Contadora island is part of the Pearl Archipelago (The Pearl Islands) which are a group of many islands about 1 1/2 hour boat ride from Panama City. I am so incredibly fortunate to be invited here for a week to celebrate Alejandro’s 50th birthday, together with his family. The kids did not know I was coming, so it was a big surprise for them. Especially Camilla who came over from Bogota to be here for her father’s birthday. Walking into the apartment to surprise them was such a great moment!
On Saturday morning, Claudia, Andrea and Augustin took the ferry to Contadora Island and I went with Alejandro and Camilla on their boat. Alejandro thought we had enough stuff for a month! Camilla and I swore that we would make sure Augustin played with his Tonka truck EVERY day!
Here is a summary of our first day, which ended in an amusing way that was a little embarrassing for our captains!
Contadora in Spanish means accountant. This was the island where all the pearls collected from the region were counted before begin shipped to Spain. There are no longer many pearls here due to an underwater disease that killed off many, however the diving and snorkelling is good and I will find that out for myself later this week.
The archipelago used to be a favourite haven for pirates and has also been made famous by “Survivor” – in fact one of the islands is now known as “Survivor Island”. We happened across a part of the set for the Survivor Turkey, with an Argentinian film crew who have completely taken over an entire hotel here.
The video features excerpts from our song of the day: Carlos Vives: Volvi a Nacer.