Meow!

One of the joys of the cruising lifestyle is meeting up with old friends in new anchorages. Mel and Geno on the sailing catamaran Meow are old friends from Puerto Rico that we have not seen for a few years and Don and I were very happy to share an anchorage once again.

Mel and Geno initiated us into the delights of the Central Holandes island group which on our previous visit had not been charted and so it was all new territory to explore. With pristine, plastic-free, deserted beaches and crystal clear water, it is now forever dubbed  the “Secret Swimming Pool”! 

But paradise does have it's price and we are seriously running low on beer, wine and beta carotene. Being such a remote location is one of the drawbacks of the San Blas Islands and provisioning can be somewhat of a challenge. While occasionally the Kunas will sell a fresh picked pineapple or some bananas from their farms on the mainland, in general the motto is: If you didn’t bring it with you, forget it. 
...........And then on the horizon appears the venerated veggie boat. 

Coming from mainland river villages or sometimes even from as far as Miramar, a Panamanian coastal town over twenty miles away, these boats are eagerly anticipated by the cruising community. The proverbial manna from the gods as far as we are concerned, the colors green, orange, red, and purple had us salivating in anticipation. 

Is that eggplant???? 

These young entrepreneurs are a blessing to the cruisers here in the San Blas and like the coconut telegraph their locations and destinations go out over the local radio nets with audible excitement. Fully equipped with a scale, an ice chest full of pollo, flats of eggs, and a calculator.... the tienda is open.

What a beautiful sight!