Panama - San Blas Islands

Ah, the beautiful San Blas Islands. The stuff dreams are made of, white sand beaches, sleeping on hammocks swinging between coconut trees, this is where you come to get away from it all. The San Blas islands, or Kuna Yala comprise of 365 islands located along the Caribbean coast of Panama. Some 40 islands are inhabited and run by an elected chief, the rest are unihabited with just a palm tree or two. The Kunas have managed to retain their culture for over 500 years. Life in the islands is basic and traditional, they live as their families have done for generations. Most people sleep in hammocks in communal areas inside their huts and cooking is still often done over open fires.Toilets are just a wooded hut at the end of a wooded pier.

Our visit to colombia and South America was coming to an end, and when we saw the possibility of travelling from South America to our next adventure in Central America on a boat via the San Blas Islands we knew we had to do this. Travelling by land is almost impossible and very dangerous. Their are a number of sailing boat options from Cartagena via the San Blas to Panama, but these would mean less time on the islands and more time on the open sea. The other option is to travel by boat and bus to a beautiful tranquil village called Capugana (please see our last post) and start the trip from their.

We chose to travel with sanblasadventures, and for 4 days it was like stepping into another world. We would spend two hours per day between 8-10am travelling on a high powered speed boat between Capugana and Carti in Panama some 280km West. Each day at around 10am we would arrive on a different island, each more stunning than the last. Our days involved Snorkelling in the warm Caribbean waters, lazing on the beaches, meeting the locals and sleeping in hammcks with the warm wind gently  rocking you.  The trip which included all meals was always nicely prepared for us, and consisted of freshly caught lobsters, crabs and octopus. These islands are picture perfect, really out of this world we are so glad we saw them, especially as they have been untouched by western influence, no hotels, restaurants, concrete and śo few tourists make it out here. The islands we  stayed on were called isla pino, isla iguana, isla tupile, isla cocopianderia and isla torpuga

The toilet