Kuna Yala, November 2012

Shannon and CJ came to visit On Delay for a week in November. Shannon wrote this wonderful journal of her time with us and kindly agreed to let us share it with you, our blog readers. (I added in the photos; many taken by Shannon but some taken by the rest of the crew.) I hope you enjoy this fine trip report.

Day 1 – Panama City, La Estancia Bed & Breakfast

We arrived in Panama City around 7 pm and quickly picked up our bags and made it through customs. A kind and friendly gentleman from our hotel, was waiting for us (with a sign that had my name on it!) and drove us to the La Estancia B&B. It was a simple and small place nestled in what appeared to be a neighborhood with lots of mangroves and wildlife around.

There, we met and chatted with the manager, Esteban Sumich (who is Croatian and quickly identified with my name). It turns out that his original first name is Stephan, but he changed it to Esteban when he moved to Panama to be with his wife. EJ was our “concierge” and the overnight on-site staff – he was very sweet and accommodating.

We were only in the B&B long enough to eat dinner and sleep for the night, so I can’t say too much about our stay; however, my favorite thing was all the little geckos that scurried around. We saw them on the walls, in the shower, the windows and just about everywhere. Apparently, EJ hangs bananas out on the patio every day so that the monkeys can come and get them in the morning. Sadly, we left way too early to see the monkeys.

Day 2 – Arrive in Kuna Yala/San Blas

CJ and I woke up way too early to mention and were picked up by our morning driver at 5am for a 6am flight out of the small Albrook airport. We boarded a small 15-seater plane and were off to the San Blas islands – specifically, Corazon de Jesus in the Nargana region.

What CJ and I didn’t know is that Corazon de Jesus was the third stop. When we landed on the first island, we got off the plane. Thankfully, the pilot told us only one person was scheduled to be getting off at that stop, so we should get back on – and we did! At the second stop, a few more people got off, and we picked up a few more people including 2 Mormons both wearing ties made out of mola (to be described later). One of the most fun moments was when we took off from the second island and saw children running to see the plane and waving as it took off.

Finally, we arrive at our destination – Corazon de Jesus. We got off the plane figured that we were in the right place when we saw Gayle and Pete about 100 yards away in their dinghy – yes, they literally were waiting for us in their little boat, in the water at the end of the runway. This should give you a picture of just how real the situation is. The San Blas airports are literally just a paved stretch of land that was laid sometime many decades ago. We were greeted by Kuna women checking rosters at each stop to make sure the right people were getting on and off the plane.

November and December are the rainy season in Panama. It rains for a couple of hours each day, and then clears up and is sunny and beautiful. Just our luck, we arrived in Corazon de Jesus during the downpour of the day. As we rode in the dinghy from the island to the boat, we got soaked (despite the rain coats).

We sailed from the airport location over to the other side of the group of islands (called the Green islands) and anchored there. It cleared up in the afternoon, and we went swimming – which means you just put on your suit and jump off the boat. I jumped in with a noodle and puttered around the boat with a beer in hand. I was also able to snorkel for the first time ever in open water. The water was about 15-20 ft deep. I saw numerous star fish, urchins, and a sea cucumber.

We are 9 degrees north of the equator. The days are about 12 hours long, from sun up to sun down.

Day 3 – Green Islands

Pete and I went snorkeling early in the morning. We took the dinghy to a nearby island and reef. This was my first time seeing a real reef. We saw parrot fish, grouper, angel fish, urchins, barracuda, brain coral stag horn coral and sea fans. It was absolutely amazing, and I don’t think I can even come close to describing how incredible it was. We took a second dinghy trip back to the same reef in the afternoon to snorkel with Tony, Jane and Gayle.

A couple of Kuna men came to the boat today and sold us 2 lobsters and one Chapin fish for $20 total. They paddled up in their dugout canoe – which is their primary mode of transportation. Some have motors, and some don’t.

The Chapin fish was super weird – it’s kind of triangular in shape and has a hard bony-like body of armor. It also has a pocket of poison which is uses for defense, which also makes it a bit tricky to clean. The Kuna men were kind enough to clean it for us, which really meant that they also cooked it for us first, since they claim it’s easier to clean once it’s cooked.

We also had a visit from Lisa, a well-known Kuna woman who is a master mola maker (hand sewn fabric panels that are traditionally worn by Kuna women) and river tour guide. She is also the infamous Kuna transvestite. We bought several mola from Lisa. Her products are impeccable and beautiful.

Day 4 – Hollandaise

Today we sailed from the Green islands to the Hollandaise keys. It was a 2-hour trip sailing at an average of 3 knots.

We anchored here for the day and night. We did some reef snorkeling as well. We were visited by a Kuna family selling us fish and mola (woman, her two sons and infant).

Pete and I went on more dinghy shenanigans and snorkeled on the outer reef today. This was a big challenge for me, and a day of pushing boundaries and overcoming fears. The current was very strong and some decent swells. We were (in my opinion) pretty far from land and the boat. The drop-off outside the reef was about 40-50 feet. I think Pete was actually born in the water because he was completely at ease and acted as if this is something he does every day (which I guess is actually true right now). But I continuously kept him in sight as well as popped up to ensure I knew where the dinghy was anchored at all times. All I kept hearing was my husband’s voice the whole time saying: “Just don’t do anything stupid.” We saw many schools of larger fish and also saw three sting rays. It was amazing, but I was pretty nervous the whole time and glad when it was time to get back in the dinghy.

From the outer reef, we took the dinghy over to a ship wreck. It was a cargo ship that ran aground on the reef. We snorkeled around there as well. I stayed pretty close to the dinghy for fear of the current and swirl around the ship. Pete, the master seaman that he is, was cruising all around the wreck. Among other things, he also saw a good size snapper.

That night, we had some strange happenings with a squid that ended up on the boat after dark. We think it was dropped by a bird and just landed on the deck. It was crazy. Gayle was a bit upset about the squid ink stain on the nice white boat, so she quickly did some cleaning. We put the squid in the fridge and kept it to fish with the next day.

Day 5 – Lemon Keys

We sailed from Hollandaise to the Lemon keys today. Before we left we were visited by a canoe of Kuna men. They ran out of gas and wanted to trade for fresh conch. We ended up just giving them the gas. When at the Lemon keys we went on land at Dog Island. When in San Blas, you must pay the Kuna a dollar per person when you come on land. This was somewhat of a “tourist spot” in Kuna Yala. I use that term lightly. The attraction here was a small bar and a shipwreck which you could snorkel. The bar consisted of a grass hut with a cooler in it and a few cans of beer. A lovely, traditional Kuna Indian woman was also here selling her mola. We bought mola and beer from the folks there. The woman allowed me to take my picture with her for $2. Paying the Kuna to enter and leave their islands as well as take their picture is a standard practice. All cost between $1-3 each. The beach here was beautiful white sand and shallow. Pete, Tony, Jane and I snorkeled around the ship wreck. It was a vessel that sank there in the fifties. There were lots of great coral and small schools of fish. This was definitely a highlight of the trip for me.

Lisa came to visit us again today and had more mola to sell.

Day 6 – Back to Where We Began

Today, we stayed in the Lemon keys for the morning and snorkeled around for quite a while. I ate breakfast and then shortly headed out for about an hour and a half. On this day, I was able to take Tony’s go pro camera and take some underwater pictures – also one of the highlights of the trip.

The area where we were anchored was pretty incredible in regard to the reef. The boat was anchored in about 15 feet of water, but the water behind us was only waist to shoulder deep. We called it our own personal aquarium. The coral and reef in this area was awesome! Pete found a lion fish and a moray eel here – I got to see both and it was pretty cool.

In the afternoon, we sailed back to Corazon de Jesus in order to get ready for our flight out early the next morning. The rains and storm came today. It rained all afternoon and all through the night. I tagged along with Pete and Jane when they went to the island to get fuel and additional minutes on their Panama cell phone. This island was a bit of a hub for resources and more modern day items.

When on the island, we met up with Frederico, who was what you might call a concierge for cruisers. He’s basically a man who can acquire and set up the things that a cruiser may need such as fuel, flights, cell phone and provisions – and do it at fair prices so you don’t get ripped off. He knows some English which is very helpful.

Frederico is an adorable and kind man with about three teeth and likes to hit the sauce pretty heavily. However, he was on point the entire time and stayed in contact with us every day to ensure he was on schedule to deliver what we needed. When we picked up the fuel, Frederico was 3 sheets to the wind, so we gave him a ride in the dinghy from the island dock over to his house. He kept yelling (with arms out) “Frederico happy today!!!!” the whole time. He just about went ass over tea kettle out of the boat several times. We delivered him safely to his home and off we went.

Day 7 and 8 – Panama City

We woke up early for our flight back to Panama City this morning. We were flying out of the same “airport” that we came in to – Corazon de Jesus. The airport was visible from where we were anchored. It’s literally just a landing strip on the island with a concrete barrier between the plane and the waiting area. Everything is outside. The plane arrival time is somewhat fluid, so we basically waited until we saw the guys who direct the plane come from their homes to the island. They are Kuna men who wear orange vests when it’s time for the plane to come in.

When we saw the orange-vested men motor by, we threw our bags in the dinghy and said our good-byes and thank you to Tony and Jane. Gayle and Pete were flying home with us (to visit family for the holidays), so two dinghy trips were made. As luck would have it, it was raining again, so this time we covered our luggage with garbage bags and stayed a little drier.

In order to ensure the plane wasn’t too heavy, we had to weigh ourselves and our bags outside on a typical bathroom scale (not digital). The men in orange vests kept a hand written tally with a clipboard. On this trip back to Panama City, you pay when you arrive at the Albrook airport. When you land, someone at the airport takes your Passport and doesn’t give it back until you pay.

We flew safely back to Panama City, made it through the drug-sniffing dog check, paid for our flights and grabbed a taxi to our hotel. The transition back to land was a bit weird. The hotel was lovely, but brand new and very modern – quite a difference from the past six days.

I took my first real shower in six days which was great. The four of us had a nice day in the city – breakfast, souvenir shopping, drinks at the hotel bar, and then walked around the city until we arrived in the historic district where we ate dinner at a steak house. The next morning CJ and I went to the Amador district in search of an authentic Panamanian hat and more souvenirs.

Our time in Panama City was short since we had to fly home that afternoon. But we definitely made the most of it and had a good time while we were there.