July 27-29
San Blas is a group of islands scattered off the Caribbean coast of Panama, and it is truly paradise. There are 365 islands, most of them uninhabited. The are owned by the Kuna people; natives of Panama. Most of the islands are tiny, covered in beautiful white sand and palm trees.
I booked onto a 3 day tour with Louise, who I had met back in Nicaragua. To get there, we left Panama City at an ungodly hour and rode a few hours in a bus (along an incredibly poorly built road) followed by a boat out to Isla Aroma, where we would be sleeping. We stayed on this island each night but did day trips to a few different islands each day.
On the first day we quickly settled into Isla Aroma before we headed to snorkel a shipwreck on another island. Unfortunately this was on a Sunday, and while this means absolutely nothing to a backpacker, it means that all the locals are off work and visiting the islands. There were SO many people.
Our guide had told us not to touch or stand on the shipwreck because it destroys the sea life but of course all the local tourists don't care... It was a bit sad to see them trampling all over it.
The island was stunning...as they all are! We spent a bit of time snorkelling the shipwreck. I was amazed to see how much coral was growing on it and how many fish there were in there! Some beautifully colourful ones.
We zipped over to another island, where there was a restaurant over the water. They had a little rock pool full of turtles and lobsters for us to gaze at while we had our lunch.
After lunch we relaxed on the picture-perfect beach!
Eventually, late in the afternoon we returned to Isla Aroma and napped in the sun, recovering from our early morning and jam-packed day. Over dinner and a few relaxed drinks we learned a bit about the Kuna culture, including some history, language and a few interesting marriage rituals!
Day two we went over to Isla Perro Grande, yet another gorgeous island. When I went out snorkelling I saw lots of jellyfish! Delicious fresh-caught fish filled me up for lunch.
Later in the afternoon we set off for Pescina Estrella; a sunken island in the middle of the ocean filled with starfish and other interesting little creatures.
On the way back to Isla Aroma we went past Isla Pelicana, commonly know as 'the Microsoft island' because a snapshot from this stunning little spot is used as a Windows background/screensaver.
The last day of our San Blas adventure involved...you guessed it, a beautiful little island! We were treated to an absolute feast for lunch. A nice way to end our San Blas adventure.
I spent one more day lazing around in Panama City (my very last stop in Central America!) before flying to Peru.
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| The journey through Central: Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica & Panama |
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