Arriving at the San Blas islands

We left Cartagena a week ago already. We had a 2 day stop in the Rosarios islands where we appreciated being surrounded by clear blue water and listening to all kind of birds songs. Strong winds were coming that way so we couldn’t stay longer, as we wanted to reach the San Blas islands before the seas would become uncomfortable.

We arrived in Isla de Pinos (8deg 59.984N, 77deg 45.619W), one of the 365 islands of the San Blas, which should be called una Yala, the land of the Kunas. We had a very relaxed first day, trying to catch up with some sleep as we both stayed up all night...watching a TV series while on dual watch. The kids did some school and enjoyed some time on the beach again. The next morning, feeling stronger, we went ashore to visit the village and meet our first Kuna Indians. We were welcomed by the chief of the village, had a very short chat with him. Our more than very limited Spanish doesn’t help the conversation. However, his secretary, Horazio, speaks English and showed us the village. The Kuna villages are very simple. The houses don’t have any decoration and are plain bamboo walls and palm roof. There is a house to sleep and a separate house to cook. We won’t explain here the Kuna culture, but it is worth having a look at some web site as it is really different and can open our eyes regarding our consumption society. The afternoon, we met with Horazio’s grandson to walk around the islands. Two girls (about 7 and 10) also joined us, holding Clea’s hand for more than an hour. Clea was really happy to have some extra friends, laughing at everything she was saying or doing. The walk was a good way to move our legs again, to explore the island periphery, discover all their coconut trees and watch the big waves breaking on the reef. Three little boys were enjoying them the right way as they were doing some body surf, one even had a plank of wood as a surf board. The kids did really great and walked 3 hours without much complaining. We then met David, a 22 year old Kuna with an entrepreneurship attitude (he speaks English, and some French). He invited us for tea in his house. We tasted some “yucca” roots fried which were great, then he gave us some and showed us how to prepare them. Clea had a ball with Emily their 5 y old daughter. Language is not a problem at that age. David explained that he would be very happy to open his doors and make some Kuna food for all our “friends” at the anchorage, for a small price. We accepted as we were curious and it is always a good experience to share this kind of meal. So, the next day we were there with other yachties, tasting some coco rice, lentils (or beans for Greg who had a special plate) and wild boar with a tasty sauce.  Mixed feeling about the meal, but the experience was a good one. The boys made friends with other boys and ran around the village chasing each other.

Everybody at the anchorage was watching the weather carefully as some big swell and waves were rolling most of the boats who were stuck there. However, on Saturday the sea calmed down and most of the boats left. We just followed. We motored for 3 hours as we had the wind in the nose and didn’t want to tack between the reef on each side of our route. We arrived early the afternoon in Mamiputu (9deg 11.142N, 77deg 58.464W), a small island with about 2000 inhabitants, 500 being kids! Lots of Kunas paddled with their dugout to Merlin and trying to sell few things. We are trying to swap food (bananas) for kids clothes. It works quite well.

We went to discover that island this morning. We entered the village and kids were just running out from everywhere and soon we had a procession of 20-30 kids around us, all smiling, laughing and checking all our moves. We thought we were the curious ones, but they were even more curious. Having three kids makes a difference as people are very friendly towards kids and the kids can play easily with each others. However, after 2 hours of being carried, held, asked their name and age, the kids had enough.

Greg, Clea and Victor went for a paddle on the kayaks. One Kuna tried the big kayak as he was curious to see how it was going compared to his wooden one.

This is it for now!  The photos will be posted in few weeks when we’ll have connection again.