Salt Water and Electronics don´t mix

The notion that the free market can provide the most efficient mechanism distribute good and services falls apart as soon as externalities are introduced. And this global world we live in where goods and information can be sent around the world at negligable costs the major externality we continue to live with is government regulations. Such as import taxes. Especially on electronics. Especially in South America where electronics from the US and Europe are generally charged a 100% duty. Do you have any idea how much a new digital camera costs in Latin America. I do, all to well unfortunately.

You see I lost my first digital camera in a cab in Buenos Aires. It was my own fault, I had it just sitting in my pants pocket and when I got out of the cab the camera stayed. I went about two months without a new camera because I just couldn´t bring myself to pay the outrageous prices for the 2 generation old cameras I could find in Argentina. I went to Mount Aconcagua and Machu Piccu and Solar de Uyuni and don´t have a single photo to show for it. Such is life when you´re a cheap bastard.

But while flying through Panama I decided to pay the outrageous prices they were charging for a brand new super nifty Canon SD camera at the duty free shops. It was still better than what I could get in any retail store in Latin America, but about 50% higher than it should have been. And it was a great camera, only 3 weeks old, sharp pictures, great night shots, tons of settings, some of which I even learned to use. I took a bunch of pictures in Cuba and one of these days when I buy a new USB keydrive I´ll upload some of them.

This morning I decided to go snorkeling at La Isla de Solanga. Well it wasn´t actually morning, I came up with this plan the night before, before I realized how the evening would unfold. You see I met these three Ecuadorean guys last night and, well I´ve come to realize that no matter where you are in the world if you decide to start partying with a group of people, some of who have dreadlocks, an affinity for boxed-wine and the only english they speak comes from lyrics to Bob Marley songs you can kiss your plans in the morning goodbye.

No I didn´t make it up at 6:00 AM like I was planning to in order to bum a ride on one of the fishing boats that would be passing the island. Instead it was about 1:00 PM when I finally made it down to the beach. And they best price I could come up with to get to La Isla de Solanga was US $15, an outrageous sum. But lack of perfect information and rationale players are also market extranalities.

So instead I bummed a ride on the back of somebodies motorcycle to Playa de Solanga hoping I could find a better price to the island. No such luck, as almost all the boats were already out at sea and no one would go below US $20. Instead I decided to just hike around the edge of the beach towards the coves and playita I heard about and hope I could find some corals there worth exploring and work on the island the next day.

The trek started out easily enough, crossing a couple of coves and working my way around the bay. And I came upon the playita I heard about and it was spectacular. You could have called it paradise. Beautiful beach and the only marks in the sand were from my feet and a couple of sand crabs. But I wasn´t quite satisified and I needed to know how far I could keep going and what I would find.

I crossed the next cove fairly easily, but the one afterwards was a little more daunting. The cliff on the side I was on was sheer. But I saw a path I could take by climbing over the rock face that surrounded the cove. My feet slipped a couple times and I cursed the slipperly Cuban soles of my newly bought sandals as I peered down over the edge at the waves crashing upon the jagged rocks below. ¨This would be a crappy way to die¨ I couldn´t help but thinking.

But I made it without too much problem to a spot above a rock embancment. The only thing left to do was gently toss my backpack down on the rocks below and climb down. My throw was true and the bag hit exactly where I wanted it to, but I put a little spin on my bag, which was top heavy from the snorkeling gear. The bag tumbled once, twice and fell to the embancment directly below it, where it tumbled once, twice more before falling to the next ledge and hanging ever so agonizingly close to stopping before turning one more time and falling into the waters below. I just nodded my head suprised I didn´t see this outcome well in advance.

I jumped down off the rocks and my mind immediately went through what I would lose if the bag was pulled out to sea. My juggling balls, that would be a bummer, I just got those and it was an awesome gift. A pair of clothes, no biggie. Wallet, oh crap. Camera, shit. Cell phone, dammit. Snorkeling gear, bummer but replacable. My cool Brazilian flag beach towel, well they lost already and I´m just a fair weather fan so whatever. My half-read copy of Kafka in the non-original Spanish. Replacable but damn it was painful marking it up with all those study notes.

I looked around frantically as I planned my dive into the cove to try and retrieve my belongings. As luck would have it a wave washed my now soaking back up on a rock. And it only took a minute or two to get it and climb back to my sandals and sunglasses. I opened it to see the damage and everything was drenched.

I haven´t had much luck with electronics in this trip. When I was climbing Pucamarca in Argentina I was listening to my mp3 player and smoking a cigarette. My feet slipped and I needed to make a split-second decision about which hand I was going to put down to brace myself. My cigarette was fine but the Creative Nomad bounced off a couple of rocks and I´ve been without tunes ever since.

My sister is bringing me a brand new shinny iPod when she comes, the one that does video and photos. She even said she´d fill it up with good music, but seems to ignore all my questions about how much Dylan she is going to put on there. I almost broke down and bought one at the same duty free store in Panama but I figured I could go another couple weeks without music. And now I think I´ve got to add another item to the shopping list.

Those off you concerned about my health should know that I haven´t had a cigarette since Argentina. Ok, ok, I had one in Peru but that was a congradultory you just hiked Machu Piccu smoke and the crazy gringo I met from Seattle practically forced me to inhale. And yeah there were those 2 (only 2!) cigars in Cuba, but come on how often do you get to smoke Cuban cigars in Cuba? But I´ve been feeling pretty good these last two months or so without smoking and I think I´m finally done with that disgusting habit. Now if I could just stop breaking my toys I´d be all set.