April 8th

- arriving at El Porvenir

El Porvenir island is in an archipelago with one island for every day of the year -- you could say -- with white sand, waving palms and turquoise water surrounding you. These Caribbean Islands are certainly paradise-like. The Archipielago de San Blas is home to the Kuna Yala, an autonomous indigenous group who run the island with minimal interference from the national government. The Kuna were the first indigenous group in Latin American to gain such independence and today are a unique example of successful indigenous autonomy. The archipelago is a narrow, 226km-long strip on the Caribbean coast that stretches to the Colombian border. The inhabited islands are usually an acre or two in size, packed with bamboo huts, livestock and people. The Kuna Yala women dress uniquely and they are famous for their molas. Molas are the most famous of Panamanian traditional handicrafts. Made of brightly coloured squares of cotton fabric sewn together, the finished project reveals landscape scenes, birds, sea turtles, fish and beasts often surrounded by a mazelike, geomatice pattern. We eventurally did get some pictures of the women dressed in their traditional clothing in a Kuna Yala village we stayed at. This was not an easy thing to do.


going thru a storm before boating to Archipielago de San Blas

Upon getting our room on El Porvenir island and settling in, we walked around and marvelled at the beautiful scenery we were witnessing. While the sun, sand, palm trees and water were special, the beautiful yachets in the water surrounding the island completed the picturesque scenery. We initally thought the one ship in the area was a cruise ship. However, the locals informed us that this ship was the yachet of a Mexican tycoon,. who is a friend of the President who was to visit the islands. We met many boaters, many of them Italians who left their sailboats in this area for the season.