Sunday we spent time in the Pearl Islands relaxing and enjoying the beautiful scenery and the beaches. The islands are named because of the pearls that were found there and that the Spanish harvested and sent back to the Spain. The story of how they got them is not a pretty one. They annihilated the native Indians, and used slaves to dive for pearls. Some very famous pearls were found there, including the Pelegrina pearl which was owned by many famous people including queens and Elizabeth Taylor.
Hector, one of the crew members, took four of us fishing. We trolled behind the boat as we circled one the Islands. It was a beautiful morning as we watched the sun come up and the birds awaken. The fishing was not wonderful, but we did catch one red snapper. Later that day for lunch, we got to eat the freshly caught fish. It was delicious.
Hector removing the hook from our one catch.
I named this "Elephant Rock".
After breakfast, some people went kayaking, others went to the beach after the crew found a safe place for us to land. The small beach was gorgeous. People sat in the shade and relaxed. Some swam. Other explored the rocks and the small cave that was in the rocks.
Jeanne sat in the sand for a while enjoying the water and the sun. When she got back to the room she found that there was a lot of sand in her bathing suit which ended up on the bathroom floor. She found a couple of crew members to vacuum it out. When they entered the bathroom one of them said, "Ay, ay, its a beach!" with a twinkle in his voice. We laughed about that for the rest of the trip.
The afternoon was very relaxed. Jon and I along with Hector and Octavio took a trip on the boat just observing the site. Monday was a national holiday in Panama (labor day) so there were lots of pleasure boats in the coves and bays around the islands. We saw the likely future president of Panama dive off a pleasure boat. BTW, it was not a huge yacht. According to Octavio, he is a regular guy and not at all pretentious. We saw some of the sets for the one of the Survivor series that was filmed in Panama. We saw a huge sting ray in the water. It was a fun hour or so of motoring around in the boat.
Sunday night was our last evening on the boat and we had a fun evening. The entrée for the evening was paella. As usual it was both delicious and beautifully presented.
It turns out that Iann (one of our guides) is an accomplished drummer and singer. He performs by himself and in groups. He set up his drums and played along to recorded music. People were joining in on percussion and Caroline joined in on a couple of songs. She likes to surprise her husband!
After dinner there was some dancing and music. Rueben was teaching some of the ladies to dance Latin style.
It was a great way to spend our last nigh on the boat.