Date: 14.01.2023
Author: Anna
Position: Porto Lindo 
Nautical Position: N 09° 30.7 W 80° 48.4
Etmal: 6123.7 NM
Ship: Regina Maris

Cracky Morning

When we woke up and saw the gorgeous view of the wild nature of Panama, we all realized we are in paradise. But because we were too lazy yesterday, we had to write a Spanish test directly after breakfast. Afterwards we all got free shore leave. We had to go in groups of six people. So, we all chose different  things to explore.

Welcome to the jungle

Our group went to the jungle. We had no plan and no map, but who cares. So, we followed a street until there was a way to the jungle. But there wasn’t, so we went through a private place over a fence. And then Rock paper scissors decided our path. We saw many different little animals and a horse. Sadly, we didn’t see any monkeys. The ant-streets where a big highlight as we never saw so massive ants before.  Of course, spiders made some of us scream. But in the end everybody was happy about our jungle experience. And we all are looking forward to seeing more.

Exotic fruits and animals in Panama 

Meanwhile my group walked through the little village, ate some mysterious meat-noodles at a local food store and headed along a path where we heard and saw Brüllaffen and bought pineapples and coconuts from a little stand by the road. The man there told us about the different monkey types on this island, e.g. cappuccino monkeys and Howler monkeys.

We might have trespassed some private properties while trying to find the perfect place to enjoy our exotic fruits and get that FULL rain forest experience! We all felt the Indiana Jones/ Jumanji/ Janosch- vibe (Liebe Grüße an Dich, Papa, ich hoffe, Du passt gut auf meine Tigerenten-Tasse auf:)) and can’t wait to spend more time exploring the rain forest in Costa Rica!!! 

„Oh wie schön ist Panama“ and a swamp in my shoes (Amélie)

As we took the first dinghy to shore, it took a while to find the perfect spot to park the dinghy. At first, we walked a bit around and sat down with a lemonade to plan our day. Our expedition started in the little village, we passed a violet bridge and lots of other colorful houses.

We continued our way through the jungle near by the bay. It was incredible to see all this plants and those extremely big bamboo trees. We also went over a little bridge which was made from bamboo. Apparently, bamboo isn’t the best material to build a bridge, because right when I stepped on it, the bridge cracked and I fell into the extremely good smelling water.

With a swamp in my shoes, I used my spanish knowledge to find our way to the supermarket where we all bought an ice cream. After this great morning we went back to the pier and talked about the upcoming days until the dinghy came to take us back to our Reggie.

Diving at the wrack 

The idea was better than the actual action. We went diving close to an old broken ship. But the water was too dirty. As soon as we went down the ship wrack suddenly appeared through the water and got us scared. A group member (Leopold) called it a „durchschnittlicher Badestop“.

Back to the ship 

That means packing, learning and sleeping. Some learned for the math test that’s coming soon. Some packed their things for the three weeks in Costa Rica. And some were just tired and went to bed.