Las Perlas – 11 Febuary

We set off from Panama City to Las Perlas – just a short day sail, about 30 miles.  We went first to and anchorage off Isla Chapeta, and then to Contadora, spending 3 nights in the archipelago.   Such a beautiful collection of about 200+ islands and islets with lovely clear water and golden sand and very pretty pink shells.  Very popular for rich Panamanians, and the prices in the hotel at Contadora were fiendish.  Contadora is the most well known of the islands and is said to have been used by the Conquistadors as a stop to take inventory of booty seized by the Spanish prior to returning to Spain, Contadora meaning bookkeeper/counter. 

 I had read up on Noonsite that there had been two incidents of violent robbery on boats in 2023 ie very recently so rather spooked myself.  We made sure that we were not the only boat in any anchorage we chose.  The history of the islands made for uncomfortable reading.  All the native peoples living on the islands at the time of discovery by the Spaniard Vasco Nunez de Balboa in 1513 were completely wiped out within 2 years.  The Spanish then needed workers to harvest the pearls and imported slave labour in the 16^th century from Africa whose descendants now live in the islands, mainly Isla del Rey (the biggest island to the south).