I've found paradise. The San Blas Islands are an image off a postcard or that tropical paradise screen saver you have on your work computer. I was lucky enough to spend 2 days there, living in a hut right on the beach.
The San Blas Islands of Panama are an archipelago comprising approximately 378 islands and cays, of which only 49 are inhabited. They lie off the north coast of the Isthmus of Panama, east of the Panama Canal. They are home to the Kuna Indians and a part of the comarca Kuna Yala along the Caribbean coast of Panama.
Tuesday morning we were picked up by a 4x4 to start our journey to the San Blas islands. It was a rough start. Three of us were squished in the very back of a Toyota 4x4 that clearly wasn't meant for 8 people. Ricardo, our driver, picked us up at 5am then proceeded to stop at the supermarket, the pharmacy and for breakfast. ALL while we sat squished and hot in the back of his vehicle. I was not impressed. He should have done his errands first then picked us up.. After Ricardo finished all his errands we were finally on our way. The road to San Blas is literally a paved goat trail across a continental divide. It was the craziest drive ever! Huge hills, massive pieces of road missing, twists, turns, bumps. I was feeling pretty car sick by the end, and being in the very back seat was not helping. At around 9am we finally arrived at a river. From the river we were picked up by Ellie and Monesto, local Kuna men who would be our hosts for the next two days.
Dying after the crazy drive
the river where we were picked up
Five of us were packed into Ellie's boat and we slowly made our way down the river. After about 15 minutes we were out on the Caribbean Sea hitting massive waves and getting soaked in the little boat. It was actually a fun ride and enjoyable because of the hot weather. After half hour we arrived at Isla Narasgandup. "Dup" means island in Kuna.
trying to stay dry
Ellie & Monesto
We were shown our hut then explored the island. It only took about twenty minutes to walk about the whole island. There was another group of huts on the other side of the island. We spent the morning hanging out on the beach until we were called for lunch. Ellie and Monesto went out in the boat and caught us fresh lobsters. Lunch was amazing! The best food I've had so far.
After lunch, we were taken to the main Kuna island that has the largest concentration of Kuna people. We were only allowed to take pictures of the people with their permission. The women were traditionally dressed and didn't really acknowledge us, but the kids loved us! They all said hola and were showing off by doing handstands. It was really interesting to see how these people live. They are still following their traditional ways with little influence from the modern world and they are only allowed to marry within the Kuna people. We headed back to our island and spent the rest of our time swimming, relaxing, reading and eating a lot of fresh seafood.
dining hut & two sleeping huts
my home for two days
another small San Blas island
our amazing beach!
tranquilo
our chefs
a local Kuna woman in traditional clothing
saying goodbye to our hosts
