Wednesday, March 29, 2017

09 ° 35.918 78 ° 46.418 W Waisaladup, West Holandes 

07.00 “Pinch me, momy! Am I dreaming? The sea bed looks like a painting!”, says Elena, my god daughter to her mother and dearest friend Tatiana. Rozy, her sister who’s swimming by my side, takes the snorkel off her mouth and comments:

– “It’s actualy fantastic!”

We are all in love with the West Holandes cays, snorkeling here is amazing! It’s the best we have done in the Caribbean. We all swim together at two to three meters depth, following a friendly spotted eagle ray with an injured pectoral fin, that  been plays with us since 6 am. Countless colorful tropical fish swim around, feeding on the algae of all kinds of corals. Inumerable purple sea fans fill the sea bed and  their rythmic movement resembles a slow dance, a inviting gesture: “come to me, come to me …”.

Every single rock, every coral is a hiding place for small or biger creatures. Under the lace of the corals, hide tiny seargeant fishes with their black and yellow stripes, or juvenile yellowtail damshelfishes with their dazzling electric blue dots, tiny crabs and so much more. A bunch of small lobsters are squeezed clumsily under a rock, easily betrayed by their long antennae.

Κάθε βραχάκι κρύβει ένα μυστικό, και μόλις ψάξεις από κοντά, βλέπεις μικροσκοπικά seargeant fishes με κιτρινόμαυρες ρίγες. Μωρά yellowtail damshelfishes με εκτυφλωτικές μπλε ελεκτρικ βουλίτσες, κρύβονται ανάμεσα στις δαντέλες των κοραλλιών. Κάτω από έναν βράχο στριμώχνονται άτσαλα πέντε -έξι αστακουδάκια, που τα προδίδουν εύκολα οι μακριές κεραίες τους.

Yorgos swims back to Filizi, to get his speargun and go fishing. In my half-hearted protests he answers:

– “We have many mouths to feed Karina and there are so many fish here.”

Tatiana, the girls and I, we swim beyond the corals, through a sandy passage out on  the beach of Waisaladup.  In the shallows, there are countless tiny, newborn fish, totally transparent except for their eyes.  Hungry baracudas and jacks swim close by, waiting for the right time to get their prey. Spat has filled the rich sea and the bigger fish have come to get them.

We reach the beach and pile our snorkels and flippers on the fine, white sand. In the other Caribbean islands we would keep our gear with us, but here, we feel safe to leave it. Crime is very rare in Guna Yala.

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We walk across to the windward coast, about 200 meters away. The island is very small, neat and clean As we walk barefoot on the sandy trail under towering coconut palms, we meet a guna man . He raises his hand to greet us.

– «Buenas!”

– “Buenos dias” I answer. “Tiene coco para beber por favor?” Do you have coconuts for us to drink?.

He answered si and asks us to follow him. We pass next to a small shed of canes and palm leaves, where two hammocks are swinging with the sea brease. Paradise! Next to that, are the asses from last night bonfire , still smoking. The people from the catamaran to our starboard had a barbeque feast last night. . A little further, built side by side are two small huts, poorely built

On the side of the first hut lies a solar panel, and beside it on a wooden pole, is a satellite television receiver!  To add to the contrast, under the pole is a pile of dry coconuts.  In front of the hut, dressed with the traditional funa outfit sits a woman.

Beside her she has a display of her work: “wini”, beads threaded on thin rope, “molas” handmade aplique’ decorative fabrics. Rosy and Elena, look at the beads collection.

– “Could we buy our wini now, instead of Tigre;» asks Elena already chosen hers.  We have planed to visit Isla Tigre after 2-3 days, where Vasso and I made our beautiful winis but I can’t see why not do them here. I ask the woman how much it costs in spanish and she answers with a flood of unknown words in the guna dialect. She looks at us somewhat angry, an expression I’ve seen in other women of this tribe. A young man comes to help. He wearing black short trouser and he’s naked from the waist up. I ask if the woman is his mother. The young man answers No. The woman with a frown on her face, continues to talk with small, sharp syllables. She shows us ten fingers The price is 10 $. Tatiana tries to bargain in Italian

– “Tre wini per quindici dolares. OK? “Quince, 15 I translate, but our woman still looks angry. I think this must be her style.

The other man approaches with two coconuts in his hands. One is very big and green. The other is dark and dry.

– «Coco o pipa?» He asks.

We look at each other with Tatiana, about to burst out laughing. I ask what’s the difference between coco coconut and pipa coconut. The indian replies:

– “Pipa es medicina, the pipa is medicine! Pipa is the very fresh coconut that has a lot of water inside. Do much good here, “he says and caresses his belly. Holding our laughter not to offend him, we answer that we prefer “coco” that is sweeter and has delicious flesh. The woman gets up and walks to the next hut. Elena and Rosy look at me, asking me with their expression what ‘s to be done.  I open the pocket my of swimwear, and take out a wet 20 $ bill. The gunas are watching.

– “We have $ 20 and we want three wini and two coco» I say. «De acuerdo? OK?»  And we have a deal.

The woman using gestures, calls girls to choose their beads. Elena sits on a plastic chair and takes place first. I Rozi trying to choose what beads she likes most.

We all share the coconuts water and after we drink it all, the young man, our friend Julio, opens them for us to eat.  Tatiana and me walk around chatting with Julio. He yells us that he was born here. in Waisaladup, that his parents are gone and now lives with his two brothers. Reggae music plays in their hut.

– “Nice song!” Tatiana says. Julio invites us to came inside their hut. The only furniture is four plastic chairs. The hammocks – their beds – are folded in a corner. On the other side, is a hand made wooden table on which lies a small sound system with separate speakers. The speakers seem to get power from the solar panels. I ask Julio if he feels lonely.

– “When time comes to have a family, I’ll go to Corazon de Jesus to find a woman” he replies.

– “Will you come back to live here? I read that in Guna Yala, the men are usually moving in with the woman’s family. ”

-“No! I’ll take my woman and we’ll come to Waisaladup. I never leave my island”, Julio replies.

I’m thinking that the poor, tiny and densely populated island Corazon de Jesus, must seem like a big city in the eyes of Julio. In Waisaladup all in all live just six people .

– “If you want you could all come back later and light a fire for barbecue. We could cook lobsters for you”, says Julio.

We explain to him that we must leave for East Holandes.

– “Sometime, maybe after some years, my husband and I will come back to your beautiful island, dear Julio”, I say to him. And I really mean it.

Tatiana walks to the guna woman to have her wini done. Rozi and Elena are happy with their indian foor bracelets. We decide that when we all go, in a few days, to isla Tigre , we may do wini on our hands!

I look at my wrist, to see the time but I’ve forgoten to wear a watch today. Yorgos must be back to Filizi by now and he’ll be looking for us. The guna woman, finishes the job, goes to the big table and sits next to an elderly man. She talks and laughs with him and her face seems different. He must be her man. I ask her name. She puts her hand on her chest and responds with the sharp accent of guna

– «Laura”.

-“Thank you for the beautiful wini, Laura”, I tell her”I am Karina” I say putting my had on my chest. Laura is happy now, laughing and joking with her man but, even so, it is evident that the men of the island the respect and fear her.

– “Girls, we should be getting back.  We have an appointment with Ortiz, the greengrocer . I ordered eggplants so I can cook “briam” (ratatoulle). We have guests today for the GREEK NIGHT. The girls start laughing.

-“What is this “Greek night”, godmother? “

– “Didn’t I tell you about it? As you know, a little later we will go to the East Holandes cays. There, in a wonderful spot called “the Swimming Pool”, are anchored some of our friends boats. It is a group of sailors who’ve been spending several months in San Blas for many years. One of these boats belongs to our friends, Barbara and Connie, two charming, intelectual women. They both have summer houses in Greece, in the Peloponnese.

Connie’s grandmother was from my home city, Piraeus and she speaks Greek fluently! As all their friends in the Pool are very interested in Greece, we have aggreed to celebrate one night onboard Filizi, with Greek food and Greek music. Six more people will come, three couples. Following the tradition of San Blas,   everyone will bring some food, ansnack and their own drink. That’s how they do ir here: BYO Bring Your Own! We’ll cook briam for tonight. I hope Ortiz comes to bring our vegatables. He usually comes early in the morning, I’m a bit worried … “

10.00 When we return to Filizi, we find that godfather Yorgos has caught three nice fish, has set the watermaker to fill our empty tanks with water, and he has prepared breakfast for us: he cooked a delicious omelette, he made small sandwiches with jamon cerano, he cut a coconut and a small fresh pineapple. Everything is so wonderful, that I’m thinking to ask him to be my godfather, too. The girls feel sunburned and we cover them again with sunscreen with UVA 50 The sun in the tropics must be taken very seriously.

10.30 I go on VHF and call Connie at channel 72

– “Islander, Islander! Filizi ”

– “Filizi! Seventy-four!”, replies Connie with her adorable Greek-American accent. She’s asking me to go to channel 74 to talk privately. I press 74 on the VHF.

– “Where are you guys? Are you coming today? We are all waiting for you! Sharda is cooking moussaka and Judy is cooking meatballs! ”

– “Of course we are coming! We are in the dreamlike West Holandes now. We will be there 4pm. Will you all come around 6 pm ? By the way, did you see Ortiz the grocer, today? ”

– Yes Ortiz just left.  When you arrive at The Pool, come to anchor near us if you want, there’s plenty of room. See you soon. Kisses!”

Tatiana hears our conversation and she can not believe her ears.

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– “Speaking in Greek on the far edge of Guna Yala. Unbelievable!” she exclaims.

– ” Yes, it is a quite amazing story. Islander, Barbara and Connie’s american boat has a small Greek flag, too. When we arrived in San Blas from Colombia, we went straight to the Pool. As we learned later, our flag started a commotion. Everyone called the Islander on VHF and said “A boat with a flag like yours just arrived !” Within 48 hours we were introduced with everyone. Wonderful people, all of them”

We all sit now in the cockpit and the girls, with the assistance of Yorgos are practicing the basic nautical knots, bowline and clove hitch. Not long later, I see a boat far in the horizon.

– “Ortiz is coming!” I say excitedly.

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Yorgos wonders how I saw the boat from such a distance, but he knows I did thanks to my friend and surgeon Peter Smachliou, who made my eyes sharp again. However, Ortiz’s green boat is very distinctive. I check the order I sent him a few days ago, with a whatsApp text message. I wish he managed to find everything!

After 30 monutes we are full with delicious fresh fruits and vegetables. When we finish shopping and say goodbuy to our dear Ortiz, I get stated to cook. This typical greek summer food is easy to cook but it needs time. We first wash and cut all the vegetables, aubergines, carots, potatos, onions and parsley. Then we put everything in the pan, add vergin olive oil, diced tomatos, salt peper and oregano, a little water and put it to bake for about 60 ‘. We had to prepare enough food for ten people. With my beloved Elena and Rosy as sous-chefs, this “briam” will  be the best ever!

East Holandes – “Swimming pool” anchorage

16.30 We drop anchor at the «Swimming pool” and the girls are really excited.

– “This is the most beautiful place we’ve seen so far! Dreamlike !” Rosy says.

Holandes, is the most distant island complex of Guna Yala. Protected by a very large coral reef it consists of many small, islands full of palm trees. The water, turqoise and transparent as an emerald, reminds me of Koufonisia or Elafonisos, in Greece,

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I stay to tidy our home, ie Filizi and wait for the food to be cooked. Yorgos, Tatiana and the girls swim around the boat and I am delighted to hear their joyful voices. The white sand of the seabed, in three to four meters deep is strewn with shells, large tropical starfish, sand dollars, echinoderms.

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Swimming here is like a game, like a treasure hunt by diving! The weather is wonderful, the sky is clear and a gentle breeze blows. Tatiana calls my name. She shows me a big shell she found, a conch with pink lips. Wonderful!

18.30 All our guest have come and in a magic way, we all manage to sit comfortably in the small cockpit: Connie & Barbara (sy Islander), Liz & Alan (sy Kokopeli), Sharda & the David (sy Morgan), Judy & Jack (sy Shinnouk).

On the table we have our briam, meatballs, moussaka, two types of home made bread, olives, various cheeses and banana bread for dessert. B.Y.O.! Yorgos who sits beside me, is speaking to the guys. They are talking about fishing and when I hear the word “sharks”, I go closer to hear what they say.

– “When the weather permits, we go fishing outside the reef. There are many sharks there, we see sharks every time. They come because they smell the blood from the fish. We are always caucious, keeping a sharp loutook even when chasing a fish”Alan says

– “What do you do, when you see a shark approaching you?” Yogos asks

– “You stay still and look him straight in the eye. He will be scared and he will go away”

Nice trick ….

Judy and Jack will visit Greece next summer and they ask about the islands. Connie, Barbara and us make an appointment for next November 2017 in Greece. Tonight is both a celebration and a farewell. Tomorrow or the day after, we will leave for Isla Tigre and after four days Tatiana and the girls fly back to Greece.  For us who travellers friendships have a sweet and bitter taste, we meet beautiful people and then we say farewell, without knowing if and when we’ll meet again.

Thursday, March 30, 2017

Swiming Pool, East Holandes

16.00 Tatiana, Rosy, Elena, fodfather Yorgos and godmother Karina, we are all in the zodiac. Connie, Barbara and Judy showed us a reef with nice snorkeling . We saw beautiful fish, a huge Queen Angelfish, a Spotted Drum (my most favorite!), a large sting ray, lobsters and much more.

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Certainly, the seabed of that reef appears poor in comparison with the West Holandes corals and fish. The corals have serious bleeching, and when the corals are dead, fish can’t find food and die. It is sad..

We take a tour to show our friends the wonderful islands. It was a wonderful day today, if only we had seen sharks, as we had promised to the girls. Now they probably believe we were telling them stories, when saying we have 3 pet sharks in the Swimming Pool. Pity.

After the ride, as we approach Filizi, we see Jack from s/y Chinouk , returning from fishing with the inflatable dinghy. We go closer .

– “Hello! How did it go? “Yorgos asks him

-“Fine. We have fresh food for today!” he answers with a smile ” Do pass from David at s/y Morgan. He has fish for you.”

We say goodbuy to him and head towards sail yacht Morgan, of David and Sharda. David is stil in the dinghy, wearing a full-length scuba outfit. Beautiful Sharda is in the cockpit. We greet cordially. Sharda, who liked Elena and Rosy a lot, gives a bag of chocolates to the girls. Lucky ones! David opens his dry bag, a special waterproof bag he uses for fishing so that the sharks do not smell the fish. He takes out two really big fish. These kind of fish, Yorgos and I, we call them “prehistoric”. They swim very funny.

-“Thank you so much! Only one is enough, please keep the second….”, Yorgos says but, David insists.

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-“Is OK! I caught them for all of you. These fish are called “Trigger” fish because they have that little horn that looks and moves like a trigger. At night, when they go under rocks to hide, the puch the trigger up and they lock themselves inside the rock. Do you know how to clean this fish? Open here, under the fin, Starting from there pull the skin and take it off. They have a very tough skin, like shark skin.”, he explains.

We take our friend’s gifts and wish to get together again somewhere on the planet.

– “Maybe in Greece!”, Yorgos wishes.

– “Yes, we’d love to come one day”, our friends say…

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17.00  Yorgos  is sitting on the stern platform, striving to take the fillet of the two fish. The work is difficult, the skin is really thick.

After 15 minutes of hard work, he takes the white fillet of the first fish and puts it in a plastic bowl. The skin is left untouched, like a shell. Yorgos throws the fish skin in the water. Tatiana is in the cockpit, I am inside in galley and the girls are in the cabin.  Suddenly Yorgos shouts:

– “Shark!” We all hurry outside.  A 1,5 m shark swims around below Filizi, we can clearly see his imposing, dark silhouette through the transparent water, making strong contrast over the white sand of the seabed. The shark circles around the fishskin thrown by Yorgos. Suddenly a second shark appears. The first one , fast as a lightning grabs the prey and swims away

The second shark darts behind him and disappears. A third shirk approaches and starts patrols.  I take video with my mobile.  We are all numb, somewhat shocked somewhat enthousiastic. Yorgos prepares to fillet the second fish. This time he throws the fish skin slowly and he holds the GoPro underwater camera in the water. These are not nurse sharks they look like dogfish sharks.  And all three of them swim under Filizi.

In awe, we keep on looking and the sharks continue circling under the boat for about thirty more minutes. Few hours ago we were all swimming right here.

– “How funny it seems now, our worry for not seeing sharks this morning!” I say to Yorgos

I take my cell phone to see the photos and a see a facebook notification on the screen by the group of San Blas. I open and read:

“Crocodile attacks woman in Green island”

Our Green Island…