Sunday 22 January – Last stop in the San Blas

After a good Sunday breakfast and Eben delivering us a huge herby focaccia we headed off to Chichime, our last stop in the San Blas. Light winds and sailing in the channel meant it was ideal for putting up our tiny spinnaker, Baby Spice. Wonderful to have Chris helping Rowan to get the sail up, and miraculously it all went perfectly. We had a lovely gentle pootle to our anchorage in Chichime.

Baby Spice up

Tiny inhabited islands along the way

Chichime

Having got the anchor down we discovered we were slap bang next to the backpackers party boat! Isobel counted 14 of them cavorting around. Rowan got the Snuba out and did some essential bottom cleaning, trying to get rid of barnacles near the prop housing and a resident crab! Isobel, Chris and I went for a snorkel from PolePole to the reef. There were some lovely bits of coral, some good sized parrot fish and a big Puffer fish in a cave with his big googly eyes. We saw a lovely big leopard ray on our way back.

A lot of talk about Isobel and Chris’s matching sarongs

We headed to the beach at 5pm when it was a bit cooler to do a walk around the island. We enjoyed walking the whole way around on a white beach, in gorgeous colour water, just sad about the amount of plastic rubbish and palm trees falling into the water from the eroding beaches. We found a bar in the backpacker hostel and enjoyed a semi cold beer. We found a few houses belonging to locals with some good looking chickens and dogs. It was a very enjoyable evening stroll.

Our walk around the island

So many dead palms and trees on the beach

The hostel

The local’s homes

So much rubbish!

The kitchens for the hostel

Rubbish on the beaches

Making it all the way around the island

Isobel and PolePole at sunset

Waiting for our lift home

Back on PolePole we were mightily relieved to find the party boat had gone. Dinner on board was finished off with the most delicious Booja Booja chocolate, made in Norfolk. Salted caramel truffles……such a treat!