Feb. 1 Las Perlas Islands
We filled up with water at the marina and set out for the Las Perlas Islands; it was a nice sail with flat seas and a calm wind. We anchored off La Chapera Island, just opposite Mogo Mogo where one of the Survivor series was filmed. These islands are different from the San Blas, the rock seems to be a combination of coral and sedimentary rock; there are few palm trees here, but a lot of leafy trees and thick brush. One thing that has amazed us about Panama is the diversity of the islands and mainland even though everything is just a short distance from each other; our four stops here have all been unique.



Shots of the beach on Chaperel
Feb. 2
It was too late to go exploring by the time we arrived so we had dinner onboard and some rums in the cockpit. The next morning we took the dingy over to the island to look around; there were some stinging things in the water, maybe very small jelly fish or possibly sea lice as you couldn’t see anything but the small dots stung and then would go away in a couple hours. The beaches here are very wide and soft, the tidal range is close to 15 feet and they disappear at high tide. There were some very beautiful rock formations along the beach, the weathering patterns from the constant tides have carved them into many unusual and glass smooth shapes.
When we were done with our shore excursion we motored over to Contadora Island where the next WARC rendezvous will take place; we took a mooring in the bay just off the Romantica Hotel amongst the other boats that had arrived early. Once the boat was settled in we went ashore and walked across the island to a great spot at the Pointe Hotel. They have a nice beach, good wifi, a pool and a beachfront bar/restaurant that cooks over a wood fire and serves the best ceveiche I have had yet.

Danny in his new hat on the beach at the Pointe Hotel
It was a lazy day of drinks on the beach interspersed with food and snacks from the restaurant. Slowly more of the WARC boats arrived and the crews made their way here, probably drawn by the internet. We had dinner on board and everyone, but me, packed as tomorrow was the last day of this leg and I am staying on for leg 2. It was one more beautiful sunset and some goodbye drinks before heading off to bed and the next part of the holiday.