Tuesday 10 February 2009

Circumnavigating San Fernando

This Time in 2007

Get up early for a dawn shoot on the beach. This is the best time of day as it gets far too hot to do anything later and by the time evening comes the heat has made you completely enervated.

Lee and I go for a walk before breakfast along the lake-shore trail. We say hello to several people as we go and meet Serena and Scott who are here from the USA and running English Language Classes. They are staying in a ramshackle place on the beach but seem to be enjoying themselves. We return to the Albergue in time for breakfast with Jim. We have heard that Carlos has managed to cross into Nicaragua but was forced to spend the night in San Carlos. We hope to see him later.

After breakfast Lee and I take a canoe out and decide to circumnavigate San Fernando. It took us about 2 and a quarter hours. The water was a bit choppy off the north coast and it seemed to take an age to cross the bay opposite La Venada. We see plenty of bird life but not may islanders except for the occasional woman doing the laundry. They have scrubbing stations set into the lake for this.

In the afternoon I made some butterfly lures from the netting I'd bought and filled them with fruit scraps left-over from breakfast. They worked too as they attracted several Caligos and a Archaeoprepona over the next few days.

Later Lee and I walked down to the museum and art gallery for a look around. Many years ago Ernesto Cardinal had introduced the islanders to prinitivist painting and many families still had a tradition of painting. Many also continued with the balsa wood carving introduced at the same time.

Returning to the Albergue we lazed around in the hammocks waiting for the day to cool off. Eventually I decided to go for another paddle around the small island opposite and stayed out until almost dark watching the sun go down. When I got back I found that Carlos had finally managed to cadge a ride from San Carlos.

After dinner we spent the evening drinking beer and discussing plans for tomorrow.

This Time Last Year

A rest day with a few odd jobs to do. Meet the new guests at the San Gildar Hotel in the evening. Take some panorama shots from the Pico Blanco Hotel.

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