Kahkabila and the Black Pearl

But not the black pearl you're thinking of. This Black Pearl is a Panga that seats 20. During our CO's visit we had arranged to work the Miskito community of Kahkabila, the closest of our boat territories. In addition to covering the territory we had planned to hold a meeting at the community center and show a video to any that showed up. Of course, for this trip we wanted to bring the entire congregation, but our boat is not big enough. So we decided to hire two of the commercial Pangas that do the Pearl Lagoon to Bluefields route, one of which is named "The Black Pearl".

Meeting for field service at the wharf

Boarding the Black Pearl

Unfortunately when the time came for us to head out to Kahkabila, only one of the boats we had hired was present. No one was particularly surprised, as this kind of thing is a common occurrence in Pearl Lagoon. It worked out well for the owners of the Pearl, because they got to make two trips and receive the payment agreed upon for the second boat in addition to their own.

Showing the Video

We were able to cover all of Kahkabila before noon, and then met for lunch by the wharf. After makings few return visits we gathered at the community center to show the video. The bright sunlight was a bit of a problem, as no one could see the video from the projector, so the brothers went and borrowed an old TV from someone in the community and set it up to show the video "Warning examples for our day" in English. Miskito people in this area tend to understand English quite well, though I suspect there were a few phrases they would have struggled with. In general the audience seemed to enjoy the video. I'm not sure on the actual attendance but it was somewhere around 64, and I believe that is not including the Pearl Lagoon Congregation.

On the Pearl

The advantage to hiring a larger boat is that with their powerful engine the normally 30 minutes to 1 hour trip only took 10 minutes, unfortunately it was a 10 minutes to remember. I would describe the ride as being somewhere between a rodeo and a roller coaster. We were a little beat up by the end of the day, especially those sitting in the front of the boat, I think mostly because of the lagoon being rough, and partly the madness of the driver. But as always, it was worth it.