I have dreamed of sailing in the San Blas for twenty years. I knew very little about them, other than that they are isolated islands in the Western Caribbean, where the people are kind, welcoming and the water glorious. I'm ashamed to say that is all I knew until I made Kara read some history of the islands before our arrival. The kind people are the Kuna, an indigenous tribe of Panama, and they call these islands Kuna Yala. When Panama fought for independence the Kuna's remained loyal to Columbia. These passive people held firm and while part of Panama have maintained their own government and language. The Kuna people we have met have been incredibly welcoming and gracious. They come up to our boat in their ulus - dugout canoes - selling fish, lobsters, crabs, fruit, veggies, beer and molas. Molas are the traditional art of the Kuna people. It is part appliqué and part fabric sandwiches. The traditional designs are geometric shapes, but they also have animals and plants incorporated in their art. In Panama City we saw a Santa mola. The women wear shirts with molas front and back. As for isolated, well it is possible to find an empty anchorage, but there are at least 200 boats in the archipelago at the moment, so know that the cruisers have found this haven. We met a boat that has been coming here for 15 years, and is proud of his record of not moving his anchor for two and a half years. Not something I would brag about, but I'm prejudiced against people who don't sail their boats. That is why we have one. The sheer beauty of this area is incredible. The shades of greens and blues seem infinite. The water takes on a chartreuse glow over the reefs, then turquoise over the sand. The marine blue denotes the seagrass and depth is accompanied by navy blue. We have had a fair amount of cloud cover, so at times there is a gray tint to the spectacular blues. When the sun shines then the seascape is without gray or black. The islands have white beaches and palm trees, lots of palm trees. The Kunas sell cocoanuts to the Columbians (also aluminum cans, which we are happy to give and contribute to their economy), so each island holds as many trees as possible. Each cocoanut is recognized to belong to a Kuna family, and so not available for us cruisers. The sailing here is fantastic. The trade winds blow a steady 15 to 20 knots, but we are surrounded by reefs and islands, meaning no big swell or waves. There are anchorages every two miles or so. We have taken to sailing from one end to the other end of the archipelago just because it is so much fun to beam reach in 15 knots. The first time we went to weather here Kara emphatically said �"This is NOT beating!�" She has her mother's aversion to pounding into the waves hours on end. The final piece of this paradise is that there are kids. Yesterday Kara played with a 9 year old boy from Britain, and today it is an 8 year old Australian girl. She is so happy to play with someone who doesn't need prompting. Dave and I try, but our imaginations just don't go in the same direction as hers. I knew so little about this place, and what little I knew was not completely accurate, but it has lived up to my expectations. Dave calls this the apex of cruising.