San Blas Picturebook a.k.a. 4 Cameras Blazing

January 5-8

San Blas has a tiny Fonatur marina (Yay!) on the windy Estero de Poso. Approach over the bar without local knowledge was impossible, but after an hour wait the marina did send us a panga escort. The city continues on in a style set during the mid-1900’s with cobbled streets and a predominance of transport by bike and foot. (Yay again!) In addition to its undeveloped state, the famous “jungle river trip” attracted us and our friends Bill and Colene whom we planned to meet there at the Casa Roxanna Bungalows.

 Charlie and I enjoy looking at the local birds and animals, but don’t have much knowledge of tropical species. In contrast, Bill and Colene have been birding all over the tropics. We happily to booked a guided tour of the Tovara River through the mangrove thickets. In order to have the river to ourselves, we left about 7:30 a.m. before the regular tours began.

A limpkin, no relation of anyone we know.

While Colene and the guide pointed out many birds that we’d never seen before, Charlie snapped away. We enjoyed the cool morning, the beautiful reflections on the flat water and scanning the banks for shy birds. Luckily many of these birds are large and fairly easy to see.





A slightly unnerving aspect of the waterway was its unseen reptile residents. Crocodiles are actually being raised at a farm to repopulate the river. We got out there for a visit midway through the trip. The farm tour was interesting especially as the crocs just lay around like sculptures. You could really examine them up close.

Crocs in a pen at the farm 

Cocodrillo wannabe on movie set

We also saw tilapia swimming free in the river there. They are fed and used for croc food.

This ain't Disneyland folks! Real, not animatronic!

In the early morning the crocs weren’t out yet. On our return the warmer temperature brought out some of the big fellas to sun. Everyone agreed that pangas with their motors scare the crocs, but I wondered about the fishermen we’d passed working out of wooden boats about the size of a large canoe.

The next morning we took walks to another couple of excellent birding sites, Colene and Bill to the unappealing sounding sewage ponds, a favorite with local birders housed at their lodgings, Susie to Cerro de San Basilio, a hill with a commanding view of town. Later Bill and Colene visited the abandoned church there too.

Leaving town we enjoyed views of the waterfront before the 40 mile crossing to Isla Isabella.