We finished our business on Isla Popa by 12:30 pm. Ambrosio had adequately demonstrated his ability to operate and maintain (hopefully) the system. We left him with plenty of spare parts and back up items; we assured him we would check in frequently. Mike and Marianna had a very detailed and frank discussion with him, explaining that EWB national policy does not allow for ongoing, long-term projects. We are now winding this one down. There will be no further additions or construction to it. There will be one more close-out trip for assessment purposes only, and I will most likely be on it. Ambrosio knows that he is certainly welcome to put in an application for a new project proposal but that the time horizon is 5 years or so. We will need to start casting about for our next project and that will fall to the new student leadership to do.
At 12:40 pm on Monday we stepped off the dock at Isla Popa for the 40 minute trip back to Isla Colon and Bocas Town. We were pretty burned out from the past two days and were grateful to be away from the pressure cooker. The system was up and running with only a minor glitch or two. We had achieved far more than we had set out to. The warm midday sun and the breeze relaxed us and the layers of stress started to wash away. We were starting to feel good and were looking forward to the four hours or so to kill wandering around in Bocas town. There was always new hot sauce to find.
The biggest problem we have encountered in the past when we have gotten back to Bocas is what to do with the 500 or so pounds of luggage while we chill and sight see. We really loved Lilly's Restaurant and in the past, used it as our home base. Lilly's closed since our last visit and has been replaced by the M-K restaurant which we are not as fond of. It is an interesting place but the menu is a bit more limited. We found the place right next next to it, the "Be Nice" to be exactly that. The manager allowed us to store all our gear in his locked storage closet while we dined, used internet, charged batteries and enjoyed the privilege of running, flushing water. They had an awesome daily special plate of fish or chicken, patacones, rice and beans, salad and a glass of OJ for $7.95. What a terrific way to make landfall! We leisurely ate our fill and had a few Cokes as well.
I absolutely adore Bocas town as it reveals itself to me as a grittier version of Key West at the end of the world. Surfers patrolling up and down the street waiting to catch the next boat out for the next great waves. Folks trying to make the coffee concession work out, beach food, bar food, boat drinks, beach drinks, storm drains with brilliantly colored tropical fish. We walked around town and found that we had fallen into the Emerald City of water tanks; the corner of every block had a lot with water, septic and all forms of tanks just waiting to be co-opted into our grand designs. We spent the afternoon collecting cards from other dealerships who looked like they could be helpful, (on the extremely rare occasion that Richard did not have the part we needed). Your mother has probably warned you about boys and girls who get all excited and salivate over HDPE blue or black tanks. That's us - a million miles from home, in streets calling out with casinos, booze, smokeables and god knows what else, and we are transfixed by water storage tanks. There may be something a bit odd about us.
We cruised the streets of Bocas, feasting on Ice Cream, Feta cheese, olives and chocolate bars. We were content to sit on the curb looking out at a tropical blue sea beneath a stretch of palm trees. The contrast between the frantic moments of fear in Isla Popa and the sudden shift to the world of laizez faire sets up an almost sublime series of moments. In that brief time between the drop off by the boat and the pickup of the airplane Chip and I had concluded that it was not nearly so bad as we had imagined it and we would both like to come back next year. Pass me another bowl of lotus blossoms, please.
We got to the airport, cleared security, headed out to the waiting room and boarded our flight. My seatmate was an attractive woman from Colombia who ran a travel service between the Central American countries and the Pacific Rim. I learned quite a bit from her and were it not for the fact that I am nuts about Panama these days I would have sought more information about getting to Cuba. As we gained altitude in the setting sun, the islands of the Bocas del Toro Archipelago emerged from their ocean like shining jeweled turtles basking in the soft tropical sun. There's quite a bit of the province to see, and I have barely made a dent on one little swampy mangrove hill. I'm pretty sure I will be back.
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