We are sailing the San Blas Islands of Panama which lay no more than five miles off Panama's Caribbean coast, and go from eighty to one hundred east of the Panama Canal. The islands are small and picturesque with palm trees, sandy beaches and surrounding coral reefs. Laying several miles apart at most it is a great place for exploring and swimming as the water is 84 - 86 degrees. The Kuna Indians which live here gained self rule from Panama in the early 1900s and still live their traditional way of life, calling the area Kuna Yala. It also includes about one hundred miles of what is referred to as the Darian, Panama's eastern most province, a mountainous tropical jungle stretching to Columbia. It is still very remote. There are only a couple of roads into the area so the main mode of transportation is by boat, There are also two air strips with the shortest runways I have seen yet, going from shore to shore across islands which are only four hundred yards long. Some of the local traders have open thirty foot fiberglass boats with twenty five to sixty HP motors. They are run from the back, and carry everything from barrels of fuel, food, school children and backpackers to Kuna Yala islands and communities.
At any time you can see several Kuna in their dug out canoes fishing over reefs or paddling miles between islands. The dugouts are very well crafted from what would have been massive trees, as most are about twenty feet long. Some have outboard motors up to ten HP, and some have crude sails. Several times a day they come buy with a few lobster, crab, fish, bananas, mangoes or avocados to sell. There isn't much other food to buy out here. On occasion one of the industrious Kuna with a hut on an island from which they sell beer will have some potatoes, peppers or onions as well. We are eating our way through our lockers of canned goods.
The Kuna women make Molas, traditional squares that appear at first to be like appliqué but are multi layered with the patterns cut out and stitched over each other. Very intricate work. There are several traditional designs which are sewn onto the front of their clothes and other traditional designs for healing and for ceremonies. The women come by in their dugouts and sell them as Molas are one of the main incomes for the women.
The islands are all dry so we have to catch rain water to fill our tanks. We hold one hundred gallons and were down to the point of being concerned as we had only light rains for a week, but then yesterday the clouds dumped on us and we filled out tanks in fifteen minutes.
The Kuna on the islands are usually an extended family group living in several bamboo huts with palm thatch roofs, one hut with hammocks for sleeping and another with a fire for cooking. Rice, beans, bananas and fish are their staple foods. They still live by some of their traditional beliefs and ceremonies, tending to the coconut palms and fishing. Every coconut tree is owned and the coconuts are sold abroad, which is their main income. Most islanders spend part of the year on the mainland with others of their extended families. The children are sent to larger communities for elementary school and will live with family or friends.
There are quite a few sail boats here. Some people staying for several years finding it hard to leave for more than a few months when they leave their boat at a marina and fly home to visit. It looks like we will be part of that community for a little while.