San Blas

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This morning I got to the airport at 6:30 and boarded a tiny plane headed north to the San Blas islands - home to the Kuna Yala indians. The plane took us north over the Chagres and I got a sense of how huge it actually is. The area we covered yesterday was so small in comparison to the rest. After about 30 minutes a started to see a tiny islands of San Blas scattered in the ocean - all owned solely by the Kuna. There are no forgeiners living in the islands and the Kuna follow there own type of government.

It was pouring rain at the airstrip, but I got in a boat that taxied me over to Ukuptupu, a place that was recommended to me by some people I had met. The island was the former home to a Smithsonian research facility, but the Kuna got skeptical and kicked them out about 10 years ago. Now Ukuptupu is run by a man named Juan Garcia and his family. It is a series of cane huts extended over the water and connected by wooden planks. This housing facility is the only thing on this little island. It can accomodate about 25 people, but I when arrived I found that I was the only one there. Kind of strange.

I negotiated a price with Juan that we both could agree on, he showed me my room and pretty soon I was asleep in my hammock. I was tired and it was raining, not much else to do on the islands. Included in the cost of your stay with the Kuna are all meals and daily trips to visit various islands. I was told that after lunch we could take a little trip. They did feed me lunch that day - fried fish and rice. The only fresh water on the islands is collected rain water, which they use for bucket showers. So everything is cooked in salt water. The coffee is even made with salt water - I didn't try it. I was also a little skeptical of the salt water cooking after I discovered that the toilets were propped over holes in the dock and everything drops right into the water (except TP of course which always goes in the trash). Despite this, the water was beautiful and I never saw any floaties, but still I probably wouldn't swim around those inhabited islands. The weather never did clear up that day but I still wanted to check out some islands since I only had four days in San Blas.

When I first arrived on Ukuptupu, Juan was really nice promising to help me have a great experience and he even showed me his coral up lobsters that he cooks up for dinner. But after I had given him money for the week there were no more smiles. I approached him after lunch to ask about a tour and he informed me that we wouldn't be going anywhere. Maybe tomorrow if more people showed up. I convinced him to at least drop me off on the little inhabited island about 50 meters away where there was a little Kuna village. I just wanted to see something with a little culture and a few people. The islands took all of 5 minutes to walk around, so I found some older Kuna women sewing molas. Molas are the traditional art of quilting done by the Kuna women. In this matriarch society, molas are a prized commodity and also the main source of income for Kuna families. Kuna woman wear the molas as part of a blouse, they wear a simple wrapped sarong and a scarf on their. Many of the older women wear thick gold rings through the middle of their nose and intricate bead work wrapped around their legs and forearms. It's a unique look - pretty stylish in my opinion. The men don't wear anything special. One woman spent lots of time with me going through winis (the long strings of beads they use to wrap their limbs). Trying on winis was a good way to pass a little time and I found I beautiful big piece to take home with me.

About 2 hours later I returned to Ukuptupu for more hammock time with my book. I tried to do a little mingling with Juan's family, but no one was very eager to socialize with me. A few hours more and I was starting to think about dinner. I was curious but didn't want to seem pushy by asking, so I just wandered around the near the kitchen area and saw that something was in the works. I went back to my hammock and my book. By 8:30 I figured it had to be ready and wandered back over to check the situation. Juan and his family had eaten and they were sitting around in their hammocks. They hadn't told me dinner was ready and they hadn't saved me any. They didn't even talk to me when I went and sat down with them. I knew the next day I would have to figure out a new plan because there was no way in hell that I was going to spend my four days in Carribean paradise with these people. It wasn't worth getting upset about - there are a lot worse places to be stranded all alone and hungry than in a hammock on your own private island.

The next morning I woke up to the sound of more rain hitting the metal roof of my hut. I don't think this weather is typical for Febuary (the dry season) but isn't La Nina going on this year? There has been all sorts of strange weather. I also heard a small motor boat arriving from the airstrip. I looked out and saw a few people with backpacks heading for Ukuptupu! Yeah .. more people; maybe we'll go somewhere today. Well it didn't take long to realize that they weren't planning on staying at Ukuptupu. They were just trying to arrange a ride to an island further out. It was three lovely ladies from Denmark that had spent the month of January working on a sailboat that was traveling through San Blas. They had returned to spend a few days camping on one of the islands on the edge of the archipielago. I introduced myself, told them my story, and they invited me to go with them. Perfect! This was exactly what I was looking for. A few relaxing days in islands away from the Kunas that were just trying to squeeze as much money out of the gringos as possible.

So we paid $20 for a ride out to the Chicheme Islands (I even managed to get most of my money back from Juan for the next three nights that I had prepaid for on Ukuptupu). It was still pretty stormy that morning and the hour boat ride was a little questionable. The waves were bigger than the boat, but our captain Jose weved us through the waves with no problem. Chicheme was gorgeous - small islands filled with coconut palms. There were three Kuna families living out there on separate areas of the island. Most of the islands have one or two huts and the Kunas send a different family out to the different islands for about 2 or 3 months at a time. It is the family's responsibility to take care of the coconuts and sell them to the Colombian ships that come through. There were also a handful of sailboats anchored near the islands. The waters are turquoise blue and perfect for snorkling. We hung our hammocks near one of the huts on the point of the island and paid the family $5 a night for camping. The weather drastically improved by the afternoon and I spent the next three on the white sand beaches. We cooked pasta over an open fire at night and ate crackers during the day. The girls had planned on camping and brought food with them; they were really nice and shared everything with me - even their nutella. The Kuna women out on Chicheme had some really impressive molas so I picked up a few souvies while I was out there. The nights were fairly cold and windy and we were there for the full moon. I even got to see the lunar eclipse one night while falling asleep in my hammock. One year ago (even six months ago) I never thought I would where I am right now.

My flight was on Friday and the ladies were staying until Sunday so I had to say goodbye early. It was really nice of them to let join in on their little island vacation. I had arranged for a pick up with Juan and again it turned out to be a bad experience with the Ukuptupu crew. There is no use in getting into it, but again they just want to take you for everything you're worth. I definately enjoyed the company of the laid back Kuna living out on the island compared to those living near the hub of the El Porvenir airstrip. I expected to fly out on the 6:35am plane in the morning. Although I had at ticket and had purchased a seat on that flight, I wasn't able to get on. They had overbooked the flight (which I later learned happens everyday) and the pilots were taking bribes for seats on the plane. I finally got on another plane about two hours later and was back in Panama City before 10am. I definately want to go back to San Blas. There are hundreds of islands to explore. I was only there a short time but definately learned a little bit about the right the way to do it. It has been my experience through this whole trip that if you can get away from the tourist infrastracture you will almost always have a better and more authentic experience. Thanks girls!

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Photos

My Bed on Chicheme
and probably my favorite picture of the whole trip

Self Portrait
you end up with a lot of these traveling alone

Comments

[Ed McGrew]

even the nutella???
those ladies were sweet. now you make it back to montana safe and sound and we'll all be happy. ok, maybe not the Kuna but you understand. your friend, edwin whitefish, monana <

[Gonzalo]

I'm in love with this place...
I do agree in all your comments. My experience was in some other gorgeous group of island called "Carti" and we were attended by a local (english spoken) citizen: Aaron Fernandez. The service could not be better from him and his father (Arquimedes). I was placed in someone's shack all natural, all original furniture, with a hammock...but the group usually met over the dock, for a drink or dance. Lovely Lovely lovely... I will come back for sure.