Isla Taboga

We've been anchored outside Panama City at Isla Perico for 21 days now. We decided to leave for the day to make water as the bay here is not presently real clean and we won't be heading to Ecuador for about 2 weeks or so. After motoring for 2.5 hours, we set anchor at Isla Taboga (N08°47'918" W079°33'213"), about 20 km offshore. And Pirate Henry Morgan came here after sacking Panama City in 1671.

A group of 7 boats crossed our stern decorated with balloons and a large statue, with a band playing and lots of happy festive people aboard. Brightly coloured fireworks were set off from shore and several also lit firecrackers. We found out in Lonely Plant that we arrived at Taboga on the day of their annual festival honouring their patron saint. A statue of the saint is carried to shore, placed on board to motor around the island, and then upon return carried around the island while crowds follow.

Many brightly coloured houses line the shore and we noticed the sunbathers escaped as the narrow sand spit to the northeast was soon covered by high tide waters. (The sand spit connects Isla Taboga to the nearby tiny island of El Morro.) We spent the afternoon ashore and admired this beautiful island with its winding hilly roads, bright colours, and aromatic flowers - Taboga is known as the Island of Flowers. We saw their church of 1550 which is the second oldest in the Western Hemisphere, 1 teeny hummingbird, and 2 bluebirds. Weekends see many shuttle boats from the city bring day visitors to mostly enjoy the beaches.

Brightly painted houses of Isla Taboga

We saw 1 enterprising young lad water "skiing" on a surfboard being pulled by a DINGHY! It was pretty slow going but he managed to stay upright. We later saw him being pulled by an accommodating power boat for a faster ride.

Upright behind a dinghy...

With the water tanks almost full, we headed back to our regular anchorage at Isla Perico by Panama City.