COLON, PANAMA

I had never heard of the 365 San Blas Islands and cays before, but once I did and read & saw how remote, untouched and beautiful they are, I was very excited to check out. Only 49 of islands are inhabited. They lie off the north coast of Panama, east of the canal. A part of the Guna Yala district along the Caribbean coast of Panama and home to the indigenous Kuna people. The Kuna live in huts made of straw and bamboo, with a few solar panels thrown in. They have rejected commercial tourism and development and mainly survive by selling their handcrafted wares ( textile art forms called Mola ) passing tourist, in either the ports surrounding, or cruisers passing through their islands. I was hoping to be able to shuttle over to Isla Perro ( Dog Island) because the snorkeling was suppose to be amazing. However the water swells in the islands were too much for us to safely leave the area closest to where the ship was anchored. The Captain and crew struggled to even get the tenders safely in the water for us, but they prevailed and we were able to go ashore, to one of the larger islands, for a few hours but they didn't want us to stray any further, in case we needed to pull up anchor quickly. I did enjoy meeting and seeing the Kuna people at their homes. The women are so tiny and the children so cute, sweet and curious.