My visit to the beautiful San Blas islands were by far the highlight of my trip. Last Monday I awoke at 5am to take the 2 hour journey to the dock on the Atlantic coast. Some other travelers and I were greeted by a crocodile creeping in the water, silently stalking the boat...I immediately thought to myself - "What in the world did I get myself into?" Crocodiles and spiders are my worst enemies. Anyway, I got on the small motorboat and we made the 45 minute journey to Franklin island. As we pulled up to the island, one word came to mind immediately "paradise." The waters were a rich color of blue and the sky was clear with strips of clouds. The beach was clean and big, and the island was lined with large palm trees, hammocks everywhere, a volleyball net, and a series of thatch-roofed huts (which were like our hotel rooms, the beds were remarkably comfortable and despite others' complaints of cockroaches and crabs, I slept really without any problems).
San Blas is composed of over 300 islands, and mainly the Kuna people live their, an indigenous Amerindian group who has apparently fought fiercely for continued ownership of their land and the onset of tourism on their own terms. Families run the islands where travelers are able to stay. The Franklin family was very pleasant and the patriarch was awesome. It was really familial, as he learned almost everyone's names. Most of the men are quite short, and they played makeshift basketball everyday. Of course one pointed at me and said Shaquille O'neal. I think more than anything it has become quite clear that in Latin America, if I ever want to travel again and tell everyone that I'm a star player for the New York Knicks, I will be believed quite easily. The women were ALWAYS dressed in their colorful attire, a tight body wrap dress, and large anklets, as well as multiple piercings. I loved it, and wondered if it was cultural for the women to wear the outfits all the time or simply in case tourists wanted to take a picture with them (which cost $1...we came to find out that everything cost $1).
The days were spent mostly lounging in hammocks and reading, listening to relaxing music, playing volleyball, swimming and laying on the beach. It was so wonderful to be isolated like that. I met some great people as well. Along with Carl from the UK, I met two Dutch guys, and we played board game after board game and tons of card games. The island was primarily Israelis, a group I've learned that travels more than most since people leave after their 3 yr plus stint in the national army. Every night they had the rum and cokes out, and got very rowdy. It was definitely entertaining. Lights went out every night at 10pm, so other than flashlights, fires and candelight, the island was completely dark. This meant we went to bed quite early and woke up early as well. I came to enjoy this routine.
One of the days we took a trip to another nearby island called Isla Perro. It was funny because as we wondered why it was called Dog Island, there were the cutest two dogs barking like maniacs as pulled up to shore. It was a pretty secluded island, only about 6 guests were there compared to the 30 or so on Franklin. Isla Perro was ridiculously gorgeous though, just amazing. I snorkeled over this ship wreck near the shore which was awesome. All of it was pretty breathtaking. I extended my trip a day or two to have a bit more fun and relaxation - unfortunately this cost me a day trip to Colon because I returned too late in the week. But it was quite worth it because San Blas was definitely the highlight of my time in Panama. Needless to say, I didn't do as much cultural exploration as I had hoped to do, but it was a great recharge for the home stretch of my trip. I returned to Panama City realizing I had only 3 weeks left of my trip.
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