On the way to the ferry terminal where we were supposed to catch a Calypso boat we briefly passed by the Frank Gehry designed building that houses the Biodiversity Museum of Panama. I wish we had had time to walk along the Amador causeway which looked quite relaxing.
The boat ride to Taboga island would take around 50 minutes and despite being too hot I decided to stay up on deck, so as to better admire the view. I must confess I was impressed by the local "seagulls" which were very distinct from ours.
I fell in love with the island the moment we sighted it. Named Isla de San Pedro in the 16th century it is said to soon have become known as Taboga based on the Indian word "aboga" (meaning abundance of fish).
Tourism is its major economic activity and as I strolled around it soon became obvious once its soft sand beaches bathed by clear waters were attractive enough.
Paul Gaugin visited the island in 1887 before having headed to French Martinique and Tahiti, thus a copy of one of its well known paitings on a wall right in front of the house he stayed at at the time.
A visit to San Pedro church, believed to be the second oldest church in Panama led to a taxi drive up to El Morro. During the visit the Belgian couple and I decided to take, we were told of the role the island played during both World wars I and II, as well as the origin of the early settlers, said to be enslaved indigenous Indians from Venezuela and Nicaragua, so as to serve the needs of the Spanish conquerors.
Before lunch I walked to Restinga beach on one of the island's extremities, having met and spoken for a while with a Peruvian artist (Vino) who has been living on the island for quite some time.
Lunch was prepared for the group at a Canadian-Dutch couple's restaurant overlooking the main beach. It was superb, from the local "ceviche" to the dessert. Because rain poured down abrupt and unexpectedly after lunch till it was time to get the boat back to the mainland I spent the following three hours looking at the restaurant decoration and reading some of the Paul Gaugin books available for the clients.
The boat ride return was carried out inside the boat then, as rain kept on pouring heavily down.
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