V. CA Panama/W1, 6d: San Blas-Panama C E

Fr, 23.06. - Tu, 27.06. San Blas Sailing
Ciao South America - Hola Central/Latin America :)
After almost 4,5 months in South America I continued to Central America with Panama being the first country. Crossing Colombia to Panama by land is not possible or allowed due to the still ongoing Guerilla presence in the jungle of Darién, the so-called Darién Gap, I always try to avoid flying based on budget reasons but also to save the environment unless it is really necessary - so why not combine the necessary (border crossing) with the enjoyable things (vacation)? In this case that meant an absolute budget blowing but kick-ass sailing boat trip from Cartagena in Colombia to Colón or Panama City in Panama via the San Blas Islands - another absolute highlight, paradise on earth and 4 full days of super relaxation and treatment :)))

Our sailing boat El Gitano del Mar was 52 feet or 17m long with space for us 20 passengers (quite a mixed international group of Argentinians and Venezuelans, 6 Brits Will, Jack, Matt&Daniele, Alley&Phoebe, 2 Canadians Jessica and Gabriel, 1 Australian Jordan, 2 Swedish Emma and Ida, 1 German Sebastian and me), 3 crew members captain Elena from Germany, assistant Mauro from Argentina, cook Agustín from Venezuela as well as dog Nali meaning shark in the local language. It was a small party boat with super young people - with 26 I was the second oldest, even the crew was a lot younger - for me an absolute new experience, my times of being the youngest are definitively over :P But you are always as old as you think you are and I was ready for days of full relaxation, without shoes, sweet sailing and island life ;)

1st day, Th 22.06.
Around 8pm I had to be at Cartagena's Marina. It was very nice to see the old colonial town with the harbour again at night as well as the last possibility to stock up on drinks and snacks and to get ready for a life without shoes only in bikini and sarong, without watch or any time feeling as well as no showers and no WiFi :) We were brought to the biggest catamaran with the speedboat, the shoes went on vacation, they showed us the boat before we started sailing towards the open sea and ocean crossing around midnight - first, very shaky night sleeping under the stars on the roof with nice fresh windy air :)
2nd day, Fr 23.06.
That was the perfect spot to be woken up by the sun early in the morning to then get a yummy breakfast with cinnamon porridge, cereals, honey melon and papaya. That day we had to cross the ocean being more than 300m deep and strong currents making swimming impossible - thus a day full of relaxation with a lot of sunbathing, sleeping, eating, reading and playing cards. For lunch we then had ham&cheese, tomatoe&salad and tuna sandwiches and even spotted some whales afterwards. After sunset, a sky full of stars and veg-rice for dinner there were even some 3-4 dolphins swimming in front of our boat below the hammocks - an absolute nice experience :)
3rd day, Sa 24.06.
That time I was unfortunately not woken up by the sun but by rain around 5am and had to escape to the cabin - but we reached paradise only 2h later with the best weather - and view of a super small inhabited island with super beautiful yellow sand beach, many palm trees and crystal-clear turquoise-blue super warm Caribbean water :)))

The San Blas Islands or also called Guna Yala Archipelago named after the indigeneous culture Guna Yala are an autonomous archipelago about 400km long and with almost 400 islands of which only 40 are habited and mostly only by a small family. El Porvenir is the administrative capital with some more known islands such as Carti, Icodub, Senidup, Isla Grande, Isla Iguana, Chico.
Oh yes, this is the real paradise: surrounded by crystal-clear turquoise-blue water, super white sand beaches, palm trees the size of a house, lonely beaches or whole islands and nice corals and other sealife such as whales and dolphins it is the perfect spot for snorkeling, swimming, sunbathing or just relaxing - there is hardly any electricity, no Internet/WiFi/messages and thus no stress and the best chance to escape a few days from our hectic modern world :)))
The best way to visit the islands is by sailing boat and it also gives you the possibility to get to know the life of the indigeneous Kuna Yala mostly living from fishing and agriculture, protecting the atoll (that is the reason for it not yet being that touristy) and greeting you with their Molas (handmade clothes) - it is also more remote and unique than Bocas del Toro in the North bordering Costa Rica.

Amazed by so many palm trees we first enjoyed a fresh coconut and the milk and flesh were so incredibly delicious - that could also not be topped by a good breakfast incl scrambled eggs with cheese, toast with butter, jam, peanut butter, arequipe, honey as well as pineapple and watermelon. After that we just enjoyed the sweet sailing and island life with kayaking, standup-padeling, snorkeling, swimming, sunbathing, relaxing, strolling along the beach etc.
For lunch we then had chicken with potatoes and green salad before we headed to the next longer, bigger and with 2 families even habited island.
After a nice sunset and strange meat-cheese dinner we then had an amazing party dancing on the benches under the stars with sleeping in the hammock later ;)

4th day, Su 25.06.
From there I had to escape again due to a bigger thunderstorm - which was then improved by a yummy pancake breakfast with honey, jam, vanilla, syrup, arequipe, peanut butter as well as pineapple and orange - pancakes for breakfast are quite common in Panama and offered in almost every hostel.
We also had our border crossing to Panama as well as the entrance to Guna Yala that day. We visited a community, were then spoilt with tacos and guacamole, sour cream, beef, chorizo, beans, salad for lunch and had a bonfire with Arepas on another island in the evening - my first one out of palm tree leaves but that just burns too quickly :P

5th day, Mo 26.06.
After again being woken up by storm and rain we saw some dolphins in the shallow water - a nice experience ;)
After breakfast we enjoyed again sweet island life, had spaghetti with mushrooms for lunch, some more palm islands, sunset, mega party on the elephant island - plus after 5 days (!) we finally had seafood with super delicious lobster as well as red salad, pumpkin, carrots, eggplant and rice :)))
6th day, Tu 27.06.
After a super short night we enjoyed a last good view of the islands that morning before getting back our shoes after breakfast (a weird feeling) and being driven first 1,5h with the water taxi to mainland and then another 3h via dense lush jungle in a rollercoaster ride until the capital Panama City.

San Blas was just a blast - super expensive but worth every penny and after many nice experiences and a bit fast travelling I really needed this break, having vacation from vacation - however doing almost nothing for such a long time was also a new experience for me and I recognised again that I am a rather active sportive girl who always needs to do something and is more at ease with hiking and treking in mountain and volcano regions :)

Welcome to Panama!
After its separation from Colombia Panama has in general had a strong US-American influence which is especially striking in the capital and the USD as local currency, thus making it after Costa Rica the second most expensive country in Central America. It is a small country with great ambitions and with the Panama Canal an important connection between the Atlantic and Pacific strongly influencing the country economically and politically (however, not everybody benefitted from it, Colón counts due to its poverty to Panama's unsafest and not recommendable city). After that you will find beautiful beaches, green lush rainforests, big nightlife and indigeneous cultures such as Kuna in the Caribbean, Emberà & Wounan in Panama & Darién as well as Ngöbe-Bugle and Naso in the East - the population in general is very Catholic, conservative and family-oriented.
Concerning typical food there is unfortunately not that much street food, the cheapest options are cafeterias or supermercados and similar to South America there is again a lot of rice, beans or lenses with a bit of chicken, meat or fish and Yuca/Cassava and green bananas as well as a lot of fried snacks such as Carimañolas/enyucados (filled meat balls), empanadas, tamales, patacones, hojaldres (fried bread), empareados, derretidos (fried toast). The national dish is sancocho (chicken soup with yuca, beans, vegetables) as well as ceviche and a lot of cheap and delicious seafood. Panama is moreover known for its good fruits such as pineapple and coconut - so just eat that, for the veggies use one of the many Chinese restaurants and in general enjoy the good beverages coffee, chichas (blended tropical fruit juices, water, ice), batidos (thick milkshakes made off fresh fruit) as well as pipas (sweet water from the green coconut) ;)

Tu, 27.06. Panama City: Barking & Casco Viejo
After such a lot of relaxation far away from modern civilization and the online world I got a big shock in the 1,5mio metropolis and capital Panama City.
It is the biggest city in Latin America, a dynamic metropolis located between 2 continents and 2 oceans, known for its seafood ceviche in particular with a strong US-American influence having casinos, shopping malls, skyline, cars, active people/outdoor gyms and all typical fast food chains. Due to the incredible heat there are also super cold ACs and especially the metro is good and reliable. Only the so-called, in Latin America pretty famous chicken buses (old US school buses with colourful Christian decoration with crazy drivers and people also transporting livestock such as chicken) as well as the chaotic traffic 24/7 remind you that you are actually in Latin America.
I found indeed a nice $10 hostel (yes, you just have to ask, search long enough or hope for low season) and then went to the old town Casco Viejo, a super nice colonial jewel with cobblestone streets, a lot of churches and colourful buildings. I then headed back via the long boardwalk along many sportive people to the fish market Mercado de los Mariscos where you get good and cheap seafood, yummy :)

We, 28.06. Panama Canal
One of the mankind's greatest constructions and the biggest and best shortcut for the shipping industry worldwide, a unique connection between the Atlantic and the Pacific - the Panama Canal is more than impressive and was only extended in June 2016; a small country with very motivated people, there are currently 2 more locks under construction. It was built 103y ago and has a length of 80km with 3 locks and a transit time of 8-10h. 160 countries, 144 routes and 1,700 ports of destination - the figures are impressive and it is very interesting to see the big steel container ships so close to the lush green jungle with monkeys and slots. It is the only canal where a captain has to give the whole control over his ship to a Panama pilot, the ships are lifted via 8floor house high locks from sea level 0m to Lake Gatún at 26m - and it was built by so many different nationalities (Barbados, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Trinidad, Jamaica etc). The visitor centre at Miraflores Lock is super modern with 4 floors incl 3D film and viewing platform and was worth its expensive $15 entrance fee for foreigners ;)
As I am not a big city fan and already saw what I wanted to see I took the 6pm 11h nightbus (Tranceibosa, $27.80) from Panama City half through the country via Santiago to Bocas del Toro, another Caribbean jewel north-east near the border to Costa Rica. The places before were not so appealing to me and all quite similar to things I have already seen; Santa Catalina is known as super surf town but not that interesting for me as non-surfer and thus not worth a detour. I thus went again back to the warm Caribbean coast to relax after 2 days in the big city :P - as usual again with fridge temperatures, action films, super shaky, non-functional WiFi and dinner break around 11pm - what an adventure ;)Read more