Green Island

Hi again as the time flies along.... I cannot believe that it is Friday already and almost the end of February. We are still at Green Island and tomorrow we will move to the Naguargandup Cays, possibly the western side and anchor off Salardup. Well now you know exactly where we are... still in the San Blas islands... on the Panamanian coast. As I said earlier the islands here have great names many that one finds hard to pronounce. We were going to move to Nargana today but decided to have a lazy day here instead. We got a whole lot of Langoustines' and crayfish today that we cooked and then boiled up all the heads and legs to make a wonderful "Lobster Bisque". We had that for supper tonight and after one bowl full you could not eat any more, so we have soup for lunch tomorrow with crayfish salad. The veggie boats have been around almost daily with fresh produce so we have good salad ingredients.
From Salardup we will head to the Lemon Cays for a day or two and then back to Porvenir to sign out. Many boats spend a lot of time cruising here and we have only touched on the one side of San Blas. Boats that have been further east say that you step back in time as the Kuna's there live a very traditional life with little western influence. There are also hundreds of islands to visit and to see them you would have to be here for a year or so. We do not have time to do it, but there are some rivers that run up into the rain forest that one can boat up. The forest here is absolutely pristine as no one has been in to remove the trees for a quick profit. The kunas only use trees for their dugout canoes. There is a lot of wildlife and plenty of birds to be seen. Even on the islands there are lots of different birds.
From Monday there is a total ban on fishing and collecting of seafood for three months. This is applicable to everyone as it gives the fish time to breed etc. Some of the langoustines that we bought today were carrying eggs so I took them and placed them on a small reef that hopefully will not attract the attention of any the divers looking for crayfish. Many yachties here do not follow the rules as they spearfish and remove seafood from the reef. This is rather disappointing as the Kuna work on trust and do not police the area. (Fishing with a line is permitted) There is another side to this and that is a lot of yachties are spear fishing "Lionfish" These predatory fish were introduced to the Caribbean and will kill off all the fish on a reef. Nothing will go for them as they have venomous spines on their dorsal fins that are also harmful to humans. However you can cut off the spines and fillet the fish and they are apparently good eating. Many places ask divers to report any of these fish so that they can be hunted down. Because they are very territorial they do not move from an area where they have established themselves and are easy to find again.
Unlike us we are always on the move. But for now its time to put the feed up and let dinner digest ... till next time.

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