.... Or, Goodbye Guna Yala, we had a good time!

After eight glorious weeks in this pristine and delightful archipelago, we are heading back to Shelter Bay Marina to complete boat maintenance and prepare to haul out Elevation. These islands, long on our sailing agenda,have totally exceeded our expectations. The Guna people are amazingly friendly, making us feel incredibly welcome and we have absolutely loved each and every one of our interactions. We feel extremely privileged to have been able to learn about the culture and traditions of this proud and unique tribe and have been honoured to have been invited to two very special ceremonies. There is now forever a little corner of our hearts filled with love for all things Guna Yala.

Our travels in these islands has taken us to a number of beautiful anchorages. Many of the islands end with "Up" ie Miriadiadup, Baneup, Ogoppukibdup - words although in Guna, are strangely familiar and comforting for we West Aussies as many of our southern towns end in "Up" as well ..... Yallingup,Cowaramup, Injidup and Gnowangarup just to list a few. We've loved the crystal clear water; the snorkelling and swimming; the walks around coconut rich islands; the white sandy beaches. We've enjoyed our coffee chats with Venancio and Romano - Elevation apparently makes the best coffee out of all the cruiser boats in their opinion - and we've loaded up with a supply of exquisite Molas whilst making good friends of both these delightful characters. We've even acted as an interpretive service for them in relation to a significant overseas purchaser enquiry, facilitating the setting up of a meeting in Panama City plus introducing them to Google Maps to enable them to plan their visit. We've enjoyed "shopping" Guna style with coconuts, lobster, crab and fish delivered fresh by ulu; with veggies, wine, rum and eggs offered by Eraldo from his blue and white panga; with the easy shopping list service offered by Aron and his people at Chichime. It's been entertaining bantering with Mola Lisa, the other talented travelling Master Mola maker; it's been delightful to swim to shore to buy beers at funky little shacks or to simply say "Hola" or "Na" to the locals; and to give out treats to the shy, polite and always happy Guna children. We've had fun sharing drinks and homemade pizza onboard Elevation with Aron and his wife Dixie and have enjoyed their hospitality at Ogobnega onshore. Our whole time here has been an amazing and truly memorable experience.

Prior to coming, we'd read a lot about the Gunas seeking unreasonable amounts of money to either anchor or to go ashore. We've experienced none of that behaviour. The only fees asked were for the local cruising permit issued by the Congreso - $20 for Elevation and $20 each for us ... a small price to pay for a long stay in ideal surroundings. For anyone cruising in this area, the Bauhaus Panama Cruising Guide is a "must have" - the charts and waypoint information is spot on although you will find that islands noted as being uninhabited may now have permanent residents. Case in point is BBQ Island near "The Swimming Pool" - once a deserted coconut cay used by cruisers to share potluck BBQs on the beach, it's now home to a small ecotourism enterprise. The Guna are developing their own unique brand of managed tourism - low key, with a tread lightly on the earth philosophy and in keeping with their culture and traditions. With the recent dual running aground tragedies of the catamaran "Jacqueline" and the vessel used to salvage her "The San Blas Ferry", tolerance for the burgeoning backpacker transport industry is evaporating.The Guna see all wrecks as anathema to their environment and we understand that as a consequence of these latest incidents, they are now imposing additional charges for backpacker vessels to clear in and out of their territory. We truly hope that tourism remains circumspect and easy going - a traveller experience as opposed to a "teabag" tourist one, there's definitely a clear and defining difference in perspicacity.

Unlike Indonesia and Madagascar, trading is not the norm here - we did swap personal insect repellent for coconuts at one island, and it's commonplace to be asked to charge mobile phones occasionally in exchange for a coconut. We were given great advice by another Aussie cruiser about having surplus rice (Oros) and dried milk powder (Leche) onboard as from time to time Guna families in remote locations run out of supplies. We were approached several times for these items and we're happy that we've been able to provide a helping hand. Rubbish disposal was easily managed - organic waste goes over the side although it's imperative that you are conscious as to where and when you do this as the Guna don't appreciate it washing up on their neat, clean beaches. We deep sixed glass products once out of any anchorage; plastic waste we burnt on small uninhabited sand cays. Some of the locals are supporting a fledging recycling industry and if you store any aluminium products, they will collect them free of charge. It's a strictly cash economy so it's important to have plenty of US currency, and lots of small notes to keep your transactions simple.

There are polarised opinions about being in the islands during rainy season; the No Camp citing the many thunderstorms and sometimes lightning strikes to vessels, plus the dreaded Chocosana - a vicious wind that strikes suddenly, blowing up to 50 knots from the SE. Having discovered that statistically it is multihulls that attract the majority of these strikes, we made it our policy to anchor near cats where possible figuring it would improve our chances - no lightning damage for us, however we learnt that a couple of cats nearby were hit. The thunder in these parts is just phenomenal - like a crashing crescendo from a deep bass drum, it rolls across the Guna Yala and reverberates, sometimes savagely, through the hull ..... it's the loudest we have ever experienced. The regular, usually short, torrential downpours kept our water tanks full; in fact we didn't need to run our watermaker once during our time out on the hook. We only experienced two very mild Chocosanas which blew at most 35-40 knots and only for a brief 10-15 minutes. When the storms faded away, the sun shone brightly, displaying this gorgeous part of the Caribbean in all its beauty. Anchorages were mostly deserted; we leant from Venancio and Romano that in " The Season" most bays were crowded with an average 40-50 boats congregated together. For us, being able to enjoy the islands in seclusion was a real bonus, effectively putting us in the Yes Camp.

We feel blessed in so many ways from our time here - definitely right up there in our Top 5 locations ever. It's a little slice of heaven on Mother Earth.