For any of you thinking of doing a trip to Colombia, you HAVE to cross the border via the San Blas Islands! This is the coolest way I think I will ever cross a border in my life. The San Blas islands are an archipelago of 365 islands that belong to Panama and are native to the Guna people- an indigenous group. If you can imagine the microsoft screensaver of a paradise island and this is literally what you get- it is real postcard worthy! Palm trees, white sand and crystal clear waters you could not get better than this.
If you decide to go with San Blas Adventures you will travel the islands via speedboat and you will sleep on the islands for 3 nights. If you decide to do Blue Sailing option you sail on a sail boat for 4 nights and sleep on the boat. I personally think the speed boat option is the best as you get more time in paradise, also the group is up to 28 people which gives you maximum potential to meet new people! In terms of preparation for the tour, you attend a very informative briefing which tells you to bin bag ALL your clothes as your bags will not be under a substantial cover on the speedboat.
Day 1
Jeeps arrive at 5am at our hostel in Panama City and off we go on our adventure! After travelling for approx 3 hours (after a slight delay) we arrive at the first island where we stop for lunch, the weather isn’t great and we all wonder how we are going to survive 3 nights of this. We then swiftly move to the first island which we will be sleeping on- in hammocks!! The whole group spends the day getting to know each other better, playing games and performing a sun dance, as a way of getting the sun to come out and it worked!! We are also introduced to a cluedo type game which will form the basis of the trip. Each person receives someones name, an item and a location. The purpose of the game is to ‘kill’ the person you get with the item at the location. For example, I had lili, bonfire and phone and I succesfully managed to kill her!! Dinner is served and I am so impressed- Val and Tony did a sterling job. Dinner consisted of lobster and ceviche- what better way to add to the luxury of this island! For any of you that have witnessed my LED poi, I introduced them to the group. As always the poi came up trumps and brought happiness and joy to the group, one of the sole purposes of my purchase of these rather expensive lights ($100+).
Day 2
I wake up to a rather sick stomach and dread of getting on the boat, but thanks to my amazing friend Sina who donated Vomex, amazing German pills that cure nausea I was a ok on the boat. Definitely invest in these if you are German. I am feeling rather anxious at this point and overwhelmed by the size of the group, but I reassure myself that you’re only feeling like this because you don”t know everyone so well! I am the person that can decide which direction my brain goes in and I have to find the willpower in me to switch the overthinking, anxious thoughts off and to one side. We arrive on the second island and it is on this day that the group really starts to gel, the characters are in full swing and the coversations are flowing. This island is the best one so far, it had grass so it was easy to lie down on and we again were sleeping on hammocks which are actually super comfy. Val and Tony cook up a delicious array of salads including quinoa!! Slowly more and more people are being ‘killed’ and everyone is watching their backs in case they are murdered! This is the day we all get so sunburnt as it is so hot and there is not much shade at all. We are also introduced to accident prone Kevin who decided to swim around the island and unfortunately cut up his feet, he was also the person who got the most sunburnt so you can imagine the state of him the next day. Evening comes and we are treated to delicious burritos around the campfire!
Day 3
The third island is not as picturesque as the other two but we had fun playing volleyball and frisbee! Salads again for lunch and then we kayak to the Guna Village. On this island we get introduced to the Guna peoples properly and find out about their history from a very informative speech from Val. Some of the headlines from Val’s talk is that the Guna have had a tough time, including being supressed by the Panamian government. The Guna are now one of the only tribes to have full ownership of their land under law. We walk around the village and I am shocked by the amount of children one third of the population are children. As you can imagine the kids are super friendly and desperate to play with us all! It was also really interesting to see the albino children, 9% of the Guna are albino. It had been so long since I had seen an albino so it was a bit of a shock for me. Later we learn that the albinos are viewed as super important, almost as ‘magical’. If you have an albino you are considered as very lucky in Guna culture. Having reflected on the trip, I felt a little bit uncomfortable on this island as it really felt like we were imposing on their local culture. The guides assure us that it is all ‘fine’ but I still felt a little uneasy about staying here. It also felt somewhat like we were just money making objects for the Guna.
Day 4
On the last day we make our final journey to Capurguna, Colombia. We are all super pumped to finally get into Colombia, a first for many! This was the most tedious part of the tour as it felt like we were waiting arond for a long time. I am feeling super nervous about entering Colombia as a solo female traveller, I can hear my family and friends concerns playing over in my mind, it really is fear of the unknown at this point. Three hours later we arrive in Capurguna a small fishing coastal village, as soon as we get there my mood is lifted and I am SO pleased to finally be in Colombia. I pinch myself to reassure me that I am not dreaming!! Its been a longtime coming Colombia and it feels unreal to finally be in this beautiful country! Evening falls and we have a big group dinner, dance the night away and reminiss on the highlights of san blas!
Romy's Roamings 