Back In Barra

By Chris FosterApril 28, 2019 ( 1 )

By Chris Foster 4/20/19

Ahh, back in Barra! Elizabeth’s brother and sister-in-law Charlie and Melynn joined us along with their lovely daughter Claire, as well as our good San Diego friends, Rich and Lisa Tear.

Wed. AM. Everyone was a bit groggy after the first night of port festivities so the action began late morning with a dinghy ride into the mangroves and then over into the canals by town. This is not exactly Ft. Lauderdale. The houses lining the waterway are modest (probably not a lot of caviar being served), however Charlie and I agreed we would be just fine in most any of them; wives not so much!

We motored the tender over to a waterside restaurant for a leisurely lunch and the first mexican beers of the day (one of the cool things about Barra is that you can get most anywhere by boat). Later we headed over to the pool after a quick rest. The marina at Barra is connected to the Gran Bay Hotel, a luxury resort with a great pool, swim up bar and even a water slide.

Tennis. At 4:30 Rich, Alex and I talked the local tennis pro Gabriel into a game of doubles. Notwithstanding that I got the pro on my side of the court, Alex and Rich beat us comfortably. Afterwards Rich and Alex treated all to a demonstration match of singles. (Best not to ask Alex who won…)

Cheese O’Clock. After showers we of course gathered on the upper deck for “Cheese O’clock” overlooking the marina and bay. (Quiz: What time is Cheese O’Clock? – Answer: When you have wine and cheese!

Thursday. We rose earlier and met up with the French Baker who comes around each morning by boat with a fabulous assortment of baked treats.

That night we enjoyed a delightful dinner at Sea Master,overlooking the ocean and a fantastic sunset. The water absolutely glowed with phosphorescence on our way home.

Thursday. Embajador and crew headed off to Tenacatita (Click For Lots of Photos) 2 hours north of Barra for a night on the hook and exploration in the mangrove river (see Day 7 in Ted’s post from last week for more on this great “Jungle Tour”).

On the way out of Barra we passed Los Llanitos, a ship wrecked on the rocks during a hurricane in 2017..

Toro Toro Toro! On entering Tenacatita Bay Alex put us on several schools of Toro (Jack Crevalle), the first of which he hooked standing on the roof while driving at the same time. These things are super strong fighters and can be big, but are not great to eat.