9:33.388N  78:56.894W

Here’s a bit of cultural information for you.......

The San Blas Islands are a vast archipelago on Panama's Caribbean coast composed of nearly 400 islands. The islands are home to the Kuna Indians who have best preserved their culture and traditions out of all the tribes in the Americas. The Kunas like to say that their archipelago consists of 'one island for every day of the year', all small creations of sand and palms with the turquoise Caribbean lapping at their shores. The Kunas choose to inhabit only 49 of these acre sized cay's, which are packed with bamboo huts and people. The Kunas are physically small, rivalled in tribal shortness only by the Pygmies.

The San Blas Islands and the associated mainland territory are called Kuna Yala by the Kuna Indians who don't like the name San Blas since it was given by the Spanish invaders. The Kuna Indians run all the islands as an autonomous province, with minimal interference from the national government and have maintained their own economic system, language, customs and culture, with distinctive dress. Most Kuna women continue to dress as their ancestors did. Their faces are adorned with a black line painted from the forehead to the tip of the nose with a gold ring worn through the septum. Colourful fabric is wrapped around the waist as a skirt, topped by a short sleeved blouse covered in brightly coloured molas. The women wrap their legs from ankle to knee, in long strands of tiny beads, forming colourful geometric patterns. A printed head scarf and many necklaces, rings and bangles complete the look. In sharp contrast the men have adopted Western dress such as shorts and tee shirts.

Kuna Yala is a matrilineal society. The women control the money and the husbands move into the women's family compound. Kunas do not marry at a fixed age but when considered mature enough, often with the women choosing the husband. Kuna households have an average of 7 - 14 people. Every village has three Sailas or (chiefs) of which one is superior. The Sailas congregate every evening in the 'congreso' which is nearly always the biggest hut in the village, where everybody has the opportunity to express complaints or ideas.

The mainstay of the Kuna economy is coconuts which grow en masse on the outlying islands. The women make money selling 'molas'. These beautiful applique shirts are intricately made by cutting and sewing different layers of colourful cloth. Each mola is unique and they usually show abstracted forms of birds, animals or marine life. As soon as you anchor near a village the women will paddle out in a dugout 'ulu' and show you dozens of different mola panels. They are friendly and don't say much but are very persistent.