The Islands of the Kuna Yala Archipelago
Posted by Travel Editor
There are some 365 small islands which form the archipelago known as the Kuna Yala or the San Blas Islands. The San Blas Islands are a collection of islands of pristine sun bleached sandy beaches, coconut plantations and palms and home to the Kuna people who govern the Islands. Most of the islands are unspoiled, the perfect place to kick back and forget the rest of the world. Accommodations are, for the most part, simple and rustic. But it’s the best thing in life to spend the day on your own tropical deserted island and be the first one to place your feet in the sand. You can book a day on a deserted island and a Kuna guide will take you by boat to the island and provide you with a simple lunch. It is possible to travel by road and boat to the islands, but the most convenient way is to fly by either Aeropuerlas or Air Panama. The following is an introduction to some of the major islands of the Archipelago de San Blas.
El Pouvenir
San Blas Islands Relaxation
El Pouvenir is the main island, the capital of the San Blas islands. It is a small island known by the name of Gaigirgordup to the native Kuna people. This is where many tourists will arrive when they travel to the San Blas Islands. There is not much here, but there is an airstrip where Aeropuerlas and Air Panama flights land in the early morning. You will find a small grocery store, a few small bamboo huts of the locals, the Museo de la Nacion Kuna, a museum which has some displays of Kuna Indian culture and artifacts. It is worth a visit as an introduction to the Kuna heritage. On El Pouvenir, there is a simple hotel (the Hotel El Pouvenir) and a small beach.
Islands close to El Pouvenir are Isla Nalunega and Isla Wichub-Huala – busier than El Pouvenir. Both islands have more of a selection of accommodations, local government buildings and a few shops which do not stock much in the way of merchandise. The Hotel San Blas is located on Isla Naluenga. Naluenga is cleaner but has no beach. A man named Alberto Vasquez rents out a couple of the rooms in his home to tourists. He also provides food if you arrange it with him. On these islands, you will experience the life of the Kuna villagers up close, especially by staying with a Kuna family.
Not far away from El Pouveir lies Ukuptupu Island between Isla Nalunega and Isla Wichub-Huala. The Cabanas Ukuptupu Hotel is located on Ukuptupu Island. This popular hotel consists of wooden cabins built on stilts over the water. Cruise ships stop at Isla Wichub-Huala and the island becomes full of tourists when the ships dock and Kuna women busy selling molas. The Smithsonian Institute was located on this island until until 1998. From the Cabanas Ukuptupu, you can watch the sun set, the canoes, the ships and yachts sail relaxing in a hammock.
Nearby lie some other popular small islands, worth taking a day trip to snorkel, relax and soak up the sun. These small islands include Isla de los Perros (Dog Island or also known as Achutupu) – are less crowded, with fantastic snorkeling about the shipwreck where underwater life is plentiful. The silence and the glorious beaches make it ideal for relaxation under the palm trees. Other nearby islands is Isla Pelicano – good for snorkeling on its coral reef and Isla Ogobsibu which is a private island.
Carti
At Carti, there is a landing strip for airplanes and some large villages of the Kuna people. There is also the Kuna Museum of Culture featuring Kuna mythology and culture, a medical center, a school, a library and post office. Many Kuna people dress in traditional clothes waiting for the cruise ships to arrive. Some of them then trade their traditional clothes for western dress. You will find many Kuna people here selling molas. It is polluted here with garbage littered on the beach and not as clean as one would like. There is basic hotel here, dormitory style accommodation on Carti.
Close by, there is the island which is less crowded and has beautiful beaches and palm trees – this island is called Isla Aguja of the San Blas Islands archipelago. You’ll like this island more if you like snorkeling and relaxing on white sand beaches under the palm trees.
Cayos Holandes
Cayos Holandes or the Dutch Keys are a group of remote islands, the furthest from the mainland of Panama, where a few Kuna people live. The Cayos Holandes are surrounded by clear water, coral reefs full of marine life and make a great location for snorkeling. If you are sailing near these reefs, careful navigation is required. You can hear the waves break against the coral reefs, most aptly named “Wreck Reef” because of the Spanish ships that got shipwrecked here.
I will write further of more of the San Blas Islands in another posting. There’s much to explore in the way of snorkeling in the coral reefs and observing shipwrecks and the stunning marine life, sunning on the white sandy beaches or under the palm trees and experiencing the culture of the Kuna people. If you are seeking a busy activity filled vacation doing anything more than boating, snorkeling and relaxing, this may not be the vacation for you. A San Blas Islands vacation is the perfect place to relax and escape from it all.
My Trip to the San Blas Islands
Posted by Travel Editor
My vacation to the San Blas Islands began with the decision that instead of taking a flight from Panama City to the San Blas Islands, we would hire a driver for a change. Yes, you can also get to the San Blas Islands with a driver. It costs $25 US per person for the three hours, very bumpy trip for up to seven people. The driver will take you to the San Blas Islands and pick you up and take you back to Panama City when you wish to leave the Islands. Let’s say, driving is for the more adventurous among us.
A jeep took us to the San Blas Islands. It was a wild ride on very bumpy terrain. Luckily, the car is a four wheel drive jeep. The drive took about three hours, up hills, down hills and through a river. At the end of this wild journey, not for the faint of heart, we were met by a man who worked at the hostel. He took us by boat to the island we would be staying at.
We were very surprised though when we arrived at the island we were going to stay at and saw there was no beach. We had been expecting clear blue ocean, white sand beaches and palm trees as you see in all the photographs of the San Blas. This was not the San Blas Islands we had heard about, nor what we expected to find after our rough and rocky journey to the islands.
However, the next day after breakfast we were taken by boat to a small island with the white sand beaches and palm trees we had been looking for and were expecting to find on the San Blas Islands. Our time that days was spent walking around the island which was very small and took only about ten minutes to complete the walk around. The beach was marvelous and the water clear blue. We sunbathed, snorkeled. At lunch time, a man who had brought us our lunch which consisted of fish and rice. After lunch, we spent a few more hours on the beach and then the guy from the hotel came back in his boat to take us back to the hotel after this lovely day on the island all by ourselves.
The next day we were taken on a tour of a local Kuna village as a sort of cultural immersion into their way of life. They still live in their traditional ways, having won the right from the Panama government to own the San Blas Islands, maintain their traditional life and speak their own language. They are friendly people and very welcoming to us. They live in a village of bamboo, palm leaf houses with dirt floors. They don’t have a lot of money, electricity or running water. Coconuts used to be their currency. Now it seems, they are accepting American dollars. If you want to photograph them, you must pay them a dollar for the privilege. But that’s okay.
On another day, we went fishing with a Kuna guide on his boat. We caught some big ones and they were prepared and cooked for us that night – delicious! Nothing like fresh fish.
Another days we were taken by boat to other islands and one of the best was where there was a shipwreck off shore. We spent a lot of time snorkeling around the shipwreck and taking photos. Lunch was again dropped off for us – sometimes fish, sometime chicken.
Our stay on the San Blas Islands wasn’t glamorous, we were roughing it. The total cost was $35 a day for lodging, food, and our transport to the beaches on the islands. The price was a good deal and our hosts were attentive and very friendly. The food was really good, lots of freshly caught fish, crab and lobster, chicken, rice and lots of fruit. It was all we needed.
All in all, my trip to the San Blas Islands was an adventure, roughing it a bit and staying in very rustic basic accommodations. The food was really good. But we wanted to get away from it all and this was a great escape and being taken to other beautiful islands where we could spend the day in an island paradise was perfect.