Thursday, April 15, 2010

0631, Thu, 041510. Our adventure yesterday was off to the market place. A group of us were going by dinghy, about four miles up stream. Our destination, the town of Herradura. Avoiding the sand bars and following Bill and Jean through the different turns in the river, we found our way to a docking area. It was quite busy with local boats coming and going. There are dock boys who help you in and out of your boat and take care of all the tying off of the boats and pretty much keep the congestion down to a minimum. Once off the dink we entered town through a group of restaurants and into the streets. There was the hustle and bustle of any small town going on with one main street wide enough for a large truck but filled with trucks, cars, tuk-tuks, carts, bicycles, and lots of people of all ages. As we wandered through the town the people were friendly with their greetings and the streets were clean of most litter. We were lucky to be in town on a day that had a slight overcast so the heat didn't scorch us. Bill and Jean took us by the bakery that makes all the bread for the entire town. Bill said that any bread you see along the way most likely came from this bakery. It was located down a little alley off the main street in what looked like a garage at the end of the lane. The health inspectors back home would faint at the sight of this place but no one seemed to be dropping dead. Very efficient in their operation the place was centralized around a brick wood stove that was a good ten feet by ten feet. The gentleman opened the door to show us the hot coals pushed off to one side ready for baking. There were trays of little goodies all ready to go in the oven, a machine was kneading a batch of bread and there were stacks and stacks of metal trays piled high. It looked like a family operation as the living quarters seemed to blend right off one end of the bakery. There were little kids who joined into the blend of three or four generations, all busy with some aspect of the baking process. The ceiling was black from smoke and the floors hadn't been swept in ages. To add to the ambiance were cobwebs all around the rough hewn walls. There were dusty piles of equipment in nooks and crannies all around. It could be right out of the past and probably hasn't changed much in a hundred years other than the addition of the kneading machine. They were more than happy to let us wander through the place taking pictures. One couple, John and Sharon, had brought along their little dog and Sharon was trying to find a good place to tie the dog up before entering. The older gentleman ran out and motioned that it was quite all right if the dog came in also. It was quite an operation with lots of smiling family members, I'm glad we got to see this little extra along our journey.
Now it was time to visit the market. Again, like so many places in this part of the world, the door was very indiscreet. Once through the door to the inside, it opened up in lanes and lanes of small vending booths filled to the brim with everything under the sun. Everyone was very friendly and very busy. There was the fruit and veggie section, the fish section, the meat section and on and on. The older ladies were pretty much in charge of the booths and they all wore a small apron across their front with pretty patterns complete with lace around the edge. Sharon later checked out the apron booth and it was quite funny since the apron fit her more like a mini skirt, the local ladies being quite wide in the mid section. Half way through the market Bill was greeted by a friend he had made on a previous trip. Harrison looked to be about nine or ten years old, gave Bill a big hug. Bill handed his bag over to Harrison to carry as Harrison hung out with us for the rest of the trip through the market and down to the docks all for a buck and a soda at the restaurant. He didn't dodge out at that point. Once done with our snack Harrison grabbed Bills bag and carried it to the boat. He made his buck for the day, had a soda and some left over snacks and still had school to look forward to in the afternoon.
Back to the dock, our dinks were all tied up nicely in a row and the dock boy brought them around one at a time to help us in, each of us giving him a dollar for his services. We were back on the river for the trip back to Neos.
We stopped long enough to unload our wares and then headed over to lunch at one of the local restaurants along the river. We sat on a porch covered with a tin roof that they ran water on top to help cool the place and enjoyed a great breeze. Sue and I had a shrimp dish with garlic that was scrumptious. Then it was time for siesta before the local Net. About 3:30 someone came on the radio and announced "Pool time" (that is all there is to the Net here) and we were off to join the group at the pool. The water in the pool had turned to an emerald green color but that didn't stop anyone from enjoying the refreshing coolness of the water. Being that all the other cruisers are headed south while we are headed north, every one is quite interested in any info we might have of our travels. We sat down with Denny of "Dulce Vita" and walked him through the guide book, down to Panama, through the canal and went from San Blas to Mexico. We have been helped by others along the way so it is fun to be able to pass along any info that might help out.
With that the day was pretty much done, just enough time to get back aboard by sundown, enjoy some more episodes of "24" and hit the sack……more later..

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