A 5 month adventure on land and sea

January 30, 2019

Saturday, January 26 San Blas Islands

We had a very unusual and unique port stop scheduled for today. San Blas Islands is an indigenous territory of Panama consisting of 378 islands, of which around 47 are inhabited. They are the homeland of the Kuna people which have lived on these islands for centuries in isolation, leaving their cultural traditions intact. They have only allowed tourism in the last few years. The craft that they are known for is the mola, a kind of layered quilting. Several pieces of cloth are stitched together and then delicate cuts are made to expose the layer below and then restitched. The quality is determined by the number of layers, the quality of the stitching and color and design. They are really beautiful, colorful and they are proud of their work.

This was a "tender" port so in order to get to the small dock we had to tender in the ships lifeboats from the ship to the dock. We have a few of these tender ports along the way, and the only bad thing is that if the seas are rough or too dangerous to dock, the port gets cancelled. The Captain makes that decision, and if he thinks it is too rough, we don't go. Safety first, for the crew and the passengers, and it's not a decision he makes lightly. I have been to tender ports that have been cancelled, and yes, there is some grumbling passengers, but I have also been to ports that should have been cancelled due to high seas resulting in trashed tender boats that needed extensive repair from bashing against the concrete pier, and frail passengers falling.

We were only here for 5 hrs, so once the ship was anchored about 1/2 mile from the dock and cleared for customs we collected a tender ticket and waited for our number to be called. It was much cooler today-about 80 degrees and overcast. Much more pleasant than yesterday. We tendered over to a very small island which was only about 1/8 mile wide by 1/8 mile wide. It had no beaches just rocks. Their living conditions consisted of bamboo or wood structures with tin roofs, dirt floors, no running water, hammocks for beds, and the loo was an

enclosed structure out over the water with a hole in the middle. We walked along narrow dirt paths between houses where the Kuna people had their wares displayed for sale. The children had parakeets, kittens, and puppies with them, and for a dollar would pose for a picture. The women were dressed in their traditional wear which consisted of colorful mola skirts and tops and tons of beads covering almost their whole arms and legs. I am sure they dressed up for the cruise passengers that day. They were beautiful. They have to transport fresh water daily by boat and get their supplies from the mainland of Panama. I did see stores stocked with a few essentials...rice, paper products, veg, oil, some canned foodstuffs, but not much. But I did see kids drinking soda from a bottle and overhead wires and solar panels. They make most of their money from fishing and selling coconuts on the mainland. It was a very interesting afternoon and once again it put life in perspective.