< Back to Overview << Prev | Next >>

1/5/2006 5:00:00 PM
San Blas
Matachen Bay 2 miles south of San Blas

San Blas

Two well deserved days in San Blas, a jungle tour and some boogie boarding were on the program.

After a day in Isla Isabella we went on to the mainland, again with no winds and a 7 hour motorsail all the way to San Blas. I finally pulled myself together and with the calm seas and not much else to do, took the chance and started our official school program. Like every year we start a "bit" later but the last years have proven that we can catch up on the lost months and I am sure that we will continue over the summer, while everybody else is off.

I decided to go with a set school curriculum this year, the last two I had put together my own program, but thought it might be easier with all the new situations if we have something planned out for us. It seems that it is working out great, Sebastian likes it a lot even though it has a lot of textbooks, but that is just what he thrives on. The teacher's guide per lesson is written out in detail and is almost dummy prove. While Sebastian works on his 40 minutes math I do phonics and reading with Benjamin, who finally is taking on with it. He was really adamant about it last year, but the screws in his little brain are starting to work and he enjoys it. In math he is quite advanced that I almost have to hold him back, he is especially good in counting in his head. Once he is done with all his work he will go off and help Robert with some boat work or play by himself. There is not really a daily rhythm so if we do not have school on board we are learning from our field trips, shopping on shore learning some Spanish to get by or all the other things one has to learn for life - social studies on other boats etc.

We spent two days at a big bay called "Ensenada de Mantanchen" about 2 miles south of San Blas, an important trading harbor in the 18th century for the Spanish settlers. The first day we took both dinghies up the river bed for about 7 miles along the mangroves with many exotic plants and animals. We saw 3 alligators, turtles, beautiful vibrant red crabs and lots of different birds - we did miss the promised (by the guide book) boa constrictors and jaguars... At the end of the river was a beautiful freshwater spring, which we all enjoyed a lot, even I had a great time jumping in from the tree swing! The crocodile we saw just 150ft away did not seem to bothered and interested in human meat at all, too much action and the locals and other visitors were not alarmed either.

The next day we had another successful school day and in the afternoon we finally hit the beach for some long anticipated boogie and skim boarding by the boys. They had a blast, specially since the water is getting warmer and one does not have to wear a wet suite anymore. In the late afternoon only I went along with the Martins to town since Robert did not feel comfortable enough to leave the boat anchored at the beach, so he went back to the bay and the three boys had a fun evening with a good "boyish" movie.

Well this is it for San Blas - more about the next leg will follow, have fun checking out the pictures on the web, so long

The 4Schmids on Lawur

< Back to Overview << Prev | Next >>