We spent the month of December enjoying the unbelievably picturesque San Blas Islands (called Kuna Yala by the native Kuna Indians) despite the fact that the entire area has been deluged with record rainfall. In what is normally a very wet country this month has been exceptional. The Panama Canal was closed due to high water levels in Lake Gatun for the first time in history, the only road to Kuna Yala (a four wheel drive route to Carti) was/still is closed, several small boats have been destroyed in the storms, and the small planes that service the Kuna Yala airports have been grounded. Supplies have been extremely scarce because even when the single road is in service most of the goods available in Kuna Yala arrive via small trading boats from Colombia. With the wind and rain we were in a truly isolated part of the world.
We did have days of full and partial sunshine so we were able to sample the snorkeling, take island walks, swim in aquamarine waters, and we had several days of excellent sailing, but many nights and early mornings we got pounded with rain. Twice we had to retreat from the outer islands, which are exposed to the high winds and the seas, and find shelter along the coastal mainland. Most of the outer islands consist of long barrier reefs and small sand islands with palm trees. The reefs break the big waves protecting us from the worst of the seas, but they offer no protection from the wind.
We sheltered in Bahia Nalia for four consecutive days of rain early in the month, and then again a few weeks later for four more days behind the island of Nargana. Those were grey days indeed with not much to do except read and play cards. Even visiting other boats was a wet experience, and everyone complained of cabin fever. In Nalia we bought lobsters and fish from the Indians (but we did very little swimming after one of the other boats sighted a large crocodile sharing the anchorage), and we watched as the Kuna came out in little log canoes to fish even in the hardest rains. Their fishing technique was very entertaining. With two people in a each tiny log boat the bowman literally “throws” a hook and line into the water and then retrieves the line very quickly, hand over hand, to catch the larger fish feeding from below. The second man maneuvers the canoe while also flinging cups of water from the canoe to create a pattern of bait fish jumping where the hook is being thrown. It really works. We watched fascinated as the native Kuna pulled in several fish using no bait on the hooks. As each fish is retrieved the bowman, standing precariously in the log canoe, unhooks the fish, flings the hook back into the water, bangs the fish twice on the side of the canoe to stun him, drops the fish in the bottom of the canoe, and then frantically retrieves the hook again. Fresh fish has been a big part of our diet (along with beer and rum), and I mean really fresh fish.
Most of the islands in San Blas are very small and almost entirely uninhabited except for a few small fishing huts. The islands that are inhabited are very crowded however. Wichibhuala and Nargana were two of the larger islands, and Nargana even had a generator supplying the town with electricity. There is no running water, but TV antennas abound and cell phones are common. The Kuna who live on islands without generators will paddle out to the sailboats and ask to have the cell phones plugged in to recharge them. We even found internet access at the elementary school in Nargana. Both Wichibhuala and Nargana were crowded with thatch roofed homes that also served as shops to sell various supplies and hard goods imported from Colombia. The two islands seemed to be near the bursting point for population. Originally the Kuna moved to these islands to avoid disease and other populations on the mainland, but today they are beginning a reverse migration back to the mainland.
The Kuna are very small people (we read that only the pigmys are a smaller in stature) and extremely friendly. They always introduce themselves and ask your name. The Kuna are a matriarchal society (the women run everything) and the women over 18 wear very colorful native dress (molas, skirts, head bands and beaded leggings), while the men seem perfectly contented with shorts and tank tops. The molas are intricately sewn cloths that the women hand stitch and sell in the markets throughout Panama. Andrea tries to cheer me up constantly when it’s raining so one day she told me of plans to visit “Bug Island” (sound good?), another day she wanted to snorkel on a reef known for its white tipped sharks (sound safe?), and finally she hit a real highlight with promises that we would soon be meeting one of the islands’ most famous Kuna mola makers… a transvestite named Lisa (sound like fun?). Lisa turned out to be a large and very attractive, uh… Well, if only the women can make and sell molas then I guess a guy trying to crash the party needs his own schtick . She/he made nice molas though.
We have many new friends afloat and we do beach parties and boat parties regularly. We had an impromptu concert when four guitars appeared at a birthday gathering. We celebrated our Christmas Eve anniversary with late night guests aboard Mañana, and Christmas Day was a festive pot luck on a much larger catamaran. We found a small bar run by a man named “Yogi” that sold $1 beers and $1 wines from a thatch hut on an island beach, and once again the cruisers’ guitars provided the entertainment. We watched the rare full moon eclipse that occurred around 3 AM on a clear mid December night from the trampolines on the bow, and we spent New Year’s Eve with about 30 people on a deserted island in a beautiful anchorage called the “Swimming Pool”. I will let you imagine how beautiful and peaceful an anchorage with a name like the “Swimming Pool” can be. We buy gasoline strained through a T-shirt. We buy vegetables from a small boat that buys vegetables from a big boat, that buys vegetables in Colombia. We buy fish from the natives. Life is good.
We did not get to do or see many of the things we had hoped to because of the wind and rains so we think we will return to San Blas/Kuna Yala again next spring. This was still a good trip despite the rains, and the San Blas Islands are indeed spectacular enough to warrant another visit. Tomorrow we start the return trip to Bocas where we will leave the boat for the winter and head home to CA.
Tom and Andrea
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