In the last post I mentioned that during our island hopping trip we stopped at Bluefield Lagoon and did a short overland walk to the well-known surf spot of Kusapín.

Two years ago, while we were in Trinidad, we met a Brazillian guy by the name of Manuel Alves. We became fast friends and when we came to Panama he offered his help and connections, as he also has his sailboat based in Bocas del Toro. He is away working right now but he kindly loaned Rufus his surfboard for our time here, as we gave away all our boards in Guatemala, when we thought we would not be returning to Melody last year :(

There wasn't much swell and the waves were teeny when we arrived, but that didn't stop the four of us from having fun in the water anyway!

Here are a few photos from the day and the local indians from the Comarce Ngäbe-Buglé Indian Reserve on the island.

Last week we arrived in Panama, after 7 days sailing down from Guatemala. We dropped anchor in front of Isla Colón which is part of the Bocas del Toro Archipelago, off the Caribbean coast of Panama.

To our absolute delight, the same day we arrived, our favourite cruising friends Natali and João, of S/Y Babile, appeared in our anchorage - reunited after almost 2 years!! We spent a few days anchored there, resting and exploring the island, enjoying the restaurants and bars of the little surf town.

As usual, we started getting itchy feet quite quickly and decided to head off to the surrounding, more remote, islands with Babile and another French boat, S/Y Spip. We did a day sail to the Zapatilla Islands and from there to Bluefield Lagoon where we did an overland trail to the beautiful beaches of Kusapin, a well known surf spot, in the Comarca Ngäbe-Buglé Indian Reserve.

We filled our days with spearfishing, beach barbecues, swimming, walking in the tropical forests, surfing and enjoying time with our friends over good food and local beer.

Next stop is the mainland city of Colón where we will await our turn to go through the Panama canal!

seeing our favourite Brazilian and Portuguese friends, Natali and João of S/Y Babilé, for the first time after 2 years!

anchorage in front of Bocas Town, Isla Colón

one of the waterfront restaurants in Bocas towm

interesting characters at the Kraken restaurant

there are lots of places to stay in Isla Colón

on our way to the dinghy dock at Hotel Olas, after provisioning for our trip out to the other islands

Portugal, Brazil, South Africa and France brought together by a beach barbecue in Panama

our makeshift "table" courtesy of Babilé

Natali's delicious octopus salad, caught the previous day

barbecues and good food always bring people together