Pedasi is our last last stop before heading back to Panama city. We are staying at a small B&B called Casita Margarita. On our drive from Boca Chica we made a couple of stops. One was the village of Parita where we went searching for Diablo masks made and sold by a master craftsman. We circled the village a few times looking for a house with Diablo masks hanging on it, but could not find it.

The second stop was the town of Chitri which was recommended to us. It ended up to be a very hectic and congested town and not our speed at all, we did manage to find a place to stop long enough to get out and take a couple of pictures.

Pedasi is a quiet little town with a few restaurants and B&Bs. Our first day here we went to Isla Iguana, an island approximately 20 minute boat ride from Pedasi. We arranged with a local fIsherman to take us to the island. When we arrived at the beach for our trip it was absolutely gale force winds. The fisherman thought it would be fine once we got off shore. There is not warf. We needed to launch the large dingy with a motor from the shore into the surf. (after rolling in on piles across the sand to the water edge) They get a couple of extra guys to give us a big push once we are in the boat just enough to get us over the first two swells. I admit I was pretty nervous. We did all have life jackets on, which is not always common in Panama. The ride over was crazy, I sat in the back close to the captain but the boys were bouncing around in the front pretty good. We were all happy to get there ! Isla iguana is know for its large coral reef. You can walk just in off shore as the island is situated on a reef. Shortly after we arrive we discover the tide was going out pretty fast and pretty quickly a sand bar of coral appeared. The problem with this was you could not snorkel since the water was too shallow and the tide would not be high enough until after 2 in the afternoon. It was now about 10:30 and we basically had to wait. It felt like being stranded on a desert island. Besides the coral reef the other notable thing on this island was of course iguana, yes large blue iguana everywhere. And it is nesting habitat of the 'magnificent Frigate' birds which mate in December and January. The males have a big red sack on their neck that they puff up and it looks like they are carrying balloons. They are very large birds. There were hundreds of them flying around. Too many for my liking personally. We did hang in there long enough to snorkel and it was great with lots of diverse coral and tons of cool fish. Also the wind died down a great deal for our trip back safe and sound.

Last night we had some excitement. While eating a lovely meal on the front patio of our B&B and noticed the transformer on the electrical pole above our heads was on fire. That can't be good we all thought. The manager called the fire department (all volunteer). There is a festival in town so it took awhile to round them up... They did arrive and started to spray the fire with water... We decided it would be a good idea to watch things from a distance. They put the fire out and carried on. All was good until midnight when the power company showed up to replace the transformer. They were pounding on the door and honking the truck horn to get our attention ?? And they kept yelling in Spanish. We were not about to go out there ! It was crazy ! Anyway we lost power for about an hour and then everything kicked back in.

Today we went to a surfer beach. The surf was big and it was great entertainment to watch the surfers ride the waves.

Tomorrow we have a big drive back to Panama city ... Boo hoo