Raista

Today we were making our way back, going downriver to Raista, which is not far from Belen. It took about four hours in the boat, going back the same way we came.

The weather was not as good today and we had a bit of rain on the way back so we huddled under a big bit of plastic to protect ourselves.

There were a lot of birds out on this trip and we were lucky enough to see a lot of toucans, they always sit really high in the trees but their profile is very distinct.

We got to Doña Elma’s at around lunchtime but she was expecting us yesterday – obviously no one was talking to anyone on this tour so I think we kept surprising people everywhere we went as we were a day behind schedule. Doña Elma whipped up a good lunch for us and got our rooms sorted. We were surprised to see other tourists here, as we hadn’t seen any in a week. There were three Spaniards and a Columbian.

In the afternoon we had guide come and take us on a tour of the community. This pretty much involved walking along the dirt road, he pointed out the butterfly farm, school and church, then we returned back along the beach.

The beach was a real disappointment, there was more rubbish then I’d seen anywhere before. The guide said it all washes up from the Bay Islands but I find it hard to believe that is the only source. But still, why doesn’t anyone clean it up – there is plastic everywhere.

When the “tour” was over we went back to the village to buy some cold beers, our first cold beer in days. They tasted fantastic! Doña Elma is apparently known for her good cooking and we weren’t disappointed at dinner. We also got to eat our first vegetables in a week – some raw cabbage and tomato.

After dinner there was a Mosquito Dance just for us. This was a bit cringeworthy as they set up three chairs for us to watch the three dancers. There was a bonfire and our guide from this afternoon was on guitar and vocals. Around the outside everyone else from the village and a couple of other tourists who were staying there watched. A few of the dances involved our participation and while it was quite funny, it was also pretty horrible with everyone watching. At one point the bonfire became a raging inferno scaring the dancers so the guitar guy got some water to splash on to calm it down then the whole structure collapsed - it was hilarious.