Blogs from Archipielago de San Blas, Kuna Yala, Panama, Central America Caribbean - page 7

Our stay with Elias and his family on Isla Corbiski, Kuna Yala, Panama; the San Blas Islands. Our kuna house Our bedroom Simon mooring back at the island Shopping for dinner The island school The loo into the sea Only flushes at high tide! The boys arriving back from an afternoon´s fishing Traffic free streets The floating fishermongers The locals Sardines spotted by your truly off the pier Everything is shared Franko and Natalia Hernan Lobster anyone? Fruit market Youth and skill versus Simon Our neighbours Sailing san blas ... read more

So what happens next is probably one of the most amazing experiences i have had in my life. Throughout our stay in panama we kept hearing other travelers talking about san blas, and these amazing islands on the carribean coast. So what it is, is another archipegelo of approximately 365 islands of the carribean coast of panama. All of the islands are owed by the kuna, which is a tribe that lives on some of the islands. They have their own goverment, and their own laws, they are self sustaining. If you are not of kuna origen you cannot buy an island. So the islands stay within the kuna people. We decided we wanted to visit these islands. It took us awhile to figure out how, you could fly there or you coudl drive there. We ... read more

We left Colombia aboard a Contessa 32 called Good Karma. Captained by a 29 year old American called Duncan who promised great sailing, food and snorkelling and finally some paradise islands! We also had another couple for company, Ida and Paul who we'd hooked up with to find the boat. It was an excellent trip. We left a stormy Cartagena and 52hrs of fairly rough seas later we had arrived in paradise, Sally only managed to be seasick on the first day after trying Duncan´s only speciality - Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches - don´t bother is our advice! Tiny islands with coral reefs and coconut palms awaited us. The weather was sooo hot all you could do to cool off was swim which was gorgeous as the sea was like a warm bath. The sailing ... read more

Island living is the way to go!! Vanessa and i took a flight out to the San Blas islands at 7am and were off on an adventure. We landed on three different islands before we got to ours. Our tour guide was waiting for us when we got off and we had to jump into this motorized wooden canoe that took us to our island. The island we stayed on was half tourist half real life. We however were the only tourists on the whole islands and so we got to talk to the natives. There were about 15 little bamboo houses on the island and then about 6 huts for the tourists. It was like a little paradise! Our tour guide took us to other little islands that day and even took us on a ... read more

Picture this. 4:30 AM. I slowly wake from a deep sleep. A full moon filters in through the window and bamboo walls onto my pallet. I hear the strong rhythmic pulse of waves against our island as a north wind rattles a piece of tin somewhere off in the distance. I watch the shadow of a hammock swaying outside the room. My 6 year old Tevas are silhouetted against the moonlight on the windowsill; I choose to leave them behind and walk barefooted out to the communal toilet. The flashlight is not on the shared table but I have always loved to walk around in the dark. I open the flimsy door and close it carefully so as not to disturb anyone. The boardwalk shines in the moonlight as I pad past the other rooms. I ... read more