25.03.2013 San Blas Islands
Pandai
Mon 25 Mar 2013 00:00
-----Original Message----- From: Pandai - Lagoon 560
Sent: Sunday, April 14, 2013 12:59 AM
To: Paul & Lynsey's BLOG address
Subject: 25.03.2013 San Blas Islands
Day 7 to Day 11 - 25th March to 29th March 2013 - San Blas Islands
Finally arrived in the San Blas islands after a 20 hour passage overnight!!
Lynsey's had a stomach bug over the past few days so experienced sea
sickness for the first time!
We arrived and anchored next to a Kuma village. The Kuma people have
maintained their traditional way of life and managed to survive the Spanish
invasion when the rest of South America was taken over. They live in grass
huts etc.
One chap came up to the boat on his canoe to say hello, ask for money for
mooring off their village and informed us that his wife has big
breasts....which is always good to know! Then he rowed away when we said we
didn't have any cash on us to give him :-/
The next day we took a sail to explore some of the unspoilt islands when we
reached another Kuma Village where we decided to anchor and spend the night.
The village is called Achuputu. We went ashore to buy some basics and have a
look around. The locals are very friendly and children run out to the
streets to say hello to us. We were shown around the village by a chap/cheif
who also showed us his home, we met his wife, his son and his pets! At first
we were a bit nervous when we saw the locals cutting their grass with
machetes but quickly established that this was the norm!
The chief spoke very good English.
Paul needed to return to shore to pay the chief their tax for us coming
ashore. He came back to the boat with the chief, his wife and son who joined
us for coffee and biscuits. They gave Debbie a couple of Avocados as a thank
you for the hospitality. Debs loves Avocados!
The next day we sailed up the coast when we reached the largest Kuma village
in the San Blas. Again we went ashore to have a look around and buy some
basics but this village was a bit more modernised. They have electricity and
have given up on the traditional way of life. There was litter everywhere
and we all said how glad we were that we had visited the more traditional
villages down the coast.
The following day we took the dinghy to explore the RiO Diablo. We did not
see a lot of wildlife but many of the locals use this river to do their
washing and collect fresh water. Later on in the day we sailed to a popular
group of islands in the San Blas. The sun came out and we anchored on the
beach in the bluest waters and white sand!
For our last day in the San Blas the weather was overcast and drizzly so we
had a long sail up the coast to the island where we needed to check in to
Panama. Paul went to the customs office in his navy shorts, white Pan Dai
crew shirt, navy baseball cap and laptop bag. He looked like a Postman, or
someone who worked for FedEx! It was hilarious. While he was checking in and
sorting out all our paperwork, we went to the bar and had a few drinks!
Someone's gotta do it! Tomorrow we will be sailing further towards Colon -
the entrance to the Panama Canal!