the islands

There is only one other couple here on the island with us, other than the staff, Mathew , a young French man and his Colombian wife Diana. They are both journalists. Mathew makes documentaries for French television. He tells us of his exploits in Afghanistan and his meetings with the FARC and the coca growers in the jungles. Exciting stuff and quite scary. One of the locals, Jose Maria, offers to take us touring around in his small boat. We putter from island to island. The islands vary in size from tiny specks housing a small shack to the quite expansive atolls with resort hotels and private homes looking quite smart. We drift through mangrove swamps which offer a welcome relief from the tropical sun. There is only one town on the islands so we decide to take a look. We trek through the jungle like terrain for ten minutes or so. The place is strewn with old plastic bags, empty soft drink bottles and all the detris of modern life. The town it self consists of a few wooden shacks astride a wide dirt path. People languish about in the heat. The most impressive structure here is a large caged in metal arena. This is ringed with benches. We have discovered the cock fighting arena, hub of Sunday night activity. People come from the islands around to bet on the birds. Good thing its not Sunday night I think.