Archive for Bates Redwine

Red Right Ankle

Posted in Bluff Beach Retreat, bocas del toro with tags , , , , , , , , , , on February 15, 2009 by reachdownbetweenmylegs

This is the story of your red right ankle
And how it came to meet your leg
And how the muscle, bone, and sinews tangled
And how the skin was softly shed

And how it whispered “Oh, adhere to me
For we are bound by symmetry
And whatever differences our lives have been
We together make a limb.”
This is the story of your red right ankle.

The Decemberists

February 14 2009 was Dave Lloyd’s 60th birthday, Valentine’s Day and our sailboat trip with Bocas Sailing.  Amie, her boyfriend Jonas and her father “Doc”  all arrived Friday afternoon.  They decided to join us for our sailing voyage on Saturday so we were 11 total.  We had called Luis the cab driver ahead of time to meet us at Bluff Beach Retreat.  We piled in two vehicles, several of us had to ride in the back beds of the full cab pickups.  Driver, front seat passenger, three in back seat and three in the back bed standing or sitting.  We got as far as the edge of town and had to call another taxi so we wouldn’t have any people in the back bed.  We all met up at Bocas Sailing.  Chris, originally from Belgium would be our captain.  We sailed to three snorkeling locations and enjoyed a tasty sub-sandwich under a partly cloudy sky.  I did manage to burn the top of my right foot and ankle.  The sun and vitamin D  was nice.  The water was refreshing and fun was had by all.

1 Comment »

Swamp

Posted in bocas del toro with tags , , , , , , , on February 12, 2009 by reachdownbetweenmylegs

Well, you better not go at night.
There’s things out there in the middle of them woods
That make a strong man die from fright.
Things that crawl and things that fly
And things that creep around on the ground.

Charlie Daniels

We had heard about La Piscina, a small cove protected from the waves so you can swim.  The idea was to walk to the “goat farm” pay the little girl at the farm, a dollar per person and then “they will show us the way to the piscina.”  We had Iris pack us some sandwiches and we grabbed 5 liters of water and started off.  The walk to the goat farm took approximately 45 minutes, crossed two creeks and a log crossing in front of the goat farm.

Goat Farm and the Gringo

Goat Farm and the Gringo

We paid our money and nobody came with us.  So we walked another 30 minutes and came to a fork in the path and chose the path that was most travelled.

Behdad Jamshahi

BJ

Trail on the way to La Piscina

Trail on the way to La Piscina

Ocean View

Ocean View

Bates in Fern Gully

Bates in Fern Gully

We later would learn that if you make it to what we called “Fern Gully”,  you missed the trail to La Piscina.

The Debbie

The Debbie

The trail crossed several streams, swampy areas and even a knee deep marsh with horse droppings in it that we waded through.  The trail finally came to an end and we decided that we went the wrong way and headed back.

End of the Trail

End of the Trail

We headed back frustrated and ran into a little boy “Diego” on a horse who informed us we went the wrong way and La Piscina was about 1 hour from where we were .   He then headed out in another direction and told us to head back.  Later, he would come back and pass us. We then found him at the fork in the trail.  He pointed and said “La Piscina”.  I then paid him $5 dollars for his help. (later to learn he was a son of the goat farmer who I paid the initial $5.)

We walked down into another swampy area, where Jason Korn stepped into hip deep mud.  We couldn’t pull him out so he had to reach down and take off his shoe, pull it out and then pull out his leg.

Jason Korn and the Swamp Monster

Jason Korn and the Swamp Monster

We walked about a hundred yards more and voila, La Piscina.  We swam, ate lunch and rested for the trip back.

La Piscina

La Piscina

Too far to go
I- We come to take you home

And when they split those atoms
It’s hotter than the sun
Blood is a special substance
They gonna pray for that man

So wake up young lovers
The whole thing is over
Watch but touch monkeys

Talking Heads

1 Comment »