Kuna Yala

Kuna Yala, San Blas Islands, Panama

 After being sea sick for most of the trip from San Andres, Colombia, we FINALLY arrived in the San Blas.    The San Blas Islands is home to the indigenous Kuna Indians, who have best preserved their culture and traditions out of all the tribes in the Americas.   Physically they are small and rivaled only by the pygmies.  Very peaceful, non-aggressive and crime is extremely rare making this a very safe area to be in.   They are accepting of visitors, but prohibit any non-Kuna from permanently settling or intermarrying.  

Kunas in ulu

This is how we wash our clothes!   Eat your hearts out!

This is how we fix the auto pilot!

 Fort in Portobelo where Capt. Henry Morgan stole the GOLD......

 Kuna Chief Alberto and his wife., Isla de Gerti

Coco Bandero Cays 

And this is how we buy lobsters............yum yum.

Local market .......it's NOT a Publix!

The Kuna number @ 55,000 or about 10 percent of what they were before the invasion of the Spanish conquistadors.  The women wear their traditional clothing while the men wear shorts, tee shirts, and baseball caps from all over the world!  There is electricity on only a FEW islands, WIFI is rare, no ATMs, simple grocery stores.  The locals and Kunas row their ulu (long wooden craved out canoes) out to your boat to sell vegetables and chickens, along with their famous “molas”.   When you come here, you come prepared and when everything runs out – you leave!!!  We were able to stay a month.  Temps @ mid 80’s.  Little or no rain.

Kuna women create and sell their unique “molas” – 3, 4 or 5 layer fabric panels embellished with reverse applique’ and embroidery – made by sewing and cutting different layers of colorful cloths.  The designs depict their daily lives showing fish, flowers, birds, religion and children.  Molas are made in pairs intended to become the front and back bodice panels of a Kuna blouse, to which a yoke and puffy sleeves of different fabrics will be added.  The Kuna are a matriarchal society – women are the traders and hold most financial power.  Anthropologists believe Kuna women have been tattooing designs on their faces, arms and legs since at least the 1300’s.  During the 1800’s Christian missionaries hoping to clothe and domesticate the “rebel” women taught them the European fabric art of the molas.  They still wear gold rings through the nose, and wrap their legs in strings of beads.

 Mola by Venancio, a Master Mola Maker

Molas - they are sold unfinished.  I'll be making colorful pillows.

San Blas is an archipelago composed of over 340 islands (very few inhabited) and stretches about 175 -200 miles.  Other than the physical beauty of these islands, the other beauty is that they are close to each other allowing you to move onto another island within a short sail.  Scuba diving is not allowed, so we snorkeled.   And we did a lot of that in pristine waters and once with nurse sharks – they were napping!

NEXT CHAPTER - the Panama Canal