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Skyelark of London - San Blas / Kuna Yala



San Blas / Kuna Yala

The sail from Colombia to the San Blas was anticipated to be one of the
windiest and most challenging sections of the entire circumnavigation and we
were not disappointed! There was nothing we hadn't seen or done before and
the wind was not especially strong (30knots or so) but the sea was a short,
steep and short period which made life onboard uncomfortable. Speaking to
the fleet it was a testing start, with one skipper saying the boat was going
very cheap last night and another rethinking sailing round the world! Not
very helpfully I suggested it was probably easier to continue than to beat
back through those seas to the Caribbean!
With this trip in mind, the serene, surreal beauty of the San Blas is made
even more magical - the promised Gin clear waters, deserted islands and a
wonderfully friendly 'native' local welcome is just the place to recuperate.
Decisions are hard - shall I swim or paddle board, snooze or socialise, have
a rum punch or a beer, buy lobster, conch or king crab? Or just do nothing
at all!

Of course doing nothing is not in our nature so it's a swimming safari, a
snorkel to the reef and of course at 3 US a pound it's got to be lobster!
After 2 days of island paradise we decided to search for something more
authentic and have now moved towards the mainland and the Kuna Indian
settlements. Mountains, rivers, and inhabited islands make for equally good
exploring.

The Kuna Indians are still very much an indigenous tribe. Small in stature
and big in smiles they have their own language, religion, hierarchy and
customs and are fiercely independent and autonomous from Panama. Their land,
Kuna Yala covers large areas inland and the San Blas islands. The main
industry is still coconuts and Molas (hand made embroideries of intricate
detail and design) and apart from perhaps a hundred yachts a year it's off
the tourist map - blisffully so.



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