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Published: March 25th 2011
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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 make.
I flew Aeroperlas to Playon Chico even though the thing to do seems to be to go to El Porvenir where more accommodation choices are available. The flight was short (about 45 minutes if I remember correctly) in a small 8-seater two propeller engine plane that wobbled and shaked at the first hint of turbulence giving the sensation that the whole thing was
just gonna fall apart at any moment!
Before taking off I knew there existed a couple of expensive resorts in the Playon Chico area – a cool $150 a night expensive – just ever so slightly out of my price range so my plan was to stay with a Kuna family within the community but having not phoned to confirm something in advance this was far from guaranteed. I did manage to get a place and later realized just how lucky I’d been when I discovered that a freak fire had wiped out quite a number of homes that in the past had been used to house travellers to the area. Luckily no one was killed or hurt in the fire but the damage to the community was there for all to see.
The worst case scenario was if I couldn’t find a place to stay and was forced to stay in one of the two resorts. All I could do is make sure I had my credit card with me just in case and keep my fingers crossed! However, I really needn’t had worried as upon arrival to the teeny tiny airport I was greeted by about
a dozen locals asking me if I had a place. I ended up staying in the house of a super nice family and one of the oldest sons – Luis – was my guide for the 2 days I stayed there. My room was simple enough and it had a double bed which was way more than I expected. I had a cute wee living room and just outside, screened off by bamboo shoots, was a shower of the vat of water and bucket variety. It might not sound that great but I really quite enjoyed throwing buckets of water over myself under the stars at night.
The first day I arrived after a wee siesta (the flight left Panama at 6am!), Luis and his little brother took me in a row boat to a nearby island whose name I can’t remember. It was just a small place but I had it all to myself and it was just as stunning and beautiful as everyone had told me it would be back in Panama City. I had a beach of fine white sand and the water was just so clear and calm it could’ve been a swimming pool. I
guess the outer islands act as a breaker for the waves which means that by the time it gets to the inner islands it’s super smooth and tranquil. Until the day after it was the best beach I’d ever been on! I gave Luis enough money to hire a boat with a petrol engine. I think it was about $15 for the boat and an extra tenner for the petrol. With this boat we were able to go to an island a little further out – this one was called Isla Diadum. If the island on the first day was amazing, this one was really something special. The pictures I took just don’t do it justice and I would say that neither does the little video that I recorded. Annoyingly I wasn’t quite alone this time as a small group of tourists from one of the resorts came along but they left before me so for a while I had the place to myself!
I had a great time in San Blas and despite the lack of any bars or restaurants or cinemas or clubs or in fact any modern day devices at all I would’ve happily spent way
more time there. I enjoyed the fact that I avoided the main destination of El Porvenir as in doing so I had a waaaaay more insightful and interesting view of how the Kunas live and their efforts to preserve a traditional way of life with their own customs and own language. Luis was really great as a guide and in fact the whole community treated me fantastically. I would’ve taken some pictures of the family I stayed with, but the custom is to give $1 for every subject in the photo so a picture of the whole family probably would’ve set me back a good $30! I spent $10 a night for the lodging, $10 a day for a guide and about $25 a day on food so although San Blas might be considered a treat, it can definitely still be done on a budget.
Remember, photos can be seen at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/13183189@N06/
Hasta logo trooooncos
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