Last Weeks in Kuna Yala

Loyal It’s Irie blog readers might have noticed that there was a bit of a time gap between New Year and canal blogs, earlier this month. Mark and I were so busy with a family visit, boat projects and canal preparations, that – before we knew it – the date of our transit came and went. And, afterwards, I had to report about it, of course. J So, let’s back up about a month, back to the time we spent our last weeks (ever?) in the gorgeous San Blas islands. This time, my cousin and her husband got to enjoy it with us.

Griet and Wim arrived on Irie from Belgium on January 4^th and were in for a very diverse and special Panama vacation. The first ten days of their holiday, they received a good taste of the San Blas islands, followed by a great sail to mainland Panama, a short stay in Portobelo, and a totally different “chores” stop in Colon Harbor, with a side trip to the ruins of Fort San Lorenzo and its marvelous view over the Chagres River. Then, they transited the canal with us, to conclude their vacation with two days Panama City. We called their experience the “Best of Panama”!

In Kuna Yala we sailed around and stayed in different anchorages between sandy islands dotted with palm trees. Our guests arrived in the East Lemmons, where they explored three of the four islands. A record amount of over 30 anchored boats made us leave the following day. Yansaladup had us remove and re-install one of the emergency hatches (thanks for helping us clean all the old caulk of, guys!) while in 5 feet of water, and do laundry on shore with water from the well. We also managed to relax one afternoon in the hammock and have a fire on the beach, accompanied by drinks and snacks, a gecko and our German friend Stefan, who we had to say “goodbye” to.

A highlight for many visitors to the San Blas islands, is the river tour with Lisa, a – locally – famous master mola maker and transvestite. Mark and I had never done this daytrip before and figured that having family over was a good opportunity to go. We were accompanied by Vicky and Larry from SV Rocinante. Lisa and a helper picked us up in the anchorage of Salardup for a day of fun. With her motorized boat we drove up a pretty river, where we disembarked into the jungle. She showed us her Kuna family’s traditional cemetery and led us through the dense rainforest, crossing the river a couple of times. While she charged ahead, we - the tourists - lagged behind to have a good look at fauna (Griet, Mark and I spotted some howler monkeys) and flora.

After an hour or so and a short climb, we reached a pretty waterfall with refreshing pools underneath. We all jumped into the gorge, some from a bit higher up than others, and had a chilly swim around. After lunch, it was time to really get wet. Walking stick in hand, stumbling over and – sometimes – falling onto the slippery rocks, we followed the river for a good way back to the jungle trail. Once in a while a jump off a cliff, a short swim, or a slide through the water was needed. It was an interesting and enjoyable experience!

Irie’s freshwater tank was empty, so we stopped briefly in Rio Azucar, to fill up with fresh water from the mountains and to buy a few odds and ends, like freshly baked bread. It was Griet and Wim’s first encounter with an authentic Kuna village. The process went quicker than expected and we managed to sail all the way to the Coco Bandero Cays – another pretty setting of four palmy and balmy islands - the same day. More beaches were explored and refreshing swims were had. The wind had picked up a lot, and so had the amount of visiting sailboats. As a result, we had to skip two favorite anchorages and the morning turned into one of sailing and motoring instead of relaxing and snorkeling. We stopped in the East Lemmons again, where we did have a wonderful snorkeling experience on the reefs in the afternoon.

Then, we started planning our trip to the mainland, so we headed for the Chichime Cays. The first night, we anchored “inside” behind the impressively breaking reefs in 10 feet of incredibly clear water. Diving in was a delight; as if you were in a swimming pool, but with over a knot of current. Showering was a bit challenging to say the least, but we had fun being swept towards the beach, snorkel mask on our heads, then walking back past Irie on the beach and floating back again. The island we were anchored off also had an easy trail, a beautiful beach and some kind of bar. Griet collected many shells and sea beans. The 16 foot waves in the ocean might have been the cause of all the extra flotsam and jetsam.  

Our last night was spent on the “outside” of Chichime, from where we staged ourselves for the 55 mile sail to Portobelo, mainland Panama. We had our last Kuna Yala snorkel and our last cocktail in our – so far – favorite island group. To make the evening even better, Becky and Denny from SV Kokomo joined us in the anchorage and for dinner, drinks and great stories. More friends we had to say goodbye to. L And then, we moved west… to keep moving west!

Griet and Wim filled their suitcase with Belgian goodies for us!

Fixing the emergency hatch: Mark inside, me outside in 4.5 feet of water

Doing laundry with well water on Yansaladup

Pretty surroundings of the East Lemmons

 
Carrying Mark across the river to keep his shoes dry!

Lisa shows us her family's cemetery

Lunch near the waterfall, before we follow the river back

Sometimes walking, sometimes swimming, sometimes jumping and sometimes sliding...

And sometimes falling...

I finally used my hammock, the way it is supposed to be used! :-)

New Year’s Eve in Kuna Yala

The year 2013 is already two weeks old and Mark and I have been as busy as ever, dealing with boat issues and entertaining family in the beautiful San Blas islands. A unique area like Kuna Yala is fun and exotic to explore with and show off to people that are not used to sandy islands chock full of palm trees. We have sailed a lot, snorkeled a few times, explored a handful of islands and did an interesting river tour with mola maker Lisa. More about that in the next blog. First, I’d like to share our experiences of New Year’s Eve with the Kunas, before we are another two weeks later…

After our tough time in the boatyard, Mark and I couldn’t wait to get back to the paradise-like San Blas islands. We took the first opportunity to get there – under motor – right before the strong trade winds picked up. We might have missed Christmas with friends, but we were sure to make New Year’s Eve! We met up with Michele and Mark from SV Reach and with Lizz and Charlie from SV Kaya in the Central Holandes. I finally managed to do a bit of yoga again and working on the boat surrounded by clear water and tropical islands became all of a sudden much more pleasant!

One morning, the girls and I walked over to Prado on Miriadiadup to have a look at his handicrafts and molas. He invited us over for New Year’s Eve and we agreed to bring food and alcoholic beverages. He would provide coconut rice and a gorgeous Kuna setting. By the end of December 31^st, we had welcomed Becky and Denny on SV Kokomo and Vicky and Larry on SV Rocinante to our anchorage, so we had a nice group of cruisers to spend the last evening of the year with. With dingies full of food, drinks and people, we entered Prado’s compound right before dark. All the “western” dishes were displayed on a covered picnic table and the Kunas offered us delicious rice and smoked fish. They even provided a light under the thatched roof and joined the party. First reluctantly tasting some of the food, then enthusiastically gulping the beer and rum we brought for them.

The more the evening and the drinking progressed, the merrier everybody became. This resulted in some fun and funny moments and scenes. Becky had brought some light sticks for her female friends, but soon enough most of them were claimed by our hosts, who were delighted by the lit-up effect in the dark. Each time they went into their huts, we could see bright flashes of light moving about. To conclude the evening, a big bonfire was started and a man-sized “doll” representing a Panamanian thrown on. Kunas are very proud of their independent status and the days of the revolution are still fresh in their minds.

Cruisers’ midnight being 10pm made it hard for everyone to stay awake until midnight. Around 11pm we all went home to our respective boats. Lying on our trampoline, Mark and I tried hard to stay awake until 12. When we saw a few boats shoot off expired flares, we kissed each other “Happy New Year”, relieved that the old year had passed and happy that we made midnight. Once inside, the clock showed 11:50, but we called it a day.. Happy New Year to you all!

Kuna woman making food on the wood burning stove inside her hut

Prado attaching a string with beads around my ankle, the Kuna way

Mola maker Prado bringing out the coconut rice

The Panamanian "enemy" before his hot fate

Listening to the "car" radio, hanging out with the girls 

One of the men dressed up as a Kuna woman caused some laughs!

Group picture - who's the tallest, and who's the smallest? Kunas are known to be the second shortest people in the world, after the Pygmies.

One day a pet, the next day...

Transport of the Panamanian "doll" to the bonfire, in a traditional way

(Thanks to Michele for some of the pictures)

 

Rain, Please!

When Mark and I returned to Irie in the pretty San Blas islands, our fresh water tank was barely one third full. We were thinking of ways to solve this “issue” ahead of time, while hoping the standing water would still be good enough to drink after two and a half months. But, it is the rainy season in this part of the world right now, so we decided we’d have no problem filling up our relatively small tank, while diluting the water that was already in it. Before we left, it rained – very hard –every other day or so, with spectacular lightning and thunder as a backdrop. It would be easy to collect our needed water supply.

The day we arrived, we caught the end of a massive rainstorm, ourselves, with luggage, but we just missed a big collecting opportunity. A few days later, enough rain fell to clean our roof and decks and to fill our sun shower. Now, we could at least rinse off after our salty showers. In the meantime, our water supply in the boat dwindled down. Every evening, we prepared the cockpit, the jugs, and our two collecting systems for the anticipated downpour. Instead, we saw massive clouds dunking rain along mainland Panama, while the outer anchorages (= here) stayed dry. We became even more careful with the water from our tank, only using it for cooking and drinking. Mark suggested I’d drink beer for a while, to save water, but even that is not enough reason for me to drink that unpleasantly tasting beverage!

Mark and I made plans to take Irie to a small village called Soledad Miria, where they supposedly have fresh water from the mountains. We were not looking forward to this frustration, time, and money/diesel. Buying water in the rainy season and going through all the effort of getting it, seemed a bit silly, but we were getting desperate and sick of being extremely scant. The day we planned to do the trip, other issued appeared that needed dealing with first, like a broken water pump. There’s no need for water in our tank if we can’t pump it to our faucets… or, there is no need for a pump if we don’t have water. Luckily, Mark had a spare and he’s a great handyman, so that issue was fixed in “no time” and we hoped for a lot of rain, one last night.

When you say “I remember” out loud, you hear Irie, but when you think “irony”, be sure Irie is a part of it as well. Towards the evening of said last night, clouds started to gather all around us and the wind picked up tremendously. Mark and I smiled at each other: “Finally!” While other cruisers frantically checked their surroundings and feared another storm, we were applauding it, well, the rainy part anyway. A massive dark grey curtain of rain slid past the mainland, while the wind was blowing over 20 knots from that direction. It wouldn’t take long for the storm to approach us and we were truly anticipating its arrival. Behind us, another front moved from east to west, producing a massive sound and light show. Water spouts reached the ocean and it was an impressive sight to behold, from afar.

Mark and I waited and waited; jugs, hoses and tank at the ready. Finally, two rain drops bounced on our roof and then, the wind speed slowed down and the storm had passed, leaving us baffled and disappointed. How was this possible, with the wind coming from the clouds exploding with water, for an hour? Instead of drinking big gulps of fresh water, we – unsuccessfully - spent our time trying to take pictures of the lightning strikes behind us. What a spectacle that was! Mark managed to film one sequence, which is pretty cool. We went to bed with all the hoses hooked up, but the night stayed dry.

The following day, we had an early start and motored to Soledad Miria (wind on the nose going there and no wind coming back), after confirming with another cruiser they had water there. The visibility was poor, this close to land, but our guide book and chart plotter lead us safely around the reefs. A concrete dock with wooden poles and a set of helping hands welcomed us. When we explained what we desired, an old man walked off and came back ten minutes later with sets of keys to the water “depot”, a small cabinet where the spigot hid behind. He tried all the keys, with no luck. We waited. Mark contemplated getting his bolt cutters out, but we decided against that. After another ten minutes or so, he managed to pry the lock open. When was the last time this water spigot had been used? We just reached Irie’s tank with all the hoses combined and the tap was turned on. We waited… No water was coming out! To make a long set of trials short, the pressure was just too low and the only way to get water was to fill jerry cans on the dock, haul them aboard and empty them into our freshwater tank. This was still quicker than having to anchor and take the dinghy back and forth.

It was a slow process. Every jug took about 10 to 15 minutes to fill, but we prepared for this by starting early. While the sun was beating down on us, we waited and we hoped the job would be finished before the afternoon storms would start. Upon looking into jug number five, the contents were brown. We started all over again with this one, trying to filter the water with a cloth. After a couple of more tries and even more time, we gave up and abandoned our mission. We arrived back at our anchorage seven hours later, dripping with sweat and containing under half a tank of fresh water. The surroundings, our swim in the gorgeous water and the sunny weather slowly erased our disappointment. The best thing to do in the San Blas islands is to stay put in a place you like, without trying to accomplish things involving other people or goods. When you do that: life is good!

That night, it rained.