San Blas is an archipelago of almost 400 islands, but only a handful are inhabited. The area is part of the Comarca Kuna Yala and the native residents are the Kuna. The area is a popular tourists attraction with both Panamanians and foreigners. Some of the islands are only big enough for a cabana or two, some have whole villages and others just a palm tree or two.
I took a jeep from Panama at 5 in the morning with a few other backpackers.
We drove out to the east coast. There was a crazy hour long drive through the mountains/jungle to the "port". The drive was like a roller-coaster ride with one of the girls in the jeep almost getting sick several times. The port was really just an open area on a big creek. The launchas pulled up and pick up and drop off people.
I got a launcha out to my island, Tony's on Senidup Island. After thirty or so minutes we made it to the island. There were several different cabanas out there and several other people. Oddly enough there were several groups of Israeli travelers, seems unusual but I have run into a lot of Israeli travelers lately. The day was spent sitting on the beach, reading,
swimming and relaxing. The price of the cabana included lunch, dinner and breakfast. That night a few guys from another island came by and stayed. A group of us decided to go back to their island the next day and hang out.
So we went over to Aridup Island or Iguanas, as its known. There was really just the 5 of us, a young Kuna who ran the place (Luis) and a few other Kuna who look after the beach, build things, cook and whatever. For the next couple of days we hung out on the beach a lot, read, had a few drinks (rum and Seco), went swimming and snorkling. We had plenty of fish and lobster and even a huge crab to eat. On the weekend a few Panamanian friends of the Kuna owners came out. We had a good time just hanging out. Even got an unexpected visit from some Kunas one night when they accidentally hit the reef on one side of the
island after having a few too many drinks, at night, without lights on their launcha... and we paid a visit to a village on one of the larger islands. We had run out of rum and Seco and needed more...
It was an awesome time out in San Blas, definitely a place you have to go to in Panama. Again these photos are not mine but are gleaned from friends or the internet to give you an idea.
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