Friday, March 23 2018 Taboga Island

This was taken from the TV screen in our cabin.

The island was discovered in the 16th century and was originally named Isla de San Pedro by the Spanish explorer, Vasco Nunez de Balboa.   Its current name derives from an Indian word aboga ("many fish"). The island's first settlers were Indian slaves from  Venezuela and Nicaragua.

Some hardy members of our travel group decided to hike to the top of the mountain/hill on Taboga Island. Needless to say, we were not in that group. The photos are courtesy of the staff. 

Joyce, from Bend, Oregon, centre, with Ralph and Jann, from Minden,  Nevada

Cerro de la Cruz: at about 1000 ft. this twenty foot cross remains stand- ing, it was originally placed by the Spanish in the 16th century, later rebuilt. The cross was said to have been first placed by a priest who was sent away from the mainland on a raft to starve and be killed by wild beasts. He came ashore on Taboga and built a cross in thanks to God for saving him, it was said he placed a lantern on the cross to guide others in their journeys. 

The view from the top

The rest of us enjoyed a walk through the town.

A pretty little plaza where we could leave our water shoes and PFDs.

I saw an interesting trail of leaf-cutter ants at the base of a large tree. All the bits of green leaves and red flowers are being hauled away to the nest. Fascinating! And I don't even like ants. We battle them every summer in our yard.

If you are interested in more information about leaf-cutter ants, I found two videos online. The first is an excellent little video showing a group of tourists watching the ants at work.

The second video has information about how the ants feed the leaves and flowers to a fungus in their nest, and use the 'juice' that the fungus produces to feed the colony. Don't watch it if you are squeamish about ants, but it's very good, and not too long.

Back to the people...

Our group  - staff photo

Our group leader, Simona, from Italy,
with Greg and Cecilia, from Winter  Park, Florida on the left,
 and Nancy and William, from Pagosa Springs, Colorado, on the right.

This is really beachfront property!

A pretty little house, with pop cans and bottles decorating the stone wall.

A lovely doorway

A warm welcome from the locals

Street art

                                     

Panama played a small but significant part in the life of Paul Gaugin. Gauguin lived in Isla Taboga.  Virtually penniless, he had left his wife and five children in Paris to try and make a name for himself as an artist. En route to Martinique, he stopped off at the Isthmus of Panama in 1887. While here he worked as forced labour on the early, disastrous, French attempt to build the Panama Canal. 

During his time in Panama he became extremely ill, and spent time in a Yellow fever and Malaria Sanatorium on Isla Taboga. Nothing remains to bear witness of his stay here apart from a vibrant plaque, donated in 1995 by the French Embassy of Panama.

This church is the Iglesia San Pedro, (St. Peter's Church), the second oldest church in the western hemisphere, built in 1524.

staff photo - I like the basketball hoop in the plaza.

Pat, in the green shirt, and Jerry, at far right, from Ohi0

Most of the church's statues were covered with purple fabric, as it was a week before Easter.

Curious to see what it might have looked like, I found this photo on TripAdvisor.  Stunning!

The stairway to the tower. It looked very tiny.
Detail of padlock below.

Beautiful tiles on the plaza outside the church.

There were a number of street icons, ranging in size from this one, at the end of the street, to the little egg-shaped version by the side of the road. 

There was even one in the bay. - staff photo

Of course the flowers throughout the town were lovely. 

Staff photo

Staff photo

The remainder are my photos. Such gorgeous colours!

After touring the town, we headed for the beach area.

 

Decoration on the porch of a home near the beach.

James and Joyce, from Bend, Oregon

A pretty hotel that has appears to have closed. 

Patient staff waiting for our return to the ship by skiff.

A resting place for sea gulls, with our ship in the background.

Andrew and his mother, Helen, were often our dining partners. We enjoyed their company.

Tim. went out of his way to make the cruise enjoyable, even getting us recipes!