Through the San Blas
Trip Start
Oct 01, 2008
1
46
69
Trip End
May 08, 2009
Set sail for Columbia, a little ominously, on Friday the 13th. After a rough first couple of hours though, it turned out to be incredible, unforgettable few days and a real highlight of my travels. We stopped off in a number of different locations in the San Blas Archipelego. We followed the famed, wild Darien coast. The Darien Gap, one of the worldīs last great frontiers, is still impassable overland - the guidebooks and locals warn that if the jungle diseases donīt get ya, the guerrillas and drug-traffickers will. Admiring the ruggedness from a sailboat though is a true pleasure. A memorable stop along the way was a Kuna village. The Kunas are indigenous to the islands and have fiercely faught everyone from the Spanish conquistadores to the French and American Canal builders who trampled on their territory. Panama granted the Kunas pretty much full autonomy in 1976 and their very curious flag with an inverted swastika now flies everywhere. Our boat was welcomed with open arms, the villagers being about the happiest and contented people I have ever met.
