After we left Costa Rica we took our time going to Panama the second time. Alice misunderstood the writeup on Coiba National Park, located on and around Isla Coiba. She thought the place we anchored was free- NOT. We had pulled in and dropped anchor at 3 AM, only to wake up and find a patrol boat bearing down on us, informing us that we must go to park headquarters and pay! (See photo above.) So Bill put the dinghy in the water and we took off to pay up- only to learn they wanted $60 a day for the boat, PLUS $20 a person! We didn't even have that much money on us, so we paid them what we had and promised to leave immediately~ We made sure the next anchorage was free!
An overnighter then took us on to Panama City, where we decided to anchor on the city side of Isla Flamenco rather than the canal side. It is calmer there, even if it is dirtier. We hooked back up with our faithful cabbie, Roosevelt, and managed to get checked in and do some provisioning before it was time for Alice to fly home, as she had fallen on the pilot house steps and wrenched her right shoulder. Poor Bill~ alone for two whole months.
Just before Alice left, we went to Punta Culebra, a lovely nature park within walking distance of our anchorage. It is run by the Smithsonian and was loaded with interesting flora and fauna, as well as educational displays. As we were viewing the shark exhibit the skies opened up and it POURED rain for about 40 minutes. We got to know the sharks and the park guide really well while waiting for the rain to stop! The starfish shown above was one of many breathtaking displays we saw there.
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