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Published: October 26th 2009
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We have been looking forward to this trip for a long time! The plan was to sail through the San Blas Islands for 3 days then on to Colombia through the open sea for 2 more days. The islands are inhabited by the Kuna, an independent, indigenous population living only on these islands. Every Island was owned by a family and some of the smaller ones had just one house on them.
Our captain was a crazy-looking old guy from Spain. Our ship was a 50ft older boat and we had 6 other travelling companions, from France, London and the US. We had such a great time. One of the French guys had lived in Japan for the last 4 years and was very funny, teaching us Japanese and his English had a Japanese/French accent. When he spoke he mixed the 4 languages together, for a confusing and very entertaining conversation.
We left the first day at sunset and saw dolphins jumping around our boat.
After this exciting beginning, our luck ran out. About an hour after dark, we noticed another ship following behind us. The captain was a bit nervous about other ships in this area so
decided to do a circle to see if they would follow. They did! We called out to them over the radio and when there was no answer the crew started to panic out as they got closer and closer to our boat. Apparently, they have problems with pirates in this area.
Once the boat was close enough to see our boats shabby condition they all of a sudden turned around and left. I guess they didn’t think we’d have much to steal.
Our second bit of misfortune found us at 4am. Our motor decided it was time to retire and gave up. We were all awoken to the sound of the motor trying to be restarted and the smell of exhaust filling the cabin. Luckily there was just enough wind to sail into the shelter of a few islands to anchor and wait out an upcoming storm.
In the morning I climbed out of the cabin to see: 1 large sail boat ship wrecked on the shallow reef, crystal clear water, and 2 beautiful mini islands with a few Kuna living there.
We spent the next 3 days hanging out, kayaking, snorkeling, fishing and lazing in the sun
while we waited for another boat to come rescue us. The kuna would paddle up to our boat several times per day in their dugout canoes to sell us fish, lobster of some of their handicrafts. It was just like those movies where explores arrive at a native settlement and the indigenous people paddle up with supplies. So cool!
They also had a motor boat and took us to some of the other islands to visit large Kuna villages and see the area. One of the most amazing things I’ve seen happened when a huge sting ray leap 2-3 feet out of the water. Unreal!
At last another boat arrived and we transferred our belongings and we off. This boat was much nicer and served fresh fish and lobsters for meals! Our new captain was Colombian (not to bad looking) but was into those illegal things Colombia is known for. During our 2 days of open sea a few birds would come for a rest on our boat. This one little sparrow, which amazed me that it was so far out, was very tame and sat in our laps and let us pet him. He was wet and cold
so we tucked him into some towels for the journey. Another large sea bird must have been tired because when trying to land on the wire rails, he grabbed them and then fell over so that his feet were holding the rails and he was hanging upside down, head smooshed on the deck. He stayed like that until we propped him up and he waddled like a drunk on the swaying boat and then fell down the stairs into the cabin. He spent the rest of the day and night curled up on the kitchen table. We shooed him out once we reached Cartagena.
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