October 31st, 2009 - It was Halloween night and the first 5 days of November are holidays in Panama, so I was out with my girlfriend at a club and haunted house, enjoying some drinks with Fred and Wilma Flintstone. She told me she wanted to visit San Blas, an archipelago in Panama's Caribbean coast that has 365 islands, one for each day of the year. I had dreamed of visiting a place like this all of my life, I remember having a wallpaper on my computer at work, showing a tiny island with a palm tree, but I had no idea we had a place like that right here in Panama.
We decided to go and we left the Halloween party, and went to ask for directions on how to get there, as we couldn't find any info online. We were able to find some Kuna people that explained us how to get there and then we went to the supermarket to grab some snacks and food for the trip.
The next morning we were really tired, I almost couldn't wake her up, but we got our things ready and left the house. We went to the location indicated by the Kuna ladies, Plaza 5 de Mayo, and waited for a car that could take us there. After a 2 hours drive and crossing a river, we finally made it to the coast. Not to far away, we were able to see the first islands in the horizon.
We were lucky to find Eulogio, who was actually waiting for us. Apparently, we talked to him the night before, when we were calling guides for info, and he understood that we were coming. Even though we didn't confirm anything, he was there waiting for us. We jumped into his boat, which they call "panga" here, he offered me a beer and asked me if I knew in which island we were going to stay.
Eulogio offered us to stay in Isla Aguja, which had running water and electricity, but we had to share the island with more people, or we could stay at Isla Anzuelo that didn't have water or electricity.. but we could enjoy the island all for ourselves. So yes, we chose the second option, we wanted to live the experience of being by ourselves in an island like castaways. Besides us, the only other people in the island were the Kuna family that lived there. But before taking us there, Eulogio made a quick stop in one of the community islands to show us how they lived.
The Kunas or Gunas are one of the few indigenous people that still live like time has been frozen for them. In my next article: San Blas: Escape to Paradise, I will be sharing much more about San Blas and the Kuna people.. so stay tuned.!
After seeing all this beauty we continued our way to Isla Anzuelo. Some guys were staying there until that day but they were about to leave when we arrived.
Eulogio had to go back to the community islands, so he asked if we wanted him to bring us dinner later on, I agreed and asked for some beer too. He also offered to take us to other islands during the following days. We set up our tent and waited for the night.
This trip to San Blas was one of the only few times in my life when I've been completely happy and in peace. What else could I ask for.. I was waking up in paradise, next to the girl I loved with all my heart. We had breakfast and spent the morning walking around the island ( it only took like 15 minutes to go all around the island)
Our phones had no signal and they ran out of battery. But we didn't need them. On our second night in Anzuelo, the Kuna family that lived in the island gave us lobster and patacones for dinner and we went for a walk after that. We were surprised to see some stars right there, very close to the shore.
On our third day in San Blas, Eulogio came looking for us and took us to Isla Perro or «Assudub Bipi» that in "Dulegaya", Kuna's native dialect, means «Small Dog». Isla Perro is one of the most famous islands in San Blas, they sell food and beer and there's a sunken ship covered in colorful coral and surrounded by hundreds of colorful fish, that is perfect for snorkeling. Isla Perro is also famous for being the island where some scenes from "Money Heist" (La Casa de Papel) were shot. Another word that I was able to learn was «Nuadi» that means «Thank You»
We spent our last day in paradise snorkeling in the crystal clear water that surrounded our island. I truly loved that girl with all my heart and I dreamed of staying forever by her side, but little did I know that both, our relationship and this beautiful paradise were destined to disappear forever. We were young and it was our first serious relationship, so, even though we loved each other and we never cheated on each other, we still made mistakes, and ended up losing each other. Due to rising sea levels, climate change and glaciers melting, San Blas Islands are in risk of disappearing in a few decades. I invite you to come visit San Blas before it's gone forever. I can be your guide and you can pay me with BCH.!
As we were leaving San Blas and going back to the city I was already anxious to come back, but I had no idea that sooner than I could imagine I was going to get a job near this paradise, and that I was going to bring people here on tours on a weekly basis, but I'll tell you about that on my next article «San Blas: Escape to Paradise». I hope you've enjoyed my first travel blog.!
