07.33N 79.31W Happy Valentine’s Day!  We have just left the Las Perlas Islands with Moonshadow sailing beside us.  In spite of our ‘herb’ concerns, the anchorage was so beautiful we didn’t have the heart to tear ourselves away – so two days became three, then four – BWR yachts came and BWR yachts went - but although it was tempting to visit all the different locations mentioned in the Pilot book, we just took root and stayed put.  Our Island arrived and we all joined Happy Wanderer for a spaghetti bolognaise, then next day Zippy, Paramour and Miss Styx sailed in and Brian and Margaret invited us all over for drinks and ‘nibbles’ which turned into a veritable feast.  Our second mahi-mahi threatened to go ‘off’ whilst we were  busy with all this socialising so I turned him into Thai fish cakes courtesy of Rick Stein’s recipe (a delicacy in one of no less than five ‘fishy’ cookery book presents given to us by our colleagues at work prior to departure) and he was enjoyed by all.

The Las Perlas Islands are so beautiful and unspoilt – a sanctuary for wild birds, teeming with fish and other sea creatures and a delight to be able to wander freely without restriction or fear.  There seems to be no crime in evidence and the few locals are polite and friendly but get on with their own business.  If it wasn’t for the Rally yachts there would hardly be a visitor here.

Pelicans on the shore

Fishing boat intentionally beached on the tide for repairs

Anahi at anchor

We ventured into the jungle along a vague pathway which eventually petered out – and which was then pretty impenetrable….. and inevitably we got a bit lost on the return journey and I had mixed fantasies – one veering towards the horrors of ‘The Beach’ and the other of the documentary featuring Joanna Lumley when she turned her bra into slippers and lived off berries (except we couldn’t see anything edible except coconuts). I had brought a rucksack brimming with ‘jungle remedies’ – everything was stashed in there: mosquito repellent and a net, a mini medical kit, orange squash, an SAS survival handbook, the leatherman, muesli bars, a torch – but did I have a handheld GPS?..... No! Had I brought the Sat phone?.....No! And when I brought out the SAS book to see if the spiders were deadly poisonous I discovered I had brought the International Flag Book by mistake.

Jungle woman

Once we had nearly stumbled into the spiders’ webs and imagined all the snakes beneath our feet we couldn’t wait to get out again, our steps becoming more frantic as we followed the wrong trails, until we finally broke out again onto the beach and continued our walk along the shore:

Low tide with amazing rock formations

‘Wish you were here……….’

We’ve played boules on the beach, collected coconuts and shells, cooked eggs and bacon Ray Mears style by the sea, read magazines and books, watched films, socialised and generally relaxed.

Bennett has been on a week’s holiday to see his family in Jamaica and flies back tomorrow so we will collect him from the little airport on Isla Contadora – this island is where the rich Panamanians have chic beach front properties and there are some good restaurants, so it will be good to see a little civilisation before heading off for the Galapagos.  (The weather forecast is not ideal for such a long journey of 900 miles – light winds of 5 knots bang on the nose!)

Three hours motor sailing and we arrived at Contadora:

Beach front properties with steps to the sands

What an island and some of it is very picturesque! With beach front property priced at 350 US Dollars a square foot (35 US Dollars in Antigua) this is a rich man’s resort…. But there are some lost dreams here too – quite a few unfinished projects, dilapidated properties and a real mixture of architecture. It had a weekend holiday home atmosphere with beauty but no soul.  Having said that we made the most of our stay here and hired a golf buggy to race around the island, shopped for forgotten incidentals like onions, distilled water, lemons and toothpaste, enjoyed the white sandy beaches, topped up all our jerry cans with more diesel and even managed to find a bottle of Baileys!

Bennett had bought his return ticket to Jamaica on line but amazingly from the wrong ‘Panama’ airport.  So of course, when he arrived at 4.00am in the morning, there was no flight – there or back - and his inter island ticket was wasted too as the timings were wrong!  He had to lose all his original flights and rebook the whole journey again (apparently this happens all the time) hence although we were expecting to collect him on the morning of the 12th in fact he arrived that evening.  Anyway, he’s back on board - we had a lovely last dinner with Moonshadow and her three new crew members at La Romantica which is a very atmospheric restaurant  right on the beach, sailed and anchored back at Isla Pedro Gonzales before weighing anchor this morning. 

Today we have sailed (not motored!) - in light winds with our new spinnaker billowing - amongst many speckled dolphins.  We caught a three pound bonito tuna this afternoon - now all prepared and in the fridge for lunch tomorrow, when she will be quickly seared with balsamic vinegar, soya sauce, fresh lime juice, a little ginger and a hint of chillies!!  I will make home made taramasalata with the roe – yum yum!