Sailing to the San Blas Islands (Panama) and that canal thingy

Paradise Part II. After Parque Tayrona, it was hard to imagine anything coming close in the ¨wow, so this is what paradise looks like¨ category. The San Blas Islands off the Caribbean coast of Panama did so in a big way.

After making it up from the bottom of South America completely by bus (with the exception of the Galapagos detour), a boat was required to continue on into Central America. I guess required is a bit of a stretch, as there is actually land connecting the two Americas, but it´s a commonly known fact down here that if you try crossing by land, you´ll die. That being said, hopping on a boat headed for a place that many veteran sailors call their favorite place on earth, is not all that bad. After some searching, we decided on the larger 40 meter long Stahlratte which would provide plenty of opportunity to jump, dive and swing from high places as well as time to get away from the other 20 people (13 pax, 7 crew) if desired. After some crappy weather leading up to our arrival in the San Blas, the local bureau of tourism seemed to know we were there because they delivered welcoming, clear skies for a an amazing bienvenido to paradise. Seconds after the anchor was dropped, people started flying off the boat like recently caught fish trying to make their way back to aquatic safety. For me, it was time to finally make the sketchy climb up the crows nest (that I had been eyeing since we left Colombia) to get some photos from above before going for a swim.



Great food which included lots of tropical fruit and fresh fish and lobster helped keep us energized for the sunny days filled with lots of swinging, snorkeling and exploring, while cold cerveza and a little music was all we needed to enjoy the slightly cooler evenings.

Eventually we had to say goodbye to our new friends and the comfortable sway of the boat to make our way to Panama City, but not before staying a night with the friendly Kuna tribe in their island village. Showers here consisted of buckets of water and the toilets consisted of a seat over a hole which dropped directly into the ocean (for the record, we didn´t swim here). Finally, it was back to non-paradise as we stopped in Panama City to check out the pretty cool canal and to get Liza on a flight back to reality.