Isla de Pinos
'Sarf & West mate, Sarf & West'
Pete Bernfeld
Tue 26 Jan 2010 11:20
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Arriving at Isla de Pinos, after anchoring and
going over to Kilkea for supper, we all got got caught for an $8 per boat
'one-off' anchoring fee. We went ashore the following morning to see the Chief
(who was very anxious to check that we had paid the anchoring fee) then promptly
got caught for a $1 per person 'fiesta tax'. Beginning to see a pattern
here.
Anyway, we arranged a walking tour of the island
with a 72 year old called Horatio, who spoke reasonable English. He'd learnt it
from a correspondance course, so he did very well. The walk lasted about 3 hours
and went all round the coastline of the island. Lots and lots of coconuts and a
mystery animal, a 'Pedro Bongo'. Now Pedro appears to be a very strange animal,
because looking at the tracks on the beach it hops on two feet all the time.
There was a line of tracks, with what looked like two paw prints side by
side, going onto the rocks. The really strange thing was that the tracks
consisted of these two paw prints every 6 or 7 inches, there was no sign
of the animal or whatever it was putting one leg in front of the other,
just two parallel paw prints, almost like a kangaroo hopping! Must look this one
up on the old inter-web thingie when we get a wifi signal.
Hoping to move on today, although the wind and
swell has swung round to the NW and we want to go....(your starter for 10 points
is.....)
Below, a shot of the inside of Horatio's house.
Most houses follow the same pattern, an open-plan arrangement, with hammocks to
sleep in and hanging arrangements for the Molas. Horatio's house is a
little unusual in that his house has a bed. Maybe the older people have started
using them? All the Kuna seem to posses one large trunk where they store
momentos and what personal possessions they have. Oh yes, in another house we
say an immaculate old Singer hand-sowing machine. It gleamed!
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