Today we started the last major chapter of our trip to Panamá. We came to Panamá in part to spend some time relaxing on tropical beaches. Panamá has a number of wonderful coastal areas, and we picked one of the more natural ones: the San Blas Islands in Guna Yala. The area includes more than 365 tiny islands scattered across a large archipelago. It is an area of incredible natural beauty, largely unspoiled by development.

The major reason that the islands are so untouched is that San Blas is part of Guna Yala, a semi-autonomous province controlled by the Guna, an indigenous people with their own language, religion, and customs. In the 1920s, Panamá aggressively tried to assimilate the Guna by forcing them to abandon various aspects of their culture. The Guna revolted, leading to a short-lived independence that ended when the United States (which was already involved in Panamá due to the canal) brokered a peace deal. The result was that the Guna obtained a measure of independence. Indeed, today the Guna prohibit outsiders from owning property in Guna Yala, which significantly limits development. Also, due to the shallow waters, there are no major ports in Guna Yala. Another reason Guna Yala is unspoiled is that it’s hard to reach. The road to Guna Yala passes over low but steep mountains, requiring a 4×4.

The flipside of the lack of development in Guna Yala is that accommodations can be a little rustic. This was the one part of our trip where the CDC recommended anti-malarial pills (which we took), and also the one region we visited where drinking the water isn’t recommended (and we didn’t drink it). On the small islands, sanitation is a challenge, and sometimes involves dumping waste into the salty waters.

Fortunately, Team Hubbard had been looking for a bit of a splurge. We planned our trip to Panamá to celebrate both Lydie and Cassie graduating from high school and Julie’s and my 20th wedding anniversary. To do something extra special, we decided to charter a catamaran for three nights. For fun, Julie and I didn’t tell Lydie and Cassie about the boat, leaving it to be a surprise. Another advantage of chartering the boat was that the charter company took care of all of the travel arrangements, including the 4×4 transfer to/from the small port in Guna Yala and the motorboat transfer to/from the catamaran. After lots of research, we booked with San Blas Tour and had a wonderful experience.

Our trip to Guna Yala started early, with the 4×4 picking us up at 5:00 a.m. from our hotel in Casco Antiguo. From there, the drive to San Blas took a little less than 3 hours.

The road from Panamá City to El Llana is a paved portion of the Inter-American Highway, but from there our route turned north over rugged dirt roads that wound through tropical mountains. When we reached the border of Guna Yala, there was a checkpoint, and we had to show our passports, highlighting the independence of Guna Yala. (The wilds of Guna Yala are also home to drug and human trafficking, so the checkpoint serves other purposes, too.) The road then improved dramatically. It was still steep and windy, but it was freshly paved, apparently a project by the Guna government. As we started to descend from the mountains, we pulled over to take in our first views of the islands in the distance.

(Yes, I am wearing a Panamá hat. After I got sunburned on a cloudy day in El Valle, I admitted to myself that I needed it. And let’s face it, nobody was going to think I was a local even without the hat. And yes, I know that Panamá hats are not from Panamá; they are from Ecuador.)

We soon reached the small port of Cartí. Where we saw small boats coming and going carying both tourists and locals.

We had a few minutes to kill, so we walked out onto one of the larger docks.

 A simple as it was, the tiny bustling port was exciting and beautiful.

Our boat soon arrived, and fortunately was covered to shade us from the sun. We loaded our luggage, put on life jackets, and headed off towards the islands.

Although we didn’t know it at the time, our course for the day would take us to through two islands before reaching our catamaran, where we would spend our first night on the water:

Soon after we left Carti, the boat slowed as we approached a small island with a large building jutting out over the water. Here, the boat pulled through the side of the building and briefly docked for gas. Interestingly (and efficiently), the gas was entirely transferred with a siphon rather than a mechanical pump.

As we were gassing up, a group of locals hopped in the boat. Naturally, they were not offered life jackets, even the elderly woman sitting in front of me, who was dressed in traditional Guna garb. You can also see one person standing on the front of the boat as we travelled, holding onto a strap. He helped to steer the boat by spotting any detritus floating in the water, calling out warnings to the pilot steering from the back of the boat.

We stopped at another small island, and everyone else on the boat climbed out. The boat then picked up speed and headed further out into the archipelago, where the waves and bumps were bigger.

As we traveled the water turned bluer, and we started spotting small islands with palm trees. Between two islands we saw a few anchored sailboats, including our catamaran. As we slowed, Cassie asked, “Why are we stopping at a boat?” I answered, “This is our hotel.” These were the looks we got.

We pulled up alongside the boat, transferred our luggage, and met the crew. Alejandro was from Argentina, and Juliana was from Brazil. They bought the boat about a month before we arrived, and rechristened it the “Yoli,” named for Alejandro’s mother. The third and final member of the crew was Marcelino, who is Guna and was the captain for our trip. In fact, we later learned that there are only five Guna captains in all of Guna Yala, so we were lucky to have Marcelino on board.

From the start, Alejandro, Juliana, and Marcelino were warm and welcoming. For instance, we arrived a little after 10, and Juliana had prepared a late breakfast for us:

We later learned that we were the first guests on the Yoli, which was surprising because everything ran so smoothly and comfortably. After breakfast, we discussed plans with Alex and Marcelino. We decided to stay in this location (Chichime Island) for the night, since there was a lot to do in the area. Marcelino offered to take us snorkeling at a nearby reef. We changed into our bathing suits. I took of my watch, and it was as if time stopped having the same meaning for me. With our crew taking care of everything, I stopped worrying about even minor details for the next three days and relaxed in a way that I have not done in a long time. Spirits high, we piled in the dingy with Marcelino and headed off.

Snorkeling with Marcelino was a treat. He swam alongside us, pointing out features like a nurse shark relaxing in deeper water on the edge of the reef and a spiny lobster peeking out from under a coral shelf. (Impressively, Marcelino also towed the dingy as he swam.) The shark made Julie nervous, but Marcelino assured us that the shark was not dangerous. The rest of us thought the shark was fantastic. Cassie also spotted a moray eel as we swam. We snorkeled our way down the reef, ending at the beach on Chichime Island, where we sat on the water’s edge looking for small shells. We then returned to the boat and got cleaned up a bit for a late lunch.

Juliana prepared a delicious Spanish tortilla, roasted chicken, and salad. After lunch, the kids went off on paddle boards to explore a patch of sand barely big enough to call an island.

They returned and told me all about it, piquing my curiosity, so I headed back with them in a kayak. The girls showed me a ship’s rudder, apparently used locally as a navigational marker to identify the shallow water.

As we were walking we spotted a yellow stingray.

These small rays have a painful stinger but are not deadly to humans. Cassie also found a beautiful shell, but there was a crab inside, so we left it in the shallow water.

We headed back to the boat, where we went for a somewhat ridiculous early evening family swim.

After our swim, we got cleaned up for dinner. I showered on the back of the boat in my bathing suit, which was perfect. As I waited for the girls to finish getting ready, I relaxed on the netting between the twin hulls.

As night fell, we played card games and drank Balboa beer. Our time in San Blas was off to a perfect start.

-Will