When passing through Panama City, lots of people we know stay at Cruisers' Casa, a modest apartment that offers a shared kitchen, laundry, and security.  We didn't realize until we got here that the view goes on for days.  Very magical.  I am not one of those people who says 'oh, our hotel room doesn't matter- we're never there except to sleep'.  The weather has had us indoors a lot, and it's been very tolerable here.  We go to DC tomorrow.

If we go swimming late in the day, we seem to see more big fish.  Usually nurse sharks are found sleeping under a rock, but we followed one for quite a while at dusk the other day.

We have not posted much recently because the internet connection here is spotty and we're not really doing much besides swimming and hanging with friends. We're now in the Kuna Yala region of Panama, a semi autonomous nation ruled by the Kuna Indians. It runs from the Columbian border to just about the canal on the NE shore and includes the coastal mountains and about 300 islands. They do not allow ownership of land, development, hotels, scuba diving, surfing, kite surfing, wind surfing, on and on, Nada, Zip. There is one road to Panama City, so it is possible to go there shopping for the day, but that's it for 200 miles of coast. A few towns with huts that sell stuff, but they do come around once a week with fresh veggies and fruit and such so there is no real need to go anywhere. We're anchored out 10 miles from the coast in a coral reef with about 10 boats. A friend got a grouper the other day and we have been eating off it, the cats too. The locals bring us their cell phones to charge, and load us up with all the fresh coconut you could want. The towns have great medical clincs and unlike other parts, there is no petty theft. Also no Dim Sum, but we coming to DC and SF soon and will load up.
Come on down if you want to kick back for the rest of your life.