July, 2009:

I’m always trying to find new and easier ways for present and future Andiamo guests to make their deposits and pay for their trips! Amazon just released their new Amazon Payments service, and I’m actually excited about it. I’m a regular Amazon customer, as well as have an Amazon Store on this site. It just sounds like a great fit. Now with this new payment service provided by Amazon, people have at least a choice on how to pay their deposits (and trips) online.

Unfortunately, however, Google Pay gave Andiamo the heave-ho due to their policy of not processing payments for travel that includes overnight accommodations. So despite the fact that I announced not that long ago that we were accepting Google Pay, at this time we are not able to. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Let me know what you think of Amazon Pay! Leave a comment or drop me a note!

I found myself in disbelief that the waterpipe had STILL not been fixed within one day of them having the parts I’d bought and sent back to them. The whole point of me going to the city a couple of days earlier than I had planned to was to get the pipe fixed sooner than later.

I had been calling Dino each day from the city to check on the repairs. Each day he’d say that they were going to finish it “manana”. I just found myself getting more and more frustrated, and not happy with the fact that the villagers probably still held me responsible for the fact that the waterpipe had not yet been put back in service. It would be nearly a week by now. This was getting beyond ridiculous. (more…)

When we left off in Part I, I was just getting back to Carti after finishing a 2-night trip. The weather was just ok, and the guests were in a bit of a hurry to catch their ride back to Panama City. I taxied Andiamo to its anchoring spot, and dropped the hook (yes, this time VERY far away from the waterpipe’s location, geez, always a smart-ass in every crowd…) 😛 .

The guests’ lancha had been waiting, and came alongside Andiamo to take them and their bags aboard. Strangely, another lancha showed up on the opposite side of Andiamo, and came alongside. There was a kuna guy standing on the bow. He was very animated and anxious. He yelled at me in unintelligible spanish as the lancha drew just a little too close to Andiamo’s unfendered topsides for my comfort. I asked them to stay a bit more away from the boat so as not to hit and mark up the hull paint. I just had it touched up in Cartagena last month! I have enough trouble keeping marks off the hull paint as it is. I asked them to wait a minute. (more…)

It was another trip-ending in Carti’ without a hitch. Carti’ is actually a group of four village islands that are close the mainland in San Blas. It serves as an effective thoroughfare in and out of San Blas due to the fact that the only road into San Blas from Panama’s InterAmericana highway ends there. It also has an airport, which is the other reason it’s such a key access spot for tourists and Kuna alike.

Andiamo typically starts and finishes its trips in Carti’, making use of this good access. It’s also a great place to leave Andiamo there when I head to the city in between trips. Dino, my faithful kuna guy takes care of Andiamo while I’m gone and gets her ready for the next trip. He also makes sure that Lucy stays alive, fed, and at least somewhat entertained.

This particular time around, the anchorage was rather crowded with quite a few other boats. I decided to anchor Andiamo in a spot that lies closer between the islands in a protected channel. This is usually a safe place, because the boat is protected on all sides except for some slight exposure to the north. On the southern end of this same channel, there is a 3-inch PVC pipe that delivers fresh water from the Carti’ River on the mainland via a neighboring island. It sits along the bottom in about 25 feet of water. On most days you can see it in plain sight through the clear water. Most of the boaters in the area know to anchor well away from it, as I do. (more…)