That’s right, Julian and Camilla’s World Odyssey episode of Panama starts airing tonight on Travel Channel UK, which broadcasts on cable and satellite systems around the globe. So be sure to catch it if you get this channel! For details, click on the link!
News
Phenom Storm Photo!
Riding out the storm... photo by Leila Mohammad
A few days ago, during a trip, we encountered a MASSIVE storm while anchored in the West Lemons, San Blas. Winds hit 30+ knots, rain was blinding, and lightning ground strikes were everywhere. Leila, one third of a spunky mother/daughters trio that was aboard on this particular trip, grabbed this gem of a shot.
You can see one of the fast-moving low-lying storm rollers coming at us with a vengeance. Meanwhile, in the right foreground, our neighbor in the anchorage, “Lulu” hopes to avoid what would have been its THIRD lightning strike this year. There were several frighteningly spectacular ground strikes all around us during the onslaught. Including one that interrupted Andiamo’s electric ground for a good three seconds and gave the air the smell of burning sulphur. Crazy stuff.
Thanks Leila for sharing this keeper of a pic. 🙂
New Kuna Baby!!!
The new tiny arrival...
My Kuna man-friday, crewman, and buddy, Dino, and his wife Flor (pictured) have welcomed their fifth child into Kuna-world. She is named Rihanna Kirian, tiny, and super CUTE!!! The delivery went well, and they are both super-excited proud parents. It’s their first girl, so I suspect Dino will need to beef up his gun collection over the next 12 years or so… 🙂
Felicidades! 🙂
They’re puttin’ us on the teevee… (cont’d)
While I was stateside last week, I was FINALLY able to watch the DVD that Camilla from “Julian and Camilla’s World Odyssey” sent me a while back. This was the tv program that they shot in Panama, and included a segment of them onboard the Andiamo late last year. Well, it’s FINALLY coming out! I watched the episode, and WOW! It’s fantastic!
And not only because it showcases Andiamo and San Blas so beautifully, if I do say so myself 🙂 . But also because they go off the “beaten path” in Panama and uncover some really great and yet relatively unknown spots, people, and curiosities. They didn’t even BOTHER going to Bocas del Toro, which alone is a testament to staying away from the usual touristy spots.
So if you’re in Europe/UK, don’t miss this show! Follow the link above to get the details! They were gracious enough to let me put up a clip of the segment featuring Andiamo, but I need to wait until after the show airs. So it will go up sometime soon after October 8th.
Been REALLY busy lately…
Trips have been going on back to back for the past couple of weeks. I did three trips, then took four days off (where I really didn’t do much but try to relax as much as possible in the city). I am now in the middle of two three-night trips back to back. After this, I’ll have at least 10 days off after this coming trip. I’ll need to take a few days to do some maintenance on Andiamo, and the rest of the time will be STRICTLY breaktime. Well, not entirely, I have lots to catch up on with the site, but hopefully I can get it done inside of a day or so. 🙂
I have some more familiar faces visiting this coming trip. Pam, a longtime friend from high school will be raiding Andiamo with her college-age daughter Bethany. Should be fun! After that we’ll hang out in the city for a few days before they head back to Florida.
In other news, I should be finishing up my schedule for October, November, and December (which is already pretty much booked solid) during this breaktime. I have some nice fun video, pics, and some tribute video to Karen, (who is sadly no longer with me on Andiamo as of a few weeks ago) and a couple of posts that are still in draft. So stay tuned…
Now Accepting Amazon Payments!
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!
The Great Andiamo-Kuna Waterpipe Controversy, Part III
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…)