Panama City to San Blas Islands

16 - 18 Nov 2005

Kuna Indian villages

The San Blas islands belong to the Kuna Indians and are also run by them. The Kuna like to say they have one island for every day of the year. In fact, including the smallest islands that only have space for one palm tree, there are about 400 islands in all. Our boatman was called Sue in Kuna language or Arco Iris in Spanish, which means Rainbow. On arrival at the Sapibenega lodge, we were greeted by two sweet young girls, called Elviana and Argelia in Spanish. I didn’t catch their Kuna names. They wore colourful dresses and adorned themselves with long arm and leg bracelets consisting of hundreds of small beads on a long string.

We stayed in a straw hut, beautifully made from bamboo sticks tied together with lianas from the mainland jungle. The roof is covered with palm leaves to keep out the rain. Thanks to the building material used and the high ceiling it was pleasantly cool inside. It was built on stilts over the water and there was a hammock outside on a deck overlooking the sea. We even had our own shower and an environment-friendly loo. Paradise!
Two delightful days spent at Sapibenega Lodge, watching the Kunas practicing dancing and playing the flute for an inter-island competition that was soon to be held, watching pelicans fly by, snorkelling, visiting the village on the neighbouring island and buying colourful “molas” or patchwork, and eating fresh crayfish. And, last but not least, I also found time to write the diary for our website. It just needs Flemming’s input with the photos to get it up and running…

Ours was the first ever private plane to land and park at the airstrip and the Sapibenega Lodge manager Ernesto negotiated the price of landing and parking rights with the village chief at US$ 30.