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Published: October 28th 2014
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We had to travel from Colombia to Panama, which meant we had a decision to make, (and I'm not very good at making decisions). It's not as easy as just getting on a bus as there is an area known as the Darien Gap which is dangerous and almost impossible to navigate. So it left us with the options of either flying or taking a sail boat that included three days in the San Blas islands. We decided on taking a boat but the next problem was choosing which one as we had heard some horror stories of drunk captains and awful trips. Eventually we settled on the Perla del Caribe a 43 foot sailboat with Captain Jules.
I was feeling pretty nervous when we arrived at the boat in the dark around 8pm unsure of who was joining us on the little boat and what the crossing was going to be like. We met our captain Jules, the first mate Natalia (who was also doing the trip for the first time), Sancho, an extremely cute 5 month old puppy and the other passengers, 4 Irish and 3 Dutch.
We left Cartagena around 10pm and sailed (using the motor)
nonstop for the next 36 hours towards Panama. The sea was much rougher than Jules expected as his previous few crossings had been calm. We spent most of our crossing rolling around in the waves and as our room was in the front of the boat it was rather bumpy. A couple of times I didn't feel the best but found sitting on deck with the wind in my face and looking at the horizon helped it to pass, other people were not so lucky!
We mainly motored our way to Panama as Jules tried sailing at one point but the wind was too strong when combined with the waves. As people were feeling unwell he also thought they would prefer to just motor. We spent most of the crossing sleeping or watching TV on the tablet in our cabin. It felt a little surreal sailing along sitting on the side of the deck brushing our teeth and looking up at the stars.
When we woke up on our second morning we could see the San Blas islands in the distance. I felt a sense of relief that the crossing was over and excitement about the next couple
of days in the islands.
We finally arrived in the islands and couldn't wait to jump off the boat, the water just looked so refreshing. We dropped anchor between three little islands - unfortunately we had to share the area we a few other boats but they didn't cause us any problems. The water was crystal clear and wonderfully refreshing. We swam to the nearby islands and went exploring along the white sand beaches. We found large starfish, coconuts and sadly, large amounts of rubbish.
Jules has a large supply of snorkeling gear onboard so we spent some time snorkeling between the islands. We didn't see large amounts of fish but we did see a large grey stingray and then later a baby stingray in the shallows of one of the islands resting in the sand.
Jules had everything well set up on the boat from the snorkeling gear to the chillibin with ice to keep drinks cold. It was fantastic sitting on the deck with the twinkling stars in the little bay. Gary decided it was swim time and disturbed the phosphorescent by making angles in the water (think snow angles) which looked really cool.
When it was bedtime we could lie in bed and see the stars out of one of our hatches. I think we were lucky to have the front cabin as we had much more airflow than the other rooms as we had two large hatches that we could open.
It was great waking up in the islands and having a refreshing morning swim. After breakfast we headed to another small group of islands which had a bar, accommodation and a few locals. We spent the day swimming and enjoying the peace and tranquility of the area.
I found it really sad the amount of rubbish on and around the islands. The locals burn their own rubbish and the rubbish from some of the boats. We had a debate about who was creating the majority of the rubbish, locals or tourists? We believe that it's the locals that just drop it on the ground and don't care because when we walked around the islands near where they live there was lots of rubbish around their homes. I'm sure it doesn't help having some of the boats leaving rubbish on the islands when they don't have a good way to
dispose of it.
The plan for our last day was for Jules to go to immigration by speedboat with our passports and flight details (a requirement for immigration is a flight leaving Panama within 72 hours or it costs $100) while we stayed onboard. Unfortunately the Dutch boys hadn't read the information provided and hadn't printed copies of their flight details for immigration, so we all had to go to immigration and missed out on snorkeling around a ship wreck.
After dinner the weather put on a show for us with both sheet and fork lightening which lit up the sky.
On our last morning we were woken by Jules as our boat ride had arrived early. We quickly packed and said our goodbyes and thank yous before climbing into the speedboat for our ride to the mainland. Once on the mainland a car arrived to take us to Panama City. The car ride was like a rollercoaster ride and we required the driver to stop twice as people were feeling sick from all the twists, turns, ups and downs.
It was a great trip and one I would recommend as a great way to travel
between Colombia and Panama.
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taracloud
Tara Cloud
A snow angel, stingrays and starfish
You two and Sancho all look pretty adorable enjoying your time on the islands. You were so wise to go outside on the deck when you weren't feeling so well--that always helps me. What a contrast--the beautiful islands and then all that rubbish! Your sail sounds like a wonderful way to leave South America!