Panama, living in a lonely island

Our next stop was Panama! We stayed in Panama just for four days and we visited the Kuna, the indigenous people from Panama who live in the San Blas islands.

kuna woman

We took a plane from San Jose and again we got business class seats. For some unknown reason our travel agency booked these tickets!

After 10 days in Costa Rica we were exhausted and decided to take it easy in Panama. We had a reservation in Marparaiso, which is in a shady neighborhood, but one of the cheapest options in the city, as they also pick you up from the airport! To get a decent lunch we had to leave that neighborhood by bus and go to the Albrook mall.

The next day, we took a flight to San Blas (Kuna Yala) leaving from the other smaller airport in Panama. Luckily, our flight was delayed to 7:45 instead of leaving at 6:00 am and we were able to sleep a bit more. When we were at the check in counter the lady discovered that we had a double reservation and that we actually paid twice. Were able to get the money back.

The plane was tiny with only 17 seats. From our seats we were able to see the pilots moving the dials and pressing buttons.

After 45 min we landed in Playon Chico on a track made of cracked concrete were the kids were playing football minutes before.

"the" plane

"the" airport

the airstrip

A community of 3000 Kunas live in the largest island close to the airport. The kunas are the owners of the 350+ small islands in the archipelago, which only about 40 are inhabited. They still conserve most of their culture and religion and live in huts made of wood and palm leaves.

Women are dressed with colorful clothes, paint their faces and nose and decorate their arms and legs with long bracelets.

We stayed two nights at Yandup Lodge which is in a small island close to the village. The island had only 10 cabins, a dinning room and palm trees, it was like being Robinson Crusoe! 

The Yandup Island

We had breakfast, lunch and dinner at the Same restaurant for the two days we stayed there. However we didn't get bored because they cooked different food everyday, usually fresh seafood picked from the sea the same day.

our cooks!

a jumping lizard during dinner (see Victor´s hand)

With the room we had two daily tours included. The first day we went to a beach in another island. We spent the morning snorkeling and we found many fishes and also jellyfish that didn't sting and we were able to grab it with our hands! However, other animals bite us: chicharras, very small insects, whose bite hurts pretty badly for three days!

jellyfish

In the afternoon we visited the village. What surprised us the most was that they have a high percentage of albinos. The guide said that there are more than 30 in the town. They also gain surface on the island by accumulating the trash on the shore.

albino kid playing with other kids

The next day we went to a beach in a different island, but this time without chicharras. In the afternoon we visited the cementery. The traditional funeral consists on hanging the body in a hammock inside a very deep hole, so that the body doesn't touch the earth. Then, they cover the body with his belongings and sand, leaving it with a bumpy shape that represents the belly of mother earth, as they believe that they will be born again in a spiritual life.

That night we had dinner alone on the beach looking at the sunset. We had lobster that had been fished by a kuna hours before.

The next day we returned to Panama City and we visited the old part of the town (Casco viejo). It is very colonial and you can find good restaurant options. We walked through paseo de las bovedas, from were you can see the skyline of Panama and also the channel with a long line of boats waiting to cross to the Atlantic.

Next Stop: Peru!