We visited the village of Dakuniba and visited the chief. We arrived during a more relaxed kava ceremony and upon arrival we were ushered in and sat in front of the chief and his fellow "kava drinkers". Paul placed the bundle of kava in front of the chief, 
he then picked it up, inspected it and started chanting. He turned it around, patted it, and said more words and at the end of the chant all the other men started chanting with him. The kids were in awe of the ceremony and the importance of the kava. Merric then asked the chief if he could taste it :). We were then asked several questions and passed a few shells of the already made kava they were drinking. It taste like water with a root flavor, it numbs the mouth and should make you feel really relaxed after about 4 shells. I had two small shells and declined anymore after the chief told me I didn't have to drink it; Phew, I thought it was an insult to decline a shell. 
After chatting with the men and clapping over each shell we downed, we headed up with two local woman (Viachell and Viv)to take a trek up in the rain forest. We got to a spectacular formation of water rushing down rocks with large bath tubs of water and boulders that look like they will tip over if you lean on them. As we dug a bit deeper into the brush we got to big boulders that had petroglyph's on them. 
The boulders have broken up during the years and were scattered through out the area. Merric and Seanna felt like archeologist and went searching around to find all of them. It is Mandarin, orange, tangerine and lime season here and it's hard to miss. As you walk the village and through the brush you see tons of fallen fruits and peels from the children who find them. By the time we got back to the boat our backpacks were full of Mandarin oranges. 
he then picked it up, inspected it and started chanting. He turned it around, patted it, and said more words and at the end of the chant all the other men started chanting with him. The kids were in awe of the ceremony and the importance of the kava. Merric then asked the chief if he could taste it :). We were then asked several questions and passed a few shells of the already made kava they were drinking. It taste like water with a root flavor, it numbs the mouth and should make you feel really relaxed after about 4 shells. I had two small shells and declined anymore after the chief told me I didn't have to drink it; Phew, I thought it was an insult to decline a shell. 
After chatting with the men and clapping over each shell we downed, we headed up with two local woman (Viachell and Viv)to take a trek up in the rain forest. We got to a spectacular formation of water rushing down rocks with large bath tubs of water and boulders that look like they will tip over if you lean on them. As we dug a bit deeper into the brush we got to big boulders that had petroglyph's on them. The boulders have broken up during the years and were scattered through out the area. Merric and Seanna felt like archeologist and went searching around to find all of them. It is Mandarin, orange, tangerine and lime season here and it's hard to miss. As you walk the village and through the brush you see tons of fallen fruits and peels from the children who find them. By the time we got back to the boat our backpacks were full of Mandarin oranges. 
Last night, Paul heard some crashing in the water and threw a line in. Not even 10 minutes later we had a beautiful mangrove snapper in the bucket. Looks like more fish for dinner. Made an incredible dish of Mahi medallions in a Diablo sauce over angle hair pasta. Yesterday's lunch was Curry fish chowder and Dinner was cornmeal crusted Mahi with a sweet chili sauce and Caribbean peas and rice.... Might not have a restaurant nearby but dining al la Free Spirit is a culinary experience. Reservations needed.
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