El Gigante, Nicaragua

We've spent the last 10 days in El Gigante. Much of the time has been spent at the beach - surfing and relaxing! For the first 5 days we were joined by Christine & Mike.
It was fun to have some more beach time together, and for Michael to continue his surf lessons!
El Gigante is a peaceful fishing village with a couple of places to eat, one small store and a lot of domestic animals wandering the streets. My favorite beach is Amarrila - it's a 15 minute walk away, and when we get there I usually have it all to myself. On the way to the beach I pass the ladies at the pump on laundry day, Juan Carlos' house, stopping for a chat to discuss his technique for fixing his fishing nets. Of course I have to fight off the mosquitoes on the rain logged road, but the beach itself is bug free.

Originally uploaded by m_hagen

Mmm Ceviche...

We were invited to join a fishing trip, so at 6am we were on the beach and ready to go.
It was my first time fishing, really fishing. I've done some 'casting' in my time - from the beaches in Australia, but never been out with the professionals and actually caught anything!
It was amazing. We caught 7 tuna, 4 jacks and I landed a mackerel that was turned into a delicious ceviche for our evening appetizer!
We don't have use of a kitchen, so we couldn't cook the tuna ourselves. Instead, we did the next best thing and took them to La Gaviota where the cook marinaded them and threw them on the grill.
There's nothing like eating freshly caught fish. Especially when you caught it yourself!

Bocas del Toro

We made our way from Santa Catalina to the town of David, near the border with Costa Rica. Our plan was to catch the early morning bus into Costa Rica, but somehow we got waylaid.... Instead we caught a bus to Amirante in Northern Panama, and from there hopped on a water taxi to Isla Colon in Bocas del Toro.
We had no idea what to expect, and were a little worried that the island would be very touristy. However, we were pleasantly surprised to find that despite having everything a tourist could want or need, the town has retained that laid back Carribbean feel.
The main form of transport is the water taxi, which we used to explore some of the local beaches.
We met up with some friends, and together took a taxi that dropped the surfers at Wizards beach. Trish and I then headed further up the coast to Polo Beach for some sublime snorkling. Despite the number of tourists in town it was so easy for us to find a completely deserted beach, with a jungle backdrop and beautiful yellow sand.
The visability was not as great as Coiba, but there was still an amazing variety of fish and some beautiful coral.

Two Years....

It's been two years since Michael and I boarded our first flight on this adventure of ours. Tonight we are going out to celebrate.
Tomorrow we're on the bus again, skipping into Costa Rica on our way North.

I promise that I will do some 'catch up' posting some time within the next couple of days... We have been having fun with friends and relaxing at the beach!