Saturday, 5^th February, was a feast for all the senses. At first light James, Stuart, Louis and I went ashore in the tender to explore the island at Lemmon Cays. We approached the island restaurant gingerly, still on constant look out for bommies and other possible dangers, docked the dingy and stepped onto the wooden jetty. The six stilted cabanas jutting out from the beach seemed luxurious by San Blas standards, with running water, delivered by above ground pipes, with periodic leaks, keeping the ground moist underfoot. Solar panels on each roof provided the occupants with adequate electricity. We were charmed by the electric light poles dotted here and there, with cutoff 5-liter plastic bottle lamp shades! Walking through the center of the island, we noted how well kept the island was and how well built the various structures were. We did a short yoga session on the beach at the far side and then returned to the restaurant for breakfast. We were hoping for a menu with tropical coconut pancakes and banana fritters. The friendly waiter asked how many we were and brought a large bright pink Thermos, a jar of instant coffee and sachets of sugar and powered milk, followed by 4 plates each with 2 slices of very white toast, a fried egg, a slice of Spam-like ham and a plastic wrapped piece of Easi-Single cheese. The constant high winds (natural air conditioning) had its own plans for the powdered milk, and those did not include the coffee cup! We giggled, drank, and ate, delighted to be on stable ground, in a restaurant, eating at our leisure.

12:30 that afternoon was the departure time for the Carti islands, where Aaron, the government agent who seems to have a hand in all things San Blas, had organized a traditional dance show for rally participants. There was much discussion on what to wear to be polite - long sleeves and long trousers was the chosen costume. At 16:30 a boat arrived to collect us, and the crew of Intrepid, fellow rally participants. We were regaled with tales of the Guna/Dule peoples by our tour guide “Mr. G”, Aaron’s cousin. The small group of Carti islands are among the busiest and certainly the most densely populated in the San Bals archipelago. The island dwellings spill out onto the beach and on stilts into the sea on all sides. We arrived ashore on Carti Yandup to swarms of cheerful children and Aaron, his lovely wife and daughter. Mr G had said that we could take photos and ask as many questions as we wanted. We had been pre warned to bring lots of candy for the children. John kindly raided the best English sweet shop and supplied us with pounds of licorice allsorts and jelly babies. The kids were thrilled.

Carti Yandup was like stepping back in time to a medieval village – coconut frond rooves, bamboo walls and dirt floors. All that was missing were the sewage ditches on either side of the narrow streets. We had the rare opportunity to step inside the ceremonial town hall, where the 3 chiefs of the village hold court most evenings. The chiefs were not in attendance, but their 3 hammocks lay in waiting. All along the way to the center of the settlement we were followed by candy-hungry children and greeted by mostly women of all ages, touting their handicrafts. Mr. G explained that the children were on school holiday until next week. It appears we had been given incorrect information regarding schooling previously. On the adjacent island, Carti Tupile, there is a school and the children of Carti Yandup are ferried over there daily for classes. We hope to pay a visit to the school next week.

The dance show was an exquisite view of many generations of Guna life and legend. The dancers were all teenagers, 6 girls, 5 boys and the dance master. The males wore bright yellow shirts and various dark trousers, the females, traditional mola embroidered blouses and ethic patterned fitted skirts. The boys played pan pipe handmade flutes and the girls, shook maracas. The girls’ dance moves were very poised with small repetitive steps and slight body movements. The boys were more athletic. They were often bowed forward, punctuated by air borne leaps and energetic twists and turns, all as they played the wispy, husky flute. Many of the villagers were in the audience too, leaning against village huts, sitting on the dusty ground, or on rickety chairs while we sat on special benches set up for the occasion. The village children laughed and played, wrestled and jostled, like children anywhere in the world. The older ladies wore traditional garb, but the children wore regular western clothing. It was a jolly community affair.

Aaron had asked us on our first day in the San Blas if we would play some Irish music at the dance party, so Louis and I had brought our instruments along. We played 2 tunes and were asked for 2 encores. It was lovely to see the amazed faces on the children, who probably had never seen a violin before. One of our ambitions on this trip is have as many cultural exchanges as we can, this was our first!

After the Irish music seisiún, we were all invited by the dance master to learn the Guna dance. We had a new appreciation of the difficulty inherent in the apparently simple steps.

Visit Linkedin; #chartingirenevoyage, to see a fascinating discussion between Louis and Mr. G.about the plastic waste problem in the San Blas.