I love my job! It’s the one thing that gets me out of bed every morning. And I love it even more so, because it gives me the opportunity to travel and see people and places that I otherwise would not factor in my bucket list. And so that’s why when the opportunity to go to Panama on a work-related assignment came up, I was ecstatic. And Panama did not disappoint! After two grueling days of work, I found that I had almost an entire day to myself – the flight back to the US was only at night and so I decided to seize the opportunity and make the best use of the day. I set out exploring at the crack of dawn. I asked my driver if there was this one place in the whole of Panama that he would want to go back again and again and without a moment’s hesitation he said yes, the islands in the Caribbean sea, particularly San Blas.  He warned me though that it would be tortuous getting there. I will have to be prepared to cross the hilly rough terrain on a 4×4 that will take me to the water’s edge and from there take a ferry to San Blas. Imagine a turquoise archipelago with one island for every day of the year because the waters are spotted with islands! With white sand and waving palms, these Caribbean islands cheat no one’s version of Paradise. San Blas is Home to the Kuna, an autonomous indigenous group who run San Blas with minimal interference from the national government.

The San Blas islands are a group of islands in the archipelago de San Blas, located in the Northwest of Panama facing the Caribbean Sea. There are 378 islands within the archipelago and they are scattered around in an area of about 100 square miles. If you leave the Golfo de San Blas by boat you will enter the Caribbean Sea. The majority of the 378 islands have no inhabitants, but on the larger ones you will find the gentle native people known as the Kuna’s. These people can be found on the larger inhabited Islands; Aguja Island, Guanidup Island, Chichimei, Yandup Island and El Porvenir.

The San Blas Islands are the number #1 vacation destination in Panama and probably in Central America. This is because the Islands are not yet discoverd by the massive tourism industry and fully in control of the native Kuna’s. The Kuna’s protect their lands against massive tourism and keep them healthy and beautiful. This makes the San Blas Islands of Panama unique if you are searching for untouched nature and culture. You will sleep in eco-friendly accommodations made by the Guna’s Indians from natural materials which they found on the Islands and in the jungle. The most common way to get around in the San Blas archipelago is by sailing from island to island, but you can also book flights from Panama City to the airports located on El Porvenir, Playon Chico, Achutupu, Ogobsucum or Corazon de Jesus in San Blas. Driving to Guna Yala (San Blas) is also possible, you will have to take a 4×4 jeep from Panama City to Carti.

The native people living on the Islands of San Blas call themselves Kuna’s or Guna’s. The district/region in Panama where you can meet the native inhabitants is officially named after them; Guna Yala or Kuna Yala. The Kuna’s are community of proud people that have their own laws, norms and values that go with their culture, which is by the way totally different than the traditional Panamanian culture.