San Blas Islands - Guna Yala
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The San Blas Islands comprise an archipelago of over 350 tiny islands on the Caribbean side of Panama, ranging from the tiniest strip of sand with a handful of coconut trees to larger islands a few hundred metres long. These magical islands are part of the territory of Guna Yala, home to the Guna people, one of the few indigenous communities in Latin America who have managed to preserve the political and cultural autonomy of their land and traditions.
In 1750 the Gunas notoriously fought off the invading Spaniards and achieved independence from Spain by 1785, and later in 1925 the Guna warriors rebelled against the then Panamanian dictatorship and achieved recognition as an autonomous state within Panama. The swastika flag they adopted to mark the occasion (no connection to the later Nazi symbol) is now flown proudly across the region.
We were greeted on arrival in Porvenir, the official entry to Guna Yala by a lady and her daughter in a dugout mango tree canoe who sold us the Guna Yala flag which we duly hoisted above the Panamanian flag. She spoke Spanish but her daughter clearly didn’t – our first sign of how strong the Guna culture still is today. The Guna have farmland on the mainland and move between the archipelago in dugout canoes propelled by paddle and occasionally a small lug-rigged sail.
The houses are very simply structures with coconut thatched rooves and hammocks strung up over sandy floors. Our favourite island, known simply as ‘Guna House’ on the chart, is literally a house surrounded by a few metres of sand. Here lived a proud father of 11 children aged 18 and down who happily explained to us that the island is growing every year as more sand is washed up by the seas. We were happy to be able to show our gratitude for being anchored a few hundred meters from this incredibly beautiful spot by doing a daily charge of the family’s mobile phones and sharing some of our fresh water.
The economy is shifting away from selling coconuts which has been the tradition for centuries towards tourism, central to which is selling ‘molas,’ (beautifully embroidered fabrics) and beaded jewellery, worn not only on arms but curiously all the way up the womens' legs. This growing tourist trade involves high-speed boats bringing travellers from the mainland to swim off the pristine white sand, snorkel on the stunning reefs and sip on a coconut or cold Balboa (local beer). A number of the islands now also have small guest houses for visitors.
Aside from the delight of meeting some Guna families, we were also lucky enough to meet some of the underwater inhabitants of these magical islands. Our favourite encounters included a large sleeping nurse shark under a rock, an even larger and very much awake lemon shark; three turtles and two sting rays. The reef fish were also stunning. These included: some very bullish parrot fish zipping about the coral as if they owned it; two proud father sergeant fish protecting their recently spawned purple eggs from invading predators; the sprightly yellow tailed damsel fish with electric blue spots and energetic swimming pattern and angel fish who always glide along in pairs.
In the deeper channels we spotted giant oceanic trigger fish, honeycomb box fish and a very curious (as yet un-identified) long needle/trumpet fish with a long bright violet nose who was always surrounded by a shoal of other bluey-violet fish. We discovered a new way to swim with these beautiful creatures by tying ourselves on to Dingus (our dinghy) and drifting down the sandy channels between the sea grass beds with the current, which brought us to a magnificent eagle ray who turned on his tracks to check us out.
Navigating through these tiny islands and extensive coral reefs is an interesting challenge. This can involve using precise waypoints to weave through the narrow gaps between the coral. However, nothing beats “eyeball navigation” whereby we spot the coral by ensuring the is sun behind the boat, to be able to see the colour (and thereby depth) of the water. Our favourite anchorages all had wonderful Guna names such as Yansaladup (Yani’s island), Waisaladup (with its stunning underwater coral gardens) and Banedup in the Eastern Holandes Cays.
The land of Guna Yala has a beautifully peaceful way of life. So far there is minimal cruise ship intrusion and horrible noisy things like jet skis are banned. The numerous safe anchorages with their stunning aquatic life, pristine white beaches and warm clear waters makes for a cruiser’s paradise. It’s no surprise that there are now several floating communities of yachts to be found here. We discovered some sailing folk who have lived on their boats at anchor for up to 20 years!
In our two weeks in Guna Yala it felt like we were only able to scratch the surface of this wonderous tropical paradise. One day we must return.