Unless you fly (expensive), getting from Colombia to Panama is not as easy as you might think, as the land crossing is the only missing link in the Pan American Highway. The connecting land area between the two countries is known as the Darien Gap and consists of 100 miles of deep swampland and forest. It is also notoriously the home of FARC insurgents (Marxist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) who are not famous for their hospitality. So, ever keen to survive this trip, we would be getting from Colombia to Panama by water.

There are two options to cross by water, the first is to join the crew of a private sailboat and the second is to take an organised island hopping trip through the San Blas archipelago of islands.We decided against taking a sailboat for a few reasons. Firstly they are more expensive because they can only take on limited passengers, and even those passengers will live in cramped conditions and also be expected to help out with daily chores. They are also notorious for having grumpy, rude or inebriated crews, suffering from delays and spending many hours on rough open seas. Conversely the 4 day island hopping trip uses speedboats for only 2-3 hours each day and stays much closer to land where the waters are calmer. You are accommodated on land at night, and there is also more time to enjoy some of the 365 islands, the majority of which are uninhabited.

Basically one company called San Blas Adventures has a monopoly on the island hopping trip and it is a rather rough and ready backpacker adventure. We read a lot of positive TripAdvisor reviews before booking it, but (probably as slightly older backpackers) found that it lacked organisation, control and comfort. However, long as you read up about it, don’t mind roughing it and have the correct expectations, then you will be prepared. If you are interested, we did write a (bad!) review of the tour company on TripAdvisor. However, this post is not going to be specifically about the trip offered by this company, more a showcase of the islands and the unique people who live there.

Although the island hopping tour is 4 days long, one needs to factor in 6 days. If leaving from Cartagena (like us) the company organises transportation to the village of Necoli via Monteria where we spent the night in order to catch an early boat the following morning to Capurgana, where we would meet with the team leader and the rest of the group. After an introductory meeting there was yet another short boat trip to the village of Sapzurro where we would spend the night before starting the tour properly in the morning. This was also where we met up with the Guna captains and their boats, but more on them later!

The first morning of the tour also marked the passage from Colombia to Panama via the border town of Puerto Olbaldia. We stopped here for a couple of hours for the immigration procedures and it was definitely an eye-opening experience. Apparently people travel all the way from Cuba and even Africa to this border town in the hope to get a permit to enter Panama and travel onwards to their final destination. Many, before being allowed in, need to spend at least a month in the town that can only be compared to a refugee camp, a sort of limbo between nations full of hopeful people looking for a better life abroad, but not exactly being welcomed with open arms by the authorities and the endless bureaucracy.

On the last day of the tour you also have to factor in the travel time to Panama City which takes the afternoon and early evening of your last day.

The Guna people

The Guna (sometimes also called Kuna) are an indigenous people of both Colombia and Panama who migrated into the Panamanian coastal province now known as Guna Yala. Guna Yala includes the San Blas Islands. The Guna Yala economy is based on agriculture (including all those coconuts), fishing, handicraft production, and tourism. The Guna have been largely resistant to Spanish assimilation, maintaining their traditional dress, native language and successfully fighting to prevent their customs from being destroyed.

Society is largely matriarchal and the women make and wear colourful molas (a wrap around their middle), blouses and beaded leg decorations. They also have pierced septums which are a result of a right of passage ceremony received at puberty. Also hats off to the male Guna sea captains who were driving our boats, we encountered some huge waves but they took it all in their stride and we never felt unsafe.

The Guna are surprisingly healthy, benefitting from low blood pressure, low rates of cardio vascular disease and cancer. There are apparently many albino Guna and they are highly respected within their society. We didn’t see any but we did get the chance to visit a Guna village on New Caledonia Island and see how the people lived. Most impressive was a large communal hut where we saw many traditionally dressed women entering for a meeting. Sadly for us, the Guna were reluctant to have their pictures taken, so we had to capture what we could rather than asking and paying for portraits (but more often than not they would not accept cash either) like we have been able to do in other countries.

The islands that we visited

Caledonia – after completing the necessary immigration process at Puerto Olbadia, our first stop was Caledonia. We spent some time on a deserted island nearby snorkelling, swimming and lounging around. On Caledonia itself, we were able to visit a large Guna village to see how the population live.

Waginega – We found this island very boring, without a nice beach and dirty. This was a shame because we had sailed past so many nice places on the way! There was a short trip to a nearby island which was very pretty and had two captive spider monkeys which were fun to watch, but one has to question whether they should be there.

Coco Bandera – This was the paradise island that we were waiting for! The pictures speak for themselves.

Isla Pelicano – Another small but nice island to round the trip off.

Conclusion

The San Blas archipelago and its inhabitants have a lot to offer in terms of local culture and natural beauty. The majority of the islands are postcard picture perfect but there is clearly as issue with how rubbish is dealt with within the communities. We didn’t always find the snorkelling very impressive but the waters were warm and it was fun to relax on the beach. We also found it interesting to get a glimpse of the lives of the Kuna and enjoyed interacting with the captains.

Our main issue with our tour was that it was party oriented and not respectful enough of the local people. Sadly, our group was for the most part only interested in spending their time getting drunk rather than discovering new places and cultures. If we were to do the San Blas Islands again we would consider taking a multi day tour from Carti in Panama as the waters seem calmer and the islands much more picturesque.

Crossing to Panama via the San Blas Islands was a very unique experience, and it is worth noting that within 20 years many of these islands will simply not exist due to rising sea levels. Snorkelling around the small islands it was easy to see how the sea had already eaten away at the land and claimed large sections of beaches and numerous coconut trees.

It was quite a shocking firsthand experience of climate change at work. We have seen man-made issues several times during this trip but nothing as obvious and dramatic as this one. So, if you want to visit this part of the world you had better do it now!