Friday
"Let's meet at Casa Verde." Yeah, it's one of my primary hangouts, but it is beginning to wear on me. I walked over to Gabrielle's table, she was there with a couple of traveler she had met in Cahuita, Costa Rica, Kasey and Ashley.
She was primed for a seafood orgy and we made our way to Super Gourmet to get her some cooking supplies. She looked at a large bag of Cheetos, $3.75. "Oh my god, these are $10 in Costa Rica." "There's more than one reason I don't live in Costa Rica."
"This wasabi is wonderful, this is top notch soy sauce." A broad smile and twinkling eyes approved of each selection placed on the checkout counter. I returned to get some noodles and by the time I had returned she had purchased all that we had selected. A few days before I had bought three very large crabs and a lobster for $3 from an Ngobe Indian in a dugout canoe. The crabs were in the freezer at a local restaurant.
We dropped by a friend's house but the visit was cut short by the setting sun. Between the mangroves there is not a hint of light after dusk. "Oh shit, I forgot to buy any meat, we don't have anything to make for dinner." Gabrielle looked around and thought I was nuts and prepared a wonderful Jambalaya.
Saturday
Of course Gabrielle was not up at dawn. They never are. She whipped up a breakfast of scrambled eggs accompanied by some refried beans I had made the night before. Good to stoke up on an active day. We leisurely consumed a good portion of the 1820 coffee she had brought down from Costa Rica and took a leisurely stroll in the jungle behind my house. Soon we came upon a red poison dart frog but not much else.
We hopped in the boat and shot over to Red Frog Beach, the entrance on the leeward side (south) is directly across from my house, about half a mile away. A quick walk across the island of Bastimentos at a narrow point and any lingering ennui dissolved in her enthusiasm for the spectacular, famous beach as she caught her first glimpse. A short stroll later we parked ourselves at Palmar, a "glamping" (glamorous camping) resort owned by a friend of mine. Soon we were joined by Kacey and Ashley and swam. "I've never seen water this clear, and it's so warm." An hour or so of this and we headed out. Heading back we passed countless locals and tourists on the trail and many more arriving on boats. Good thing we got an early start.
Off to Roots, a restaurant and bar over the water on Isla Bastimentos, for a smoothie: banana, papaya, mango, choose your own. We strolled to the end of town on the only pavement in town, a single sidewalk. As we neared the end of town a man called out from his porch and came over to us hawking some lobster. "How much?" "Make me an offer." I looked at Gabrielle, "What do you think they are worth?" "I don't know, you say." "Eight dollars." "No way, they cost me nine. Twelve." I gave him eleven. We walked to a chino. All grocery stores are called "chino" as they are all owned and operated by the Chinese. A Chinese guy sat behind the counter, his wife at the end and said something in Chinese to him. Gabrielle responded and soon they were in a long discussion. We bought a bag of ice and left. "Where you speaking Cantonese or Mandarin?" "Both."
Back across the bay for some snorkeling at Hospital Point. I had but one set of snorkel gear left on the boat. Gabrielle's camera card was full. I took hers and put it in place it could not possibly be forgotten and gave her my 16GB card. She spent twenty minutes snorkeling and popped up astonished, "I just saw a $300 fish." I don't quantify the value of the wildlife here. The little frogs that populate my grounds sell for $400 apiece on the black market. They only live on this small island. I'm getting hungry.
Gabrielle got the lobster off the boat and an expat went with her into the kitchen and halved them and split the tails. My contribution was sitting on my ass and chatting. A few minutes later we had small dishes of wasabi and soy and ate raw lobster. Gabrielle good naturedly chided people for waste and consumed all manner of parts no one would touch.
I imposed on a friend for use of his kitchen. He had no problem with two young women in bikinis cooking on his stove while he pretended to watch television. Thai veggies and crabs with claws the size of a dinner plate. We ate to the point of discomfort.
We hung around Casa Verde for a bit, then took the boat over to Isla Carenero. I thought I'd show her a little night life. Aqua Lounge is a den of thieves on the water. The music was obnoxious and loud. I erroneously thought that a 27 year old would enjoy it. While I watched purses and back packs the girls danced. Little did I know that for Gabrielle she was just trying to make the best of a bad situation. "Any time you want, I'm ready to go home." Ok, I took the hint. We headed back to Isla Colon and docked at Barco Hundido. Compared to Barco Hundido, Aqua Lounge is a church. I held all the bags at all times. I wouldn't even wear them on my back so that somebody wouldn't unzip my backpack and empty a pocket or two while I stood there. I watched the girls drinks to make sure nobody slipped a mickey into them. Yup, it's that kind of place. We walked Ashley back to her hotel. She had no idea where it was. I didn't need a girl walking the streets alone late at night.
Back to the boat, we went home. Tooling along slowly in the post midnight darkness I asked, "Do you see my house?" Of course she couldn't see the house. "It's right over there." I couldn't see it either. Up the stairs and off to bed. Christ, it's three o'clock. "Good night."
Sunday
Back to some friends' house to borrow some snorkel gear. We made our way around the east end of my island and stopped at several spots. I kicked and pulled myself up onto the boat but in my tired state only managed to bang my ribs on the gunwhale. Ouch. One more spot. My guest took a huge number of pictures and we finally headed back to town for dinner.
Gabrielle changed in the shower. She had been invited to give salsa lessons that evening. I busted her, glammed up, in the kitchen with a guard, consuming raw lobster. "He wanted a piece." "I'm sure he did." I don't think she got it; she was looking pretty hot.
A boat full of people returned from Rana Azul (blue frog) , a restaurant in the darklands about eight miles from town. Sunday is ritually Rana Azul day. Boaters go to eat pizza and consume massive quantities of alcohol. People staggered off the boat.
"Jim do you have an extra cigarette?" "Nope, this pack only came with twenty." "My friend will give you a blowjob if you give me a cigarette." "Here, Lindsey, now about the other..." "Hmmm, where did she go?"
A guy staggered over to me. "You know, he is one of the best guysshh in Bocas, he put twenty seven thousand into that boat." A random, unsolicited comment. "Not everybody likes him. He is kind of like you, you know, you are not the most popular guy in town, but you grow on people, like a fungus." "Bill, we can't all have your inimitable charm. Perhaps you should spread your joy with a more deserving person." "See what I mean?" Then he staggered off and offered to punch somebody in the face and then suggested that he would make him "disappear." "Are you threatening to kill me?" "Yerr shmart enough to figger it out." Charming.
Pete started off. He was soon joined by Lindsey on vocals. Such an awesome, husky voice from such a little girl. A couple of hours later Gabrielle took the stage and gave salsa and merengue lessons to a full dock then gave a performance.
"Nick, don't vomit here." I walked him to the dock and held his arm so he wouldn't fall in as he spewed. There is a reason I usually go home early.
I looked for her SD card. It was not in my camera. Losing somebody's travel pictures is an unforgivable act. I started to apologize, but she indicated that it was in her purse, where I had put it. Had she left with my card at least she'd have hers. Whew!
Back home, we whipped up some hummus and I showed Gabrielle how to prune, crop, straighten and color correct her pictures. For hours she sat in awe. "These are the best snorkeling pictures I have ever taken." Snorkeling pictures always have to be edited. Not a lot of time for camera settings and composition while you are holding your breath and taking pictures (I hate to use the term photographing for underwater snapshots) of moving fish.
Ok, it's three o'clock. I'm done. Good night. I rolled over. Ouch. These ribs are going to take a while to heal.
Monday
The dogs raised a commotion. I looked down on the dock. An Indian from across the bay had arrived to fell some small trees. The stray dog wandered by. Between the ascending indian and my descending dogs the pooch opted to depart hastily. Damn.
I offered Timon, the Indian a coffee. He took that as an invitation to stand and look at the water indefinitely. I pursuaded him to start working and he returned ten minutes later to have me repair his chainsaw. He sat and drank coffee while I repaired his saw for free and he resumed work.
The phone rang repeatedly. Eladio. Once again he wanted me to pay him for work he had not finished. He still hadn't treated the wood.
Coffee. More coffee. Snorkeling in front of my house. "Ok, chica, time to get you back to Costa Rica." The boat stuttered. Damn fuel pump. I docked at Hotel Angela, where my mechanic works. I ran into Eladio. Where are the bottles I need for the chemicals to treat the dock. Once again he had left them back at the property. Kind of hard to finish the job this way. I procured more. He wanted to be paid. I wanted him to finish the job. My real estate agent went into hiding to get away from this guy.
Lunch, goodbyes and many trips to check on boat. Frank finished soldering the lead and I went home.
"Let's meet at Casa Verde." Yeah, it's one of my primary hangouts, but it is beginning to wear on me. I walked over to Gabrielle's table, she was there with a couple of traveler she had met in Cahuita, Costa Rica, Kasey and Ashley.
She was primed for a seafood orgy and we made our way to Super Gourmet to get her some cooking supplies. She looked at a large bag of Cheetos, $3.75. "Oh my god, these are $10 in Costa Rica." "There's more than one reason I don't live in Costa Rica."
"This wasabi is wonderful, this is top notch soy sauce." A broad smile and twinkling eyes approved of each selection placed on the checkout counter. I returned to get some noodles and by the time I had returned she had purchased all that we had selected. A few days before I had bought three very large crabs and a lobster for $3 from an Ngobe Indian in a dugout canoe. The crabs were in the freezer at a local restaurant.
We dropped by a friend's house but the visit was cut short by the setting sun. Between the mangroves there is not a hint of light after dusk. "Oh shit, I forgot to buy any meat, we don't have anything to make for dinner." Gabrielle looked around and thought I was nuts and prepared a wonderful Jambalaya.
Saturday
Of course Gabrielle was not up at dawn. They never are. She whipped up a breakfast of scrambled eggs accompanied by some refried beans I had made the night before. Good to stoke up on an active day. We leisurely consumed a good portion of the 1820 coffee she had brought down from Costa Rica and took a leisurely stroll in the jungle behind my house. Soon we came upon a red poison dart frog but not much else.
We hopped in the boat and shot over to Red Frog Beach, the entrance on the leeward side (south) is directly across from my house, about half a mile away. A quick walk across the island of Bastimentos at a narrow point and any lingering ennui dissolved in her enthusiasm for the spectacular, famous beach as she caught her first glimpse. A short stroll later we parked ourselves at Palmar, a "glamping" (glamorous camping) resort owned by a friend of mine. Soon we were joined by Kacey and Ashley and swam. "I've never seen water this clear, and it's so warm." An hour or so of this and we headed out. Heading back we passed countless locals and tourists on the trail and many more arriving on boats. Good thing we got an early start.
Off to Roots, a restaurant and bar over the water on Isla Bastimentos, for a smoothie: banana, papaya, mango, choose your own. We strolled to the end of town on the only pavement in town, a single sidewalk. As we neared the end of town a man called out from his porch and came over to us hawking some lobster. "How much?" "Make me an offer." I looked at Gabrielle, "What do you think they are worth?" "I don't know, you say." "Eight dollars." "No way, they cost me nine. Twelve." I gave him eleven. We walked to a chino. All grocery stores are called "chino" as they are all owned and operated by the Chinese. A Chinese guy sat behind the counter, his wife at the end and said something in Chinese to him. Gabrielle responded and soon they were in a long discussion. We bought a bag of ice and left. "Where you speaking Cantonese or Mandarin?" "Both."
Back across the bay for some snorkeling at Hospital Point. I had but one set of snorkel gear left on the boat. Gabrielle's camera card was full. I took hers and put it in place it could not possibly be forgotten and gave her my 16GB card. She spent twenty minutes snorkeling and popped up astonished, "I just saw a $300 fish." I don't quantify the value of the wildlife here. The little frogs that populate my grounds sell for $400 apiece on the black market. They only live on this small island. I'm getting hungry.
Gabrielle got the lobster off the boat and an expat went with her into the kitchen and halved them and split the tails. My contribution was sitting on my ass and chatting. A few minutes later we had small dishes of wasabi and soy and ate raw lobster. Gabrielle good naturedly chided people for waste and consumed all manner of parts no one would touch.
I imposed on a friend for use of his kitchen. He had no problem with two young women in bikinis cooking on his stove while he pretended to watch television. Thai veggies and crabs with claws the size of a dinner plate. We ate to the point of discomfort.
We hung around Casa Verde for a bit, then took the boat over to Isla Carenero. I thought I'd show her a little night life. Aqua Lounge is a den of thieves on the water. The music was obnoxious and loud. I erroneously thought that a 27 year old would enjoy it. While I watched purses and back packs the girls danced. Little did I know that for Gabrielle she was just trying to make the best of a bad situation. "Any time you want, I'm ready to go home." Ok, I took the hint. We headed back to Isla Colon and docked at Barco Hundido. Compared to Barco Hundido, Aqua Lounge is a church. I held all the bags at all times. I wouldn't even wear them on my back so that somebody wouldn't unzip my backpack and empty a pocket or two while I stood there. I watched the girls drinks to make sure nobody slipped a mickey into them. Yup, it's that kind of place. We walked Ashley back to her hotel. She had no idea where it was. I didn't need a girl walking the streets alone late at night.
Back to the boat, we went home. Tooling along slowly in the post midnight darkness I asked, "Do you see my house?" Of course she couldn't see the house. "It's right over there." I couldn't see it either. Up the stairs and off to bed. Christ, it's three o'clock. "Good night."
Sunday
Back to some friends' house to borrow some snorkel gear. We made our way around the east end of my island and stopped at several spots. I kicked and pulled myself up onto the boat but in my tired state only managed to bang my ribs on the gunwhale. Ouch. One more spot. My guest took a huge number of pictures and we finally headed back to town for dinner.
Gabrielle changed in the shower. She had been invited to give salsa lessons that evening. I busted her, glammed up, in the kitchen with a guard, consuming raw lobster. "He wanted a piece." "I'm sure he did." I don't think she got it; she was looking pretty hot.
A boat full of people returned from Rana Azul (blue frog) , a restaurant in the darklands about eight miles from town. Sunday is ritually Rana Azul day. Boaters go to eat pizza and consume massive quantities of alcohol. People staggered off the boat.
"Jim do you have an extra cigarette?" "Nope, this pack only came with twenty." "My friend will give you a blowjob if you give me a cigarette." "Here, Lindsey, now about the other..." "Hmmm, where did she go?"
A guy staggered over to me. "You know, he is one of the best guysshh in Bocas, he put twenty seven thousand into that boat." A random, unsolicited comment. "Not everybody likes him. He is kind of like you, you know, you are not the most popular guy in town, but you grow on people, like a fungus." "Bill, we can't all have your inimitable charm. Perhaps you should spread your joy with a more deserving person." "See what I mean?" Then he staggered off and offered to punch somebody in the face and then suggested that he would make him "disappear." "Are you threatening to kill me?" "Yerr shmart enough to figger it out." Charming.
Pete started off. He was soon joined by Lindsey on vocals. Such an awesome, husky voice from such a little girl. A couple of hours later Gabrielle took the stage and gave salsa and merengue lessons to a full dock then gave a performance.
"Nick, don't vomit here." I walked him to the dock and held his arm so he wouldn't fall in as he spewed. There is a reason I usually go home early.
I looked for her SD card. It was not in my camera. Losing somebody's travel pictures is an unforgivable act. I started to apologize, but she indicated that it was in her purse, where I had put it. Had she left with my card at least she'd have hers. Whew!
Back home, we whipped up some hummus and I showed Gabrielle how to prune, crop, straighten and color correct her pictures. For hours she sat in awe. "These are the best snorkeling pictures I have ever taken." Snorkeling pictures always have to be edited. Not a lot of time for camera settings and composition while you are holding your breath and taking pictures (I hate to use the term photographing for underwater snapshots) of moving fish.
Ok, it's three o'clock. I'm done. Good night. I rolled over. Ouch. These ribs are going to take a while to heal.
Monday
The dogs raised a commotion. I looked down on the dock. An Indian from across the bay had arrived to fell some small trees. The stray dog wandered by. Between the ascending indian and my descending dogs the pooch opted to depart hastily. Damn.
I offered Timon, the Indian a coffee. He took that as an invitation to stand and look at the water indefinitely. I pursuaded him to start working and he returned ten minutes later to have me repair his chainsaw. He sat and drank coffee while I repaired his saw for free and he resumed work.
The phone rang repeatedly. Eladio. Once again he wanted me to pay him for work he had not finished. He still hadn't treated the wood.
Coffee. More coffee. Snorkeling in front of my house. "Ok, chica, time to get you back to Costa Rica." The boat stuttered. Damn fuel pump. I docked at Hotel Angela, where my mechanic works. I ran into Eladio. Where are the bottles I need for the chemicals to treat the dock. Once again he had left them back at the property. Kind of hard to finish the job this way. I procured more. He wanted to be paid. I wanted him to finish the job. My real estate agent went into hiding to get away from this guy.
Lunch, goodbyes and many trips to check on boat. Frank finished soldering the lead and I went home.
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| 2012-04-14 Gabrielle Red Frog |
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| 2012-04-14 Hospital Point |
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| Gabrielle |
Sorry picasa messed up it's control file on my computer, messing up the album contents and then synced to the site and messed them up. Not worth the effort. Look at http://picasaweb.google.com/txherper and look at all the pictures.
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