The island of Cambombia
 |
| A beautiful sunset agter a day of snorkeling. |
 |
| Enjoying one of Don's famous rum punch. |
 |
| Beautiful Tall Ship on the . |
 |
| Smoking fish. |
 |
| Cocos.bandero Island |
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Afew more pictures of the San Blas Islands.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
More of the San Blas Islands and the Kuna children.
 |
| Kuna Yala kids. The kids loved to have their pictures taken. |
 |
| More of the San Blas Islands |
 |
| You could take pictures of the Kuna children but not the adults. |
CAMBOMBIA TO GREEN ISLAND
January 28, 2012
Time to move on to another one of these incredibly beautiful islands. We weighed anchor at 1106 this morning and set our course for Green Island (9-28.8' 78-38.1). Once again, the distances are small between the island groups. We are working out way East to Nargana and then will start back towards El Porvenir and Colon, Panama. We dropped anchor at 1254 in 34 ft of water with 150' of anchor chain in the water. The scenario is the same: dinghy off to the island; swim, explore, snorkel and back to the boat. Life is tough when you're cruising! With John and Karin aboard it's even easier since I have two more pair of eyes for entering through the reefs.
Our next stop will be the town of Nargana which is rather unique in Kuna Yala since the residents have decided to give up the traditional ways of the Kuna life and "go modern". This will be our farthest point East.
Time to move on to another one of these incredibly beautiful islands. We weighed anchor at 1106 this morning and set our course for Green Island (9-28.8' 78-38.1). Once again, the distances are small between the island groups. We are working out way East to Nargana and then will start back towards El Porvenir and Colon, Panama. We dropped anchor at 1254 in 34 ft of water with 150' of anchor chain in the water. The scenario is the same: dinghy off to the island; swim, explore, snorkel and back to the boat. Life is tough when you're cruising! With John and Karin aboard it's even easier since I have two more pair of eyes for entering through the reefs.
Our next stop will be the town of Nargana which is rather unique in Kuna Yala since the residents have decided to give up the traditional ways of the Kuna life and "go modern". This will be our farthest point East.
RIO SIDRA TO CAMBOMBIA IN THE NUARGANDUP CAYS
January 26, 2012
Weighed anchor this morning at 1030 hrs and proceded to Cambombia (9-28.6' N 78-42.8' W) in the Nuarguandup Cays. These cays are remote but popular with cruisers for their pristine beauty. Cambombia means conch in Kuna. The Kuna must eat a lot of them for there are piles on every island. I never saw any live ones while diving but the Kuna "cayucos" had them alongwith lobster and fish.
This is another one of those beautiful islands one sees in travel magazines and fantasizes being able to visit. It's this way with most of the islands and after awhile they start to look alike. On Cambombia there were two families with lots of beautiful children running around and swimming or paddling small "cayucos" (dugout canoes). The Kuna are an attractive race and the children are adorable. They are very outgoing and not shy towards foreigners.
Everyday we take the dinghy and set out to explore one or two of the immediate islands. Once there we swim, snorkle and explore the area. In Thor Hyerdal's day onboard the "Kon Tiki" he reported seeing large tar balls on every beach which came from ships discharging oil into the sea after cleaning their oil tanks. I, too, witnessed this in the Canary Islands and on some of the Caribbean islands. This is no longer true: it has been replaced with plastic containers. Plastic, Plastic everywhere on the windward side of the islands. It gets washed over the outer reefs and deposited on the windward side of these beautiful islands. The cruisers are burning their trash beyond the high tide line so that only ashes remain. Kunas will take trash for $1.00 per bag but many just throw it into the mangroves. There is a cruiser's net that identifies those who are reputable and trustworthy and the abusers. I believe that almost every cruiser wants to "leave no foot print" and will do everything possible to protect the environment. The only thing that can't be remedied is the discharge of raw sewage into the water. There are no "pump-out" facilities in Kuna Yala. In fact there are no existing sanitary facilities anywhere in Kuna Yala. The Kuna build outhouses hanging over the leeward side of the islands for themselves and their pigs. That's right, the pigs are housed in pens over the water or very near to it! Wind and tide cleans everything up but I wouldn't start my water maker of the leeward side of any Kuna village!
Weighed anchor this morning at 1030 hrs and proceded to Cambombia (9-28.6' N 78-42.8' W) in the Nuarguandup Cays. These cays are remote but popular with cruisers for their pristine beauty. Cambombia means conch in Kuna. The Kuna must eat a lot of them for there are piles on every island. I never saw any live ones while diving but the Kuna "cayucos" had them alongwith lobster and fish.
This is another one of those beautiful islands one sees in travel magazines and fantasizes being able to visit. It's this way with most of the islands and after awhile they start to look alike. On Cambombia there were two families with lots of beautiful children running around and swimming or paddling small "cayucos" (dugout canoes). The Kuna are an attractive race and the children are adorable. They are very outgoing and not shy towards foreigners.
Everyday we take the dinghy and set out to explore one or two of the immediate islands. Once there we swim, snorkle and explore the area. In Thor Hyerdal's day onboard the "Kon Tiki" he reported seeing large tar balls on every beach which came from ships discharging oil into the sea after cleaning their oil tanks. I, too, witnessed this in the Canary Islands and on some of the Caribbean islands. This is no longer true: it has been replaced with plastic containers. Plastic, Plastic everywhere on the windward side of the islands. It gets washed over the outer reefs and deposited on the windward side of these beautiful islands. The cruisers are burning their trash beyond the high tide line so that only ashes remain. Kunas will take trash for $1.00 per bag but many just throw it into the mangroves. There is a cruiser's net that identifies those who are reputable and trustworthy and the abusers. I believe that almost every cruiser wants to "leave no foot print" and will do everything possible to protect the environment. The only thing that can't be remedied is the discharge of raw sewage into the water. There are no "pump-out" facilities in Kuna Yala. In fact there are no existing sanitary facilities anywhere in Kuna Yala. The Kuna build outhouses hanging over the leeward side of the islands for themselves and their pigs. That's right, the pigs are housed in pens over the water or very near to it! Wind and tide cleans everything up but I wouldn't start my water maker of the leeward side of any Kuna village!
GUNBOAT ISLAND TO RIO SIDRAS
January 25, 2012
At 1000 hrs this morning, we heaved up anchor and proceeded to Rio Sidras (9-27.1 N 78-50.1 W) which is about 5 nm from Gunboat Island. Rio Sidras is a very populated island and crowded. There is electricity; water comes from the mainland via PVC piping from remote streams. It is all done by gravity with no pumps involved. The water is as pure as the stream it comes from. Since there are no towns and no one lives on the mainland, it is resonably safe to drink.
The biggest problem of Kuna villages is garbage. We live in a plastic world and Kuna Yala is no exception. How do you get all that garbage that is accumulated off the island? There are no sanitary facilities so they are left with having to burn it up or rake it off into a pile. On the outlying islands with an isolated Kuna family or two, they keep the island very clean by raking up all the garbage and burning it. It a populated town it become increasingly difficult. We didn't enjoy the very populated towns. Our main purpose for coming to Rio Sidra was to meet Lisa Harris, a very famous transvestite who is a master "mola maker". The town is very well known for quality "molas" in addition to another island just a few miles to the West called La Maquina. These two places produce quality "molas", however, there are other less known Kuna women who are "master mola makers". One judges a "mola" by the design and intricate layering of cloth with stitching. It's quit a laborious challenge to make a beautiful "mola". Throughout Kuna Yala one sees the Kuna women sitting on a stool and stitching "molas". They will travel far in their dugout canoes to sell them.
Lisa Harris came to the boat with her beautiful "molas" and we were impressed. Not only is she a master "mola maker", she is a Kuna historian and travel guide. A most interesting person in all aspects of her being. We really enjoyed her visit and -yes- we bought beautiful "molas" from her at very resonable prices.
The anchorage in Rio Sidras is rolly and not very well protected so we decided to leave the following day.
At 1000 hrs this morning, we heaved up anchor and proceeded to Rio Sidras (9-27.1 N 78-50.1 W) which is about 5 nm from Gunboat Island. Rio Sidras is a very populated island and crowded. There is electricity; water comes from the mainland via PVC piping from remote streams. It is all done by gravity with no pumps involved. The water is as pure as the stream it comes from. Since there are no towns and no one lives on the mainland, it is resonably safe to drink.
The biggest problem of Kuna villages is garbage. We live in a plastic world and Kuna Yala is no exception. How do you get all that garbage that is accumulated off the island? There are no sanitary facilities so they are left with having to burn it up or rake it off into a pile. On the outlying islands with an isolated Kuna family or two, they keep the island very clean by raking up all the garbage and burning it. It a populated town it become increasingly difficult. We didn't enjoy the very populated towns. Our main purpose for coming to Rio Sidra was to meet Lisa Harris, a very famous transvestite who is a master "mola maker". The town is very well known for quality "molas" in addition to another island just a few miles to the West called La Maquina. These two places produce quality "molas", however, there are other less known Kuna women who are "master mola makers". One judges a "mola" by the design and intricate layering of cloth with stitching. It's quit a laborious challenge to make a beautiful "mola". Throughout Kuna Yala one sees the Kuna women sitting on a stool and stitching "molas". They will travel far in their dugout canoes to sell them.
Lisa Harris came to the boat with her beautiful "molas" and we were impressed. Not only is she a master "mola maker", she is a Kuna historian and travel guide. A most interesting person in all aspects of her being. We really enjoyed her visit and -yes- we bought beautiful "molas" from her at very resonable prices.
The anchorage in Rio Sidras is rolly and not very well protected so we decided to leave the following day.
NONOMULU TO GUNBOAT ISLAND
January 23, 2011
With John and Karin safely aboard we weighed anchor at 1106 and headed towards Gunboat Island (9-29.2' N 78-52.5' W). This is an isolated island about 8 nm from Nonomulu. It is a picture perfect island with white sand beaches and palm trees. The anchorage has a mixed bottom of sand and coral so if you don't hit a sand patch you will drag. This is what happened to us and we had to reset the anchor. There were a few other yachts here. The waters here are very clear and teaming with fish. The coral has some color but is nothing special. There are many inversion layers of warm and cold water one experiences as you dive and snorkle along the reefs. Due to waves breaking on the outer reefs, there can be quite a bit of current running inside the protected area. A spectacular place with colorful sunsets. There is a Kuna family living on the island and they charge $2.00 each person to visit the island. We have found that this is not unusual and provides the Kuna families with a little revenue. In fact, the yachting scene in Kuna Yala is providing quite a bit of income to the Kunas. There are a few of the islands that have cruise ships come in and land tourists for a few hours. We didn't see any but were told that the Carti Islands were once very popular with cruise ships.
We spent another day at Gunboat Island swimming, snorkeling and relaxing. John and I pulled the anchor windlass for a general inspection and resealed it. Everything was in good order. Tomorrow we will go to Rio Sidras.
With John and Karin safely aboard we weighed anchor at 1106 and headed towards Gunboat Island (9-29.2' N 78-52.5' W). This is an isolated island about 8 nm from Nonomulu. It is a picture perfect island with white sand beaches and palm trees. The anchorage has a mixed bottom of sand and coral so if you don't hit a sand patch you will drag. This is what happened to us and we had to reset the anchor. There were a few other yachts here. The waters here are very clear and teaming with fish. The coral has some color but is nothing special. There are many inversion layers of warm and cold water one experiences as you dive and snorkle along the reefs. Due to waves breaking on the outer reefs, there can be quite a bit of current running inside the protected area. A spectacular place with colorful sunsets. There is a Kuna family living on the island and they charge $2.00 each person to visit the island. We have found that this is not unusual and provides the Kuna families with a little revenue. In fact, the yachting scene in Kuna Yala is providing quite a bit of income to the Kunas. There are a few of the islands that have cruise ships come in and land tourists for a few hours. We didn't see any but were told that the Carti Islands were once very popular with cruise ships.
We spent another day at Gunboat Island swimming, snorkeling and relaxing. John and I pulled the anchor windlass for a general inspection and resealed it. Everything was in good order. Tomorrow we will go to Rio Sidras.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
More of the San Blas
 |
| The wonderful Pelicans |
 |
John and Don |
 |
The Fruit and Vegetable boat showed up as we had just finished anchoring. What a blessing as we had no fruits or vegetable left, so we stocked up, |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)