Isla Isabel

 We went to Isla Isabel.  For me it was the 8th time, I think, but every time I love it more and more.  This time I saw two birds totally new to me: Sooty Tern and a Grooved Billed Ani.  There was a whole colony of the terns and they were making a racket, not too bothered by our visit.  I also saw a Perigrine Falcon, which I didn't know went out there.  While going to the north side of the island, we went out on this little intertidal island thing, which Abe and I have tried to constrain the waterspouts (where the water splashes up through a crack in the rocks when the waves come in).  Lindsay calls those spouts "dragons" and so we tried to tame the dragons.  Not much success.  Anyways, this time as we walked along, there were some Tropicbirds nesting in the rocks just a few feet away!  Usually they are on the cliffs and I had never got a good look at them before this.

Also, the water was 80 degrees, and holy cow, we spent so much time in the water.  I went spearfishing a few times and shot a nice big Pargo, or snapper, about 12 lbs, and we shared it with some new friends on board a 100' sailing yacht.  The next night we dined in style aboard the Shamaness, which is a boat that belongs to my friends Dennis and June, who I had met way back in the day on my first trip down here.  We were hiking along and I looked over, saw the sail, and thought to myself, that looks like a Chung-Wa!  Then looking through my telephoto lens, my suspicions were advanced, and then looking at the picture zoomed in, I could read the name and it was confirmed.  So we went over to visit later on.  The next day after that, I shot a large (24 lb) Amberjack, similar to a Yellowtail, and then brought some fish over to the encampment of phototourists (mexican tourists) who had arrived in a Panga, and they gave me some smoked sailfish.  So then we went over to another boat (an 80 footer, I guess my standards are dropping) and shared fish tacos with them.  All this visiting has made me realize that I need a 100 foot boat with all the luxuries, like a hot tub and water toys...  Next trip.
After 4 days at Isabel we departed and we motored all day to San Blas, where we snuck into the showers for the marina there and got all cleaned up.  San Blas is a beautiful town that is preserved by the fact that the insects eat all the people who try to change things.  There is a lot of Mexican tourists who come to the beach here and also lots of fishing that comes to market here, and a base for the Mexican Navy.  It has been a port since the 1500s, for Spain, then for Mexico.