#33 - Bonyic

07/03/2011 (posted 14/03/2011)

So today we moved to our new location for the week, Bonyic, still in the Bocas del Toro province.

Got up at 7 for a quick shower then breakfast. Only had 5 hours sleep as I returned from uploading last week´s blogs at 2am.

Spent the morning packing and saying some goodbyes.
Also ate loads of bread from the shop as we have no idea what the portions will be like this week.
They sell some delicious Guava and Pineapple juice which I had an emotional last carton of - my fourth pint in two days.

The bus was due at 11. This was pushed back to 11:30, then 12.
It came at quarter past 12.

So off we went in a tightly packed minibus - luckily the windows opened which avoided a mega sweatfest.
We had half an hour´s ride to a bridge where we then got in a 4x4. The bridge area is called ´La Silencia´ and is so unbelievable tranquil, just a river flowing through with forests lining the banks on either side.
Beautiful.

We thought the next journey would be 1 or 2 hours but after twenty minutes of a windy and very rocky offroad route, we arrived.

The community is all in and around grass and trees and bushes. Almost all the houses are wooden and many are on stilts, presumably to defend against flooding.
First impressions were that it was very isolated and basic.
It is also about a minute down a little track from the river we saw at La Silencia - apparently this is where we´ll be washing ourselves and our clothes for the week.
Interesting concept. It looks very picturesque though.

But the Pastor showed us the house we´ll be living in and it´s ok. Girls are on the top floor and we´ve got the ground floor .- this would usually be a positive except each day we have to put all our stuff upstairs and lock the door  otherwise locals may pop in and steal it. This makes each morning annoying.

One surprise is that our toilet is a normal white toilet with flush and everything!
Water seems to be in decent supply here so they even have a basic shower.

As a further bonus, the girls have surplus mattresses from their comfy beds (we sleep on a floor) so we don´t have to sleep on roll-out mattresses.
It´s really a lot better than expected.

Lunch came at 3 and was soup containing yam and chicken with rice to stir in. We also had a juice made from local lemon-type things which was lovely.

We were told to get to the church for 3:40 to do a small service.
It started at 4:50.
We all gave our testimony and then I preached - only had to do 10 minutes so I shortened it and it seemed to go ok. It highlighted some areas of improvement which is always good.

Dinner was fried patacones and fish - some opted out of the fish but I decided to go for the full Bonyic experience, warts and all - to be fair it was quite nice as well so I´m glad I had it.

After dinner (and waiting for ages for the girls to get ready, as per usual) we went to the river for a quick wash.
Probably due to being so close to a big body of water, there are tons of flying biting things here which are a constant presence when walking around and even more so when sitting down, for instance now when I´m making notes in my journal.
I´m being bitten all over, mainly on hands and legs but they don´t seem to be fussy. I dread to think what the night will be like - probably best not to know. My mosquito net will be put to the test, that´s for sure.

Need an early night, busy week ahead.

JG