Blogs from Archipielago de San Blas, Kuna Yala, Panama, Central America Caribbean
Epic Fail in the San Blas Islands....
Published: March 17th 2012Central America Caribbean » Panama » Kuna Yala » Archipielago de San Blas
March 15th 2012
In the whole time we have been travelling i dont think we have had such a disasterous trip.... Disasterous but fun! So we had booked to do a 3-night camping trip on a remote island in the San Blas islands of the Kuna Yala territory, Panama. It is an archepeligo of around 365 palm fringed islands, give or take a few that disappear at high tide. Its the kind of islands that you picture when someone says "Deserted tropical island paradise"...... Well!?!? We had met our fellow travellers at the hostel in Panama city. Two couples, Bruce and Laura from Canada and Julien and Tasha from Reunion Island and South Africa. We all got along really well. The trip started early in the morning and we headed to the Kuna Yala (Native indian territory not governed ... read more
Sailing adventures from Panama to Colombia
Published: March 15th 2012Central America Caribbean » Panama » Kuna Yala » Archipielago de San Blas
March 14th 2012
Day 1 So, it was the morning of departure from Portabelo in search of Cartagena Colombia. Everyone was up quite early to make sure they had all their stuff packed and ready for the trip. We were supposed to meet at the dock at 10am so all of us started our walk with our massive backpacks, small pack and added carrier bags of food and drink (mainly clanging rum bottles) towards the dock. When we arrived there was a group of people sitting on the bank just alongside the dock but they didn’t look in the best of spirits...we first wandered if they were coming on the same boat as us but after a while we worked out that they must of just got off another boat coming from Colombia and they either all had a ... read more
San Blas?...... No, San Bliss!
Published: November 13th 2011Central America Caribbean » Panama » Kuna Yala » Archipielago de San Blas
November 12th 2011
So, next destination was the San Blas Islands, and what we had been told was paradise…perfect!. As previously mentioned, in order to book our San Blas tour, we had a bit of a nightmare, and things didn’t run too smoothly. We finally booked it however by skyping a guy we tracked down on the internet who organised tours to one of the islands. We were taking a bit of a leap of faith on this fella, as he had already been a little difficult to get hold of a few times, plus we had seen no previous reviews or feedback on the company. This was a potential risk! He asked us whether we would like the driver to pick us up from our apartment at 5am or 6am in order to take us to into Kuna ... read more
A hop skip and a jump to Colombia
Published: October 4th 2011Central America Caribbean » Panama » Kuna Yala » Archipielago de San Blas
October 5th 2011
On leaving Belize I was faced with making a choice between spending more time in Central America or hot footing it down to South America (unfortunately I just don´t have the time to do both properly). After too many recommendations for Colombia I decided on the later and booked myself on a sail boat to take me to Cartagena, Colombia from Panama on the 17th September. This meant only three weeks to see the remainder of Central America - not an easy task, but an incredible experience. Highlights below: Lago Yajoa, Honduras: Stayed in a micro-brewery set in the jungle amongst the largest selection of birds in Central America. Beer and wildlife are the perfect combination. Volcano boarding, Leon: This involved hurtling down a volcano at 40km p/h on a sledge, and managing ensure all limbs ... read more
Sailing in the wake of pirates & drug smugglers
Published: July 24th 2011Central America Caribbean » Panama » Kuna Yala » Archipielago de San Blas
May 18th 2011
From Panama, there are essentially three ways to get to Colombia, the next stop on our trip. Option one is to fly, but it was going to be a very expensive flight and where there is an alternative, we usually prefer to do that. Option two is to travel overland across the Darien Gap. Downsides of this route are that there are no roads, so it involves days of hacking through jungle with a machete, and the fact that still today there is a high risk of kidnap. As exciting as that sounded, we chose option three, taking a sailboat from northern Panama across to Cartagena on the northern Colombian coast. Many boats offer trips on this route and are advertised in hostels in Panama City. Choosing the right boat and captain is a little bit ... read more
Panama City to Mulatupo, Kuna Yala
Published: May 17th 2011Central America Caribbean » Panama » Kuna Yala » Archipielago de San Blas
May 5th 2011
I woke up to the alarm going off, which it had been doing for several minutes. The next thing I heard is the cab driver telling the night guy my name. Crap. We went out & talked with taxi dude & he was totally ok with it all & said he'd come back later to get us. Whew. We went right back to sleep for another hour. Too early. We got up, got packed, & headed out to the airport. We're flying into a little town in the Kuna Yala called Mulatupo. We have no idea what we will find there but we will see. It's pretty well off the typical tourist path so it's kind of an adventure. At the airport we waited for over an hour for the flight. Delayed. One thing I do ... read more
Stahlratte is back in Coco Bandero
Published: February 17th 2011Central America Caribbean » Panama » Kuna Yala » Archipielago de San Blas
February 17th 2011
Stahlratte is back in Coco Bandero after sailing to puerto lindo dropping off the old crew and loading 10motos and so now we are 26 souls on board and its time for a great BBQ now.....chao ... read more
sailing the caribbean
Published: February 21st 2011Central America Caribbean » Panama » Kuna Yala » Archipielago de San Blas
February 14th 2011
Lawrence of Arabia. A 45ft 1985 sail boat. 8 naive backpackers. a huge mess. canned food. 8 meter swells. all the good stuff that makes its way from your stomach onto a. the side of the boat b. into the toilet c. anywhere it manages to land. lots and lots of water. wayward dingies. broken sails. more water. beautiful postcard perfect islands. land. snorkelling. fresh wood fire fish. calm. swimming. turquoise waters. palm trees. land. bliss. dread. nausea. vegemite on bread. vegemite on biscuits. even more water. scary thoughts. laughing. cringing. praying. bad smells. garlic. cabbage. music. loss of gps. huge swells. cartagena harbour. arrival. relief. celebration. The combination of these words pretty much sums up my five day sailing trip from Portabello, Panama to Cartagena, Colombia. It was a challenge. Both physically and mentally. It ... read more
ARCHIPIELAGO DE SAN BLAS Y LOS KUNAS
Published: March 25th 2011Central America Caribbean » Panama » Kuna Yala » Archipielago de San Blas
February 11th 2011
Up on the Caribbean coast of Panama is the Comarca de Kuna Yala and a group of almost 400 little islands called San Blas. The region is autonomously owned by the Kunas with little interference from the Panamanian government and has been that way for over 500 years. Getting to the region is pretty damn difficult especially at the time I went (Feb 9th – Feb 11th) when, following heavy rain, the only road leading to the Comarca was closed to tourists. So with that option out the window it was a toss up between flying or enduring a long and tedious journey by land to the north coast followed by boat to El Porvenir. Given that the difference in price was only $50 (Plane $150 return / Land $100) the decision was quite easy to ... read more
Stahlratte is back in Coco Bandero!!!
Published: February 4th 2011Central America Caribbean » Panama » Kuna Yala » Archipielago de San BlasFebruary 4th 2011
With 13 other boats :( It is cloudy and windy and we are just 11 people on board :) Fried fish and cocos rice for Dinner. yamyam!!!... read more
