This episode covers 3 months (Oct – Dec 2020), so although it may seem that we didn’t stop socialising it was mainly over the weekends.

There where a large number of families now in the anchorage with us, and we counted in the region on 25 children. So as you can imagine there was always something going on.

Dylan and Nathan had no problem ploughing through their school in the mornings in order to go out and play in the afternoons.

With 25 children around there was also always a birthday or two to celebrate. From jungle hikes to boat parties and sleepovers to beach get togethers, we were never board!

It was still the rainy season so we had quite a few wildlife encounters.

The first unexpected one was a snake curled up in the helm station of our neighbours boat!

When there is a lot of rain the snakes get washed down the rivers and into the bay. They obviously try and find the first place to dry out and soak up the sun, which in a busy anchorage is normally a boat.

This snake had managed to get himself on board without being detected, when the owner of the boat eventually spotted him he flung him off the side into the water. Of course the snake swam straight back, and tried to get up the through holes in the hull of the boat. I must say I am very very glad it didn’t pick Mokara as I am sure the screams would have been heard back in the UK!

Another lucky snake encounter was in our local mangrove tunnel. A tunnel we often ride through and explore as we have seen lots of sloths and monkeys in the trees.

Nathan spotted a huge Boa Constrictor sleeping on a branch. I am not a snake lover at all, but this snake was a beauty. He was not in the least bit interested in us, and didn’t even wake up when we were around him.

Next was a sloth! I had heard of sloths swimming to the boats, but I didn’t really believe it! But one morning on our way into school we spotted a beautiful large sloth hanging on the pulpit of a boat. Again he wasn’t very bothered with us. We thought it was best to leave him, as he had obviously got himself there ok, so surely he will get himself to where ever he wanted to go ok. 

Days went by – hot days! And every morning when we checked he was still there. We couldn’t believe he could just hang there in the full sunshine all day long and not need water or food. So on day 3 or 4 we decided we need to take him some mangrove leaves, which he seemed to really enjoy! We also tried to get him to climb onto a broomstick we had brought along so that we could safely take him to land but he was not interested.

It was so special to get so close to a wild sloth. The boys we stroking him and feeding him leaves. They really are such chilled creatures. Their hair is wired even though it looks super soft. He tried to stay awake for our visit, however every now and then nodded off to sleep. We later read that sloths are quite able swimmers and are much faster in the water than they are on land. We really wanted to see him swimming, but that evening some sailors managed to get him off the boat and back into the trees in the marina. A much better spot for him, even if he didn’t think so!

We also managed to go on a great jungle hike for one of the older boys birthdays. We were taken to the jungle in a local taxi organised by our guide. To be honest I didn’t think the taxi was going to hold us all when I first saw it! And I had flashes of it falling apart with everyone in it in the middle of the jungle, but we got there and back fine! The boys had sore bums for a day or so afterwards from sitting in what they called “the chicken coop” at the back!

Its all part of the adventure and something they will remember and tell people for years to come!

The jungle was amazing, we built a campfire to grill sausages on, swam in the river and then walked through the thick forrest. Sadly we didn’t spot any animals, probably because they heard us coming from miles away, but we did get to see some incredible plants.

As things started opening up in Panama we were allowed to move the boat again. So a group of us decided to go and explore the other bays close to Linton. Playa Blanca is a beautiful bay which is usually overcrowded with local tourists. Thanks to COVID we had it all to ourselves. We stayed the night with some friends who now live in Panama on board. Sadly the Aero Naval, which is the maritime police came to make sure we stayed off the beach at curfew time (4pm). They told us we could social distance on our dinghies! Not sure what difference that makes but anyway….

Christmas came by quickly, and like the rest of the world we were back in lockdown, which meant we had a very quiet Christmas with just the 4 of us. On Christmas eve we decided to make some fun decorations to take around to all our friends and sing carols from our dinghy whilst we delivered them! It was great fun, and hopefully when they get all their Christmas decs out this year, where ever in the world they may be they will remember us!

We’ve made so many friends over the past year and a half. Friends that become very close, as we are sharing our days together. The community is also very close, which means people are forever calling in to check you are ok, or stop for a drink or borrow a cupboard item they haven’t been able to get hold of. The men tend to always be swapping ideas and solutions to boat problems. Helping each other is very much part of everyday boat life. It really is the closest community I have ever been a part of, and it does to matter if you have never met people, or if you have just arrived in an anchorage, people are always happy to help!

On boxing day we decided we wanted a change in scenery. So we decided to head back to San Blas for a couple weeks.