Saturday 27 October 2007

Shopping on the Rio.

Saturday mornings are the time for the cruisers' Swap Meet on the Rio. As we are tied up just off the restaurant where this event takes place its a nice way of doing a little shopping, a little socializing and getting up to date with the latest gossip..

This morning, before we even left the boat we swopped two cheek blocks for an old Yamaha 4hp outboard! How about that for a deal. Its the same as the engine we use all the time on our dinghy but a bit older and more knackered. Ideal to cannabalize for spares which are really expensive and difficult to come by here. TBH is a happy chappy.

I was busy negotiating for a bottle of coconut oil when TBH told me that the shrimp man was asking for me. Goody, lovely giant 'muy grande' camarones for supper tonight. At 40Q a pound, thats under 4 euros I was well pleased with my purchase. Since I have been buying regularly from this one guy the price has gone down and the quality gone up- love it!He's always smartly dressed, wearing his Guatemalan cowboy hat, clean jeans and smart shirt. The shrimp stored in an 'igloo' container filled with ice. I am told I can buy them a little cheaper but this guy brings them to me, is always charming, and I am happy with the quality and price, why try and screw him down another 5Q one way or the other?

He is followed by Casa Guatemala, a cheery lass selling produce from the orphanage, 2lbs minced beef and a couple of large (litre) containers yoghurt 80Q. Again good quality and value.

The gossip concerns the bunch of boaters getting 'committees' together to stop dinghy theft..if you've read my previous blog 'Crime Ripple' you'll know just what I think of that! Not a lot.This country hardly has enough money to do any major law enforcement and this bunch of self righteous wankers want them to patrol the area to look after some rich gits rubber boats...how bloody selfish. If they can't cope with their own security issues they shouldn't be here- get back to lala land.

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