As the Darien Gap is basically unpassable, travellers need to either fly or take a boat when moving between Colombia and Panama. Sailing or speed boating via the San Blas Archipelago has become a popular way to make the most of the journey, as it is not that much more expensive than flying. The islands are home to the indigenous Guna people and of the 378 islands, 49 are populated.
We decided to sail rather than take the speedboat as the boats leave from Cartagena (where we were), while the speedboats leave from a small town closer to the border. The trip was 5 nights, boarding on Saturday night and arriving in the islands around 2pm on Monday. We were meant to depart at 8pm, however our trip was delayed as one of the other travellers had some issues with immigration. He had entered Colombia illegally, which was strange enough in itself, but when we started talking to him whilst waiting at the port, we realised this was just the tip of the iceberg. When asked ‘where are you from?’, he replied with ‘here’, much to everyone’s confusion. He then proceeded to lecture us about his philosophies on technology and that humankind is approaching a big awakening in line with the Mayan calendar. Needless to say, none of us were too disappointed when he was unable to board.
The rest of the group were great and very chilled. The boat was comfortable too, although I think it would get a little cramped if it was fully booked with 10 passengers. We had a little double cabin which was a nice bonus as we’d just booked to sleep in the salon to save money but got upgraded. The first full day was not overly fun. I was seasick and threw up four times and Andrew wasn’t feeling great either. But once we reached San Blas, it was all worth it. The first few islands that we anchored near for lunch were postcard perfect. Tiny bunches of dense palms encircled by white sand beaches and crystal clear turquoise ocean. Our days were spent snorkelling and swimming from the boat to nearby islands, sailing to a different area over lunchtime, and then repeating the morning’s activities in the afternoon. Each night, we had dinner on an island and hung out there until bedtime, which I think was perfect balance of boat and island time. On the sixth day, we were taken to the mainland and took a jeep to Panama City. The trip definitely broke the budget for a few days, but it was worth it to see scenes like this..
Erin
dred 