Day 7:
After eating out on Day 6, we stopped by the smaller kosher supermarket and picked up supplies for San Blas. Then we went back to the hotel and packed up. We left most of our things at the Marriott while we went away. We were a little nervous about going to San Blas because of the couple we had met on shabbat. They had a terrible experience and described a really hellish experience. We weren't sure what to expect, but we did borrow some towels, soap and shampoo for the road. Which turned out to be a very good thing!
Our driver came bright and early to pick us up, around 5:30 am. We climbed into a beautiful, spacious SUV for the drive out to the boat launch. The first half of the trip was great - the drive was smooth, the view was beautiful...until we got to the Guna Yala territory. We paid the $20 fee per person at the guard station and then kept driving. The roads changed - there were potholes everywhere, the inclines were ridiculous steep and the road curved all over the place. I get bad motion sickness and I thought I was going to die. Really, the ride is pretty terrible (my husband was fine). When we got to the boat launch, I almost turned right back with the driver. Instead, we doused ourselves with bug spray and waited for the boat to arrive.
Boat Launch:
Boat to the islands:
The boat left and went out to the Caribbean Sea. It stopped at what they called a pueblo, which was one of the saddest things I've ever seen. It was basically a small island with houses built out of trash. Literally. Shacks were erected with random pieces of wood or metal and used tarps and cardboard and random things to put a roof up (I didn't get a good picture of it). The boat got gas, which basically meant they poured gas from large containers (no standard - there were all sorts of plastic containers they used and definitely ones that were not made to store gas!) into gas cans on the boat.
Pueblo:
We rode out to our final destination - a tiny island that you can traverse in ten minutes if you walk slowly. The ride out was beautiful. The water is a beautiful shade of blue and besides for the occasional piece of trash, all you see are tiny islands. The islands really look they were out of a movie - they are tiny, have some palm trees, white sand, and absolutely nothing else.
When we booked, we used a tour company that a friend of mine had used on a previous trip,
Guna Yala Explorer . It was horrifically expensive ($225/night per person) and more than I've ever spent on a hotel room (and no points redemption options!) but we wanted someplace we felt we could trust. It included round trip from/to Panama City, a tour of the islands and food. We booked an overwater bungalow because we figure we may never get to Maldives or the South Pacific, so we should grab the experience while we still can.
They call the bungalows rustic and they are. It's a fancy place because they have a light bulb available all night long so you can see on your way to the bathroom, and the bathroom is fully functional, but that's about as fancy as it gets. There were two bedrooms (you get the entire bungalow, but can fit 4 people if you want), each room with a double bed. There's a small bathroom with limited water pressure in the shower (and bring your own soap for washing your hands!). There's a covered deck for dining and a hammock and you are literally in paradise. Off the end of the deck was a gate to a ladder, where you can go snorkeling and swimming right off of. It was pricey but well worth it.
[/url]
We sat down and ate the last of our real food from Pita Plus for lunch.
We took a walk around the island. The entire island takes about ten minutes to get around if you stroll. We saw a lot of interesting things on our way.
Solar power:
The plumbing system:
A noose:
Canoe:
We also bumped into a native who decided he was going to teach us spanish. Si senor! Then we went snorkeling. I didn't realize that we need to bring our own snorkel gear, but they lent us a set to use. I'm not sure if there is normally a charge, but after they tried to tell us something a few times and I didn't understand, they just said "Gratis!"
The snorkeling is beautiful (it doesn't compare to the great barrier reef or anything, but it was great). There's a ton of coral and fish right around the island.
For dinner, we asked them for whole fruit (thank you google translate!) and they gave us some delicious bananas, pineapple and oranges. We also had some bread with us. It was a stormy night, so we sat on the deck watching the sunset, then showered in the really limited water pressure showers and went to bed early. You can hear the water gently lapping against the shore all night long and it was really relaxing.
