We have been cruising in Panama for two years now, most of it spent in Kuna Yala. This is a special place in its beauty, remoteness and serene way of life for its inhabitants. It is a sustenance-based society supplemented by coconut exports, tourism and handicrafts. Hence, most families we meet live off of the fish from the sea caught on hand-lines, make molas for sale out of buckets in their ulu and farm their palm trees.
Everyone we meet is different, yet virtually all are curious and friendly. Being a familiar face around here for a few years, we have made several friends and are known in some villages as the "yogistas". Our friend Anastacio cleared a space for us each morning for yoga and collected a huge pile of coconuts to take back to his village of Niadup.
Some villages are more modern than others, yet most have a school with Panamanian teachers. The local high schools had a multi-day, inter-island volleyball competition in Nargana that we watched for a bit; a popular sport played on most islands at a good skill level. The only downside was that the Sailias (chiefs) banned the sale of beer during the tournament, putting a kink in our resupply plans.
About half of the kids played in bare feet, but I think I was more surprised at the other half with new tennis shoes and even a few knee-pads. Most go bare-foot here, or salvage shoes from those washed up on the beach, not always right-sized nor matched. And yes, those of you out cruising will know first-hand how the world generates a depressing amount of beach-trash.
Sometimes the older Kunas don't speak Spanish, yet we've also met some younger Kuna's who don't speak Kuna. Their language does not differentiate a "K" from a "G" sound, so we see the spelling also appear as Guna Yala nowadays. For us yachtistas, the chart books and navigation materials refer to this archipelago as the San Blas islands. We've learned a few Kuna words, like the useful nuedi for "hello & welcome", and a new one for our New Year's Eve toast - etomalo!
We've also observed an increase in motorized launchas, aside from the veggie boats coming from the mainland weekly to deliver food to the yachts. These new Kuna empresarios use their motorized boats to transport Panamaian tourists to their islands for a day in paradise.
Nevertheless, the ulu is still the main mode of transport, utilizing whatever might work as a sail in windy season... even a palm frond!
