returned, we secured our dinghy again and headed to Sapzurro, Colombia, about one hour away.

Of course, it is a beautiful anchorage.  A small bay, with a village of brightly painted houses and now, a total of six boats in the anchorage, completely surrounded on all three sides with mountains. 

One of the owners of one of the houses owns a tv station and has set up wireless internet.   We tried, and tried, but the signal was not strong enough to update our website.  Cartagena......

Sapzurro is a nice village, with friendly people.  The anchorage was a bit rolly with high seas.   Prices for meals at the restaurants are high from what we are used to.   We paid $10 per person for a shrimp dinner with rice and salad.  Good food, but expensive for down here.  We are used to the $3 complete meal deal with soup, chicken, rice, beans, and plantains.

Across this mountain is another village, so the six of us hiked over the mountain. 

It took us about 2 hours to get over and we later took a launcha back around to return to our boats.

All the boats in the anchorage, Sea Biscuit, Andrameda, Reality, Barefoot, and Valentina gathered on Queen Mary to exchange information.  The three of them came from the Eastern Caribbean and we all came from the Western Caribbean, so it was time to share waypoints and experiences.

Gene (Queen Mary) caught a mahi-mahi while trolling that was 54 inches long.    A huge fish!   They invited Barefoot and Valentina over for fish dinner tonight.   He was delicious!   They even gave each of us a package of fish for the road.   Good, good people.   We sure enjoy our time with them.

We did eat ashore with Antonio in his yard for 13,000 pesos each (about $6.50).     We had some very done chicken, salad and rice.    We are ready to eat on our boat for a while.

We dinghied around the island of San Bernardo today.   It is an island with mangrove creeks all throughout with some huge, beautiful houses.

Rick and Cindy, (S/V Dragon Fly) pulled into the anchorage today.   We met them last year in Guanaja, Roatan.  They were headed home to work in Boston, and now have come back south.   It sure is good to see old friends again.

All the boats in the anchorage got together on Queen Mary for music.

S/V Cherokee II  Dragon Fly Barefoot and Valentina.

It is a nice break......no one comes to your boat to sell you anything.   But, it is Easter (Semana Santa) week, so the Colombians are here vacationing in their big power boats, cruising around the sailboats...... checking us out.

We met Carlos and Carolina who own a hotel and restaurant, "Puntanorte" at Isla Tintipan.  Very nice people.   Love to sit and talk.  They have been here for 25 years.

Sunrises and Sunsets are the most beautiful here.....

Baru is completed surrounded by mainland and islands.   A very protected reef all around.   This is Easter weekend so there are big power boats cruising around the anchorage, children skiing.....and everyone having fun.   A typical holiday weekend at the lake.

Colombianos Enjoying the Holiday

We dinghied around the islands and through the channels of mangroves.   It was fun.  

We plan to get a hard bimini made while we are here in Cartagena.

And, for the first time in 2 1/2 months, we will have internet access, banking facilities, and real grocery stores.

One lesson we have learned while cruising, is how little you really need......or actually use.....what you think you really need.  Sounds confusing, I know.   And, we certainly do not have a place to store the stuff we do not use.

We are checking on prices for our hard bimini and are finding the quotes to be much higher than we had anticipated.  The US dollar is down, which does not help.  We will continue checking.

Cartagena is famous for the corriente lunches.   For $2.50 you get a big bowl of soup, rice, beans, salad, chicken, and a drink. 

Sunsets here are beautiful too, just looks different over skyscrapers rather than islands.

We met this morning with Josua for the hard bimini and Bennai for the stainless steel.  We have agreed with Josua to do the bimini and waiting on a quote for the stainless steel.

Then, Sonny and I walked to "Old Town" and spent the day.  Mimes, dancers, small streets and beautiful, old buildings.

There is a strong military presence here in Cartagena.  We saw our first submarine.  It may be hard to see in this photo, but there are two, side by side.

Tonight, we went out to eat with Gene and Brenda (Queen Mary) and Steve and Mary (Barefoot) to celebrate Steve's birthday.  A very nice evening.

This morning, two locals in a small boat were setting out a gill net and caught 12 fish, right beside Valentina.

We received our quote on the stainless for our hard bimini, and we did not totally pass out, so we agreed to have it done.   It is "supposed" to be completed in 15 days.....we will see.