Kuna Yala (or Al and Patti's summer vacation)

Location:  Portobello,  Panama

It’s been a long time since the last blog so we have some catching up to do.  The last posting was mid-July, after Heather and Kyler visited us for their summer vacation.  After they left, I made a trip to Texas to get a visa for an Angola visit.  While there, I ran around to all the industrial areas of Houston and picked up a bunch of parts for the boat, had happy hours and dinners with friends and visited Ben, Cat and Maggie in Austin.  Maggie, our granddaughter, turned two while I was there, so I got to join them for her 2^nd birthday party.  It was at a park near where they live with lots of friends and family.  The birthday girl wore her favorite pink tutu and after playing, cookies and cupcakes, it was time to head home for an afternoon nap.

 

Maggie in her tutu

 

Maggie with Ben and Cat
and a birthday cupcake

I spent the last two weeks of July in Luanda, Angola where I am doing some part-time work for a small oil company.  Most of the work can be done from my computer on the boat, but every now and then a trip to the actual work location is required for face-to-face meetings.  I flew back to Houston and then on to Panama City on July 31 where I met up with friends Al and Patti.  They came south from Boston to spend two weeks with us on the boat.  On Aug-1, the three of us flew from Panama City to Bocas, where Dave met us at the airport and helped us carry our luggage back to the boat.

From the plane window,
flying into Panama City

We spent the next several days provisioning (aka foraging) for a trip to the San Blas Island.  In Bocas there is no major supermarket so you learn which stores have the best produce, which stores have the best meat, where the bread is fresh, etc. and then make a list and wander from store to store until you find everything you need.  Since we don’t have a car and we have to take a water taxi from town back to the marina, its best to make multiple trips starting with non-perishable items like beer, soda, water, etc. and end with perishables like fresh fruit and veggies.  We bought some of our veggies too early in the process and didn’t have time to eat all of them before they spoiled, so a lesson learned for the next time.

Friday we went to Bluff Beach for the day and spent the afternoon body surfing, having lunch and swimming in the pool. 

Having lunch at Bluff Beach



Patti and Al, Bluff Beach

Saturday we wandered around Carenero Island and had potluck dinner with the marina crowd.  On Sunday morning, we slipped our lines and headed south to the Darklands and a restaurant called “Rana Azul” (Blue Frog) for Sunday lunch.  This was the first time we had been to Rana Azul so we weren’t sure what to expect when we got there, but we were all impressed.  Patti and I each had a stone-fired pizza and Al and Dave each had a meat plate.  We all finished with a slice of pear cake á la mode.  The food, service and atmosphere were excellent and Dave and I plan to stop there again on our way back to Bocas.

Monday morning we left the anchorage near Rana Azul and headed for Isle Bastimentos and the anchorage near Red Frog marina.  There are three passages leading in the general direction we wanted to go, so we took the northernmost passage.  The water was fairly shallow and Al was on bow watch for most of the journey.  We made it through safely but next time will either use the middle or southern passage.

Mangroves between Rana Azul and
Red Frog

Boat Chores:  Patti and Al untangling line

We spent Monday body-surfing, walking the beach, eating fish tacos and stopping for a beer at the Palmar Tent Lodge where we stocked up on koozies.  The next day we moved towards Zapatilla Cays but the anchorage was rolly so we decided not to stop there and went on to Bluefields Lagoon for the night.  We had a great time there.  After we anchored up, two cayucas (local canoes), each with a sister and brother, pulled alongside the boat.  We were just getting ready for a swim off the stern and after they asked for all the usual things (milk, juice, clothes, candy, school supplies, etc.), they joined us for a swim.  We had a contest with the kids to see who could make the biggest splash jumping in and Al won.



Swimming with our new friends at Bluefields Lagoon

Kids paddling to school, Bluefields Lagoon



Yorloni and Maryeni,
Bluefields Lagoon

Kids paddling to school,
Bluefields Lagoon

 

The next morning we sat on deck and drank our coffee while the school kids paddled their cayucas to the school house.  The destination for that day was Escudo Veraquas, a small island to the east.  We arrived there mid-morning and spent the day snorkeling, exploring the beach and dingying between the small islands. 

Al blowing a conch shell,
Escudo Veraguas

Between the islands,
Escudo Veraguas

Dave and Al on the beach,
Escudo Veraguas

Turtle nesting site,
Escudo Veraguas

The next day was a long run, 90 miles, to the Rio Chagres, so we got up early and left Escudo Veraquas with the stars still shining and the sun yet to rise.  Al rigged up the fishing poles and trolled for most of the journey, but we didn’t catch anything.  We arrived at the Rio Chagres entrance at about 4:00 p.m. and slowly made our way up the river.  This is the river that feeds the Gatun locks for the Panama canal.  It is dammed about 6 miles upriver.  We didn’t go that far, but anchored on a nice, peaceful bend where we could see upstream and downstream and where a good breeze was blowing.  It was so quiet there; you could hear the birds in the jungle, see parrots flying overhead and hear howler monkeys in the distance.

Rio Chagres

 

The following day we cruised past the Caribbean entrance to the Panama Canal and wove our way between the ships at anchor as they waited to go through.  Our destination of the day was Portobello, a small port town on the mainland.  We anchored in the bay and then took the dinghy to town for lunch and provisions.  We had lunch at Capt. Jack’s, where Jeff, the waiter, gave us some tips on what to see once we arrived in the San Blas.  When asked where we could get ice, he told us that the lady at the customs house sold ice in 5-gallon bucket blocks for $4.00 each.  Al and Dave picked up three blocks to ice down the beer in the cooler, while Patti and I visited the local church famous for its wooden statue of the Black Christ of Portobello.  According to our cruising guide, the statue is famous for its miracles and people come from as far away as Costa Rica on their knees to worship the statue during the festival of the Black Christ each October.

Ships at anchor, Caribbean side
of Panama Canal 

Al and Patti with their new friend, Angie at
Captain Jack's Portobello

Al and Dave playing with Angie

Saturday we left Portobello and headed for Porvenir and the San Blas Islands.  Al and Patti rigged up the fishing gear and…. Success!  We caught a small yellow fin tuna, a small black fin tuna or tuny (we kept both to eat) and a sail fish which we let go (actually once he got close to the boat, he threw the hook so we didn’t have to unhook him).  We had two rods out, the light one with about 100 yards of line on it got spooled twice.  Another time, we had a big fish on the bigger rod and the fish bit through the wire leader.  Al and Patti fileted the fish and for dinner we had fresh tuna sushi and seared tuna on the grill. 

Al and Dave with fish number 1

Sailfish along side the boat

Al and fish number 2

Al and Patti

Both fish in a bucket

The kitties get a fresh fish treat



Sushi plate with fresh tuna

Our first anchorage in the San Blas (aka Kuna Yala) was in the East Lemmon Cays near Yansaladup Island (“dup” is “island” in the Kuna language).  Once we anchored up, we were immediately visited by several Kuna cayucas, all wanting to sell us molas (the local Kuna handicrafts intricately made by sewing and cutting different layers of colorful fabric.  Each mola is unique and mostly have abstract designs of birds, animals or sea life) and beaded bracelets.  Patti and I both bought a few things.  Dave came up with the idea that we needed to create a poem or chant about Kuna Yala.  The best we have come up with so far is: 

Kuna Yala, Hear them holla’, Buy a mola, twenty dolla’

Or Hola, buy a mola, we will trade with you, for Coca-Cola

We’ll have a little contest:  A nice mola for the person who comes up with the best poem or chant.  Please post your entries as a response to this blog or send them to me on my gmail account.  Dave and I will be the judges and will let you know who the winner is in a future blog.

Parrot Mola

Tiger Mola



Fish Mola

Three cayucas next to the boat,
selling molas and bracelets

B with a Kuna lady, getting a bracelet

If you have some spare time, Kuna Yala has a very interesting history and is worth reading about.  Although they are considered part of Panama, they are more like a sovereign nation.  In 1925, Panama tried to force the Kunas to give up their culture and assimilate to the Panamanian way of life.  The Kuna Chiefs did not want this to happen and appealed to the U.S. for help.  The result is that much of the Kuna culture still exists.  Many people live a traditional Kuna lifestyle and wear the typical Kuna costumes.

The next day, Sunday, we anchored near Dog Island for some snorkeling around a ship wreck.  Al and Dave negotiated with some locals for fresh lobster while Patti and I walked around the island.  We snorkeled around the wreck and then went back to the boat and moved to our anchorage for the night in the East Holandes Cayes near the island of Ogoppiriadup where we had a gourmet meal with fresh grilled lobsters. 



Al preparing to grill fresh lobster

Dave and Al helping Otillo with
his outboard motor

Al and Patti preparing to snorkel

 

In the morning, a local in a cayuca approached the boat and asked if we could help fix his outboard motor.  Al took out the sparkplugs, checked for fuel, etc. and decided that a part needed to be replaced before it would work again.  The man “Otillo” said that he lived about 1-1/2 hours away by motor boat and eventually some of his friends came by and towed him back to his home island.  That afternoon we moved to an anchorage in the Lemmon Cays near the island of Tiadup, close to Porvenir and the airport.  We bought some coconuts and some beaded bracelets.  The next morning, Otillo came by to thank us for the help with his outboard and to introduce us to his wife, so we bought a mola from her and some fresh baked bread.



Sunrise with Whiskey Hotel on the left

 

Later that morning, we moved to an anchorage near Porvenir and went to Customs and Immigration to clear into Kuna Yala.  Al and Patti were flying out the next day and we wanted to make sure everything was set for their flight.  One of the young men in the customs office “Alighiera” took us for a walk down the runway, showed us the local hostel and showed us the best place in town for lunch (there are only two restaurants on the island, the hostel and the restaurant).  We sat down for a cool drink at the hostel before lunch and a local man with fresh lobster pulled in while we were there.  Al and Dave negotiated with him and bought his entire catch, 9 lobsters, for $35.  We took the lobsters to the local restaurant where they cooked them with a garlic sauce and served them with coconut rice and mixed veggies.  We asked the chef if he would cook the remaining lobsters for us, so he boiled them up and we took them back to the boat for another gourmet supper, this time lobster salad.  We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming off the stern and snorkeling near the islands.



Swimming off the stern

Al and Patti’s last day on the boat, we got up early and loaded them and their luggage into the dinghy for the trip to the airport.  The flight was scheduled to leave about 6:50, so we all piled into the airport lounge about 6:30.  We were the only ones at the airport other than the local flight controllers watching the radar, so we stood around and drank our coffee while waiting for the plane.  It finally arrived at about 7:20 and what a surprise.  It was a very small plane, with room for the two pilots, and eight passengers with four people facing backwards.  There was no x-ray machine and no metal detectors; we walked up to the plane with them, handed the pilots their luggage and they hopped in.   They took off towards Panama City and a day for sightseeing and relaxing before flying back to Boston on the 15^th.  After we saw them off, Dave and I went over to the next island, Wichubhuala, to pick up some food supplies.  We didn’t find much in the store and ended up buying one carrot, one cucumber, one cabbage, four onions and 6 eggs before heading back to the boat. 

Patti and Al's plane
Taking off from Porvenir

Roof Repairs in Wichubhuala

Children gathering for breakfast, Wichubhuala

We loaded the dinghy, stowed our supplies and headed for Soledad Miria where we were told we could load water at the town dock.  We arrived about 11:00 a.m. but there was a sailboat at the dock and a catamaran waiting.  The sailboat finished loading water after about 30 minutes and then the catamaran pulled up to the dock.  We waited and drifted and waited and drifted and had cayucas come out to sell us molas and lobsters and waited and drifted some more, until about 3:00 when we decided it wasn’t our day to load water.  So, we moved over to Gunboat Island and anchored for the night.  The next morning we got up early and headed to the water dock to arrive about 8:00 a.m.  We were the first and only boat there, so we hooked up the hose and loaded water.  While there, we bought some of the molas that had been offered the day before, visited Otillo’s family (this was his home island) and did some shopping.  Dave found fresh bananas, coconuts and bread and when offered cheese, he bought 1 and ate it on his way back to the boat.  The cheese here is sliced, individually wrapped, American cheese and costs 15 cents per slice.  We spent about 2 hours at the dock loading water and watching the goings on at the dock before heading to our next anchorage.  At the end of the water filling, we nick-named Soledad Miria “Slow-drip Miria” as the water pressure wasn’t very good… we estimated about 2 gallons per minute (gpm).  A normal garden hose in the U.S. flows at 7 – 10 gpm.

 

Elder showing school boys
how to tie a tie

School boys learning to fish

 

We really enjoyed the snorkeling in the East Holandes Cayes so we decided to head back there and try a different island.  We anchored near Banedup and settled in for the night.  You wouldn’t believe the number of no-see-ums that entered and boat and snacked on us after the wind died down.  We were both covered with hundreds of bites.  During the day the weather was pleasant and the snorkeling was good so we decided to stay another day, hoping the bug issue was an anomaly.  Well, it wasn’t…. The next night we had the same problem.  After breakfast the following day, we moved about ½ mile and anchored in the “Swimming Pool” near BBQ island.  There were two other boats anchored near there.  We settled in and after a short time were approached by some locals with lobster and crab for sale. 

Lobster and crab on deck

Dave getting ready to cook

Crab in the bottom of a cayuca

We stayed in the Swimming Pool for 4 days, did some snorkeling, explored BBQ island and met the folks on the neighboring boats, Tom and Julie on Gris-Gris from New Orleans, and Neville and Glynnis on Alba from the UK.  Leaving there, we headed to the island of Rio Azucar to top off our water tank and to Nargana to pick up some food supplies.  When we arrived at Rio Azucar we were told that they didn’t have any water that day, so we told them we would be back and moved on to Nargana.  Nargana is a small village connected by a walking bridge to another island called Corazon de Jesus.  We took the dinghy ashore and wandered around town, looking for the stores where we could buy supplies.  In most Kuna villages, the stores are not well marked and many of them look just like the other huts in the village.  You wander around until you stumble upon one, or you ask someone for directions and they will tell you how to get there.  We found several small stores and after purchasing a few things from one of them, decided to stop at a restaurant along the shore to have a cold drink.  We were greeted there by a local guide “Federico”.  He told us the history of Nargana and let us know he could help us find our way around town.  We bought him a beer and told him we didn’t need a guide.  But, once we were finished with our beers, he proceeded to show us where to buy fresh bread straight out of the oven, where to buy fresh produce, and where to buy beer and rum.  We probably wouldn’t have found the fresh bread or the beer and rum without somebody’s guidance.   He reminded us that his wife did laundry, told us that he helped with the local charity involved with handicapped children and then helped carry our treasures to the dinghy.  We told him we would be back the next day with our laundry and for a few more supplies.

 We returned the next day with our laundry, dropped it off at his house and took our computers to a place near the school where we could get internet access.  A small market was in progress with goods for sale along the sidewalks and the Colombian trading boats were alongside the dock selling potatoes, cabbage, carrots, chips, crackers, etc.  The school was having a festival with the children performing traditional Kuna dancing and singing so we enjoyed watching them.

School children performing a traditional Kuna
dance in Nargana

 

We couldn’t get connected to the internet, so after buying a few things and having a cold drink with Federico, we retreated to the boat for the afternoon.  We returned to town about 5:00 to pick up our laundry.  It turns out that the laundry lady only has a washing machine, no dryer, so our clothes were clean but not dry.  We took them back out to the boat and hung them out to dry and then went back to town for dinner at the seafood restaurant.  When we arrived we were the only customers.  Dave ordered conch and I ordered fried chicken; both came with fried plantains and a tomato/cucumber salad.  By the time we finished eating the restaurant was busy.  The food was tasty and good quality so we were glad to see them doing well.  The next morning we got up early to go back to Rio Azucar to get fresh water.  On the way there, we were passed by one of the Colombian trading boats headed for the same dock.  They indicated using sign language that we could tie-up at the dock next to them, so we set-up our fenders, waited for them to tie-up and then tied-up alongside.  We had to run our water hose across their deck to the spigot and then crawl across their boat to get to the dock.  They were very helpful and showed us where we needed to go to get the water turned on and where to go to get fresh bread and other supplies.  The town spigot lost water pressure about half way thru us filling our tank, but they told us if we came back they would let us fill for without paying the next time.

"Primo" from the Colombian
trading boat, Rio Azucar

Our next stop was the east side of the Coco Banderos Cayes.  In that area there are four small islands, one to the north, one in the middle, one to the south and one to the west.  We anchored between the middle and the south island.   When we anchored up, there was only one other boat anchored between the middle island and the west island and the rest of the area was empty.  Ah, but it was Friday night and the peace and quiet would not last.  The next morning, two pack-backer sail boats pulled in, Neville and Glynnis from Alba anchored between the north and middle island, and then the sport fishers came.  There must have been 15 of them, anchored near the southwest corner of the middle island.  We were told that this time of year, the people from Panama City bring their boats thru the canal to this side and spend weekends during August and September in the San Blas islands.  It was easy to tell which days were weekend days, as the boats started showing up Friday night and headed back home on Sunday afternoons.

Helicopter (on the left) landing
on an island so that the people
could join the sport fisher (on the right)

We did some snorkeling around the islands and Neville and Glynnis invited us over for a sundowner on their boat.  It was nice to hear their stories about cruising.  Earlier that day, we had requested some crab and lobster from a local Kuna to be delivered the next day, so we invited them to join us for seafood appetizers the following day.

We stayed near Coco Banderos for four nights.  The snorkeling there was the best that we found, with lots of layers of coral and plenty of colorful fish. 

Glynnis and Neville, eating crab and
lobster appetizers on monkey island

Next stop was Green Island, not too far away, where we stayed for two nights and did some more snorkeling.  Then it was on to Salardup on the west side of the Naguargandup Cayes.  We stayed one night there and then moved to the West Holandes Cayes and anchored near the islands of Waisaladup and Acuakargana. 

We spent three nights at Waisaladup.  There were a lot of good coral reefs there, close enough to where we were anchored so we could swim to them without having to launch the dinghy.  We snorkeled every day and walked along the shores of both islands.  There was a turtle feeding near the boat so we watched him in the afternoons and got lucky enough once that we actually snorkeled over the top of him and watched him feeding along the bottom.  We saw plenty of other sea life while we were in the islands…. A whale shark while Al and Patti were on board, just before we caught the first fish; dolphins feeding and jumping and swimming in the boat wake; manta rays and leopard rays laying on the bottom, soaring through the water and occasionally leaping out of the water; turtles feeding in the grassy areas.

Sunset over Acuakargana Island

Dolphin riding the bow wake

Sunday night, Sept 1^st, we left the anchorage, traveled offshore so we could do some fishing (no luck) and pulled into the anchorage near Porvenir.  We went in early and had some breakfast, then cleared customs and headed west towards Portobello.  We took the offshore route to try and catch some fresh fish for dinner and anchored in the northwest corner of the harbor.  This morning we did some boat chores and listened to the howler monkeys howling in the jungle.