The first hour of the trip was on excellent highway. Then we turned off onto a pothole filled, very hilly, twisty insane road. At the summit I could see some of the islands in the distance-
There are 365 islands owned by the Kuna people. They are like our Indigenous people but they own their own land and also govern it. We had to show our passports at the 'border'-
Some have been turned into tourist friendly locations like Perro Chico where Kuna families take turns living 3 months/year, working for the tourists. Beer, water and pop are available and sometimes there's a small restaurant-
Frigate's Gate is another island-
I stayed on Isla Asseryaladub-
I had a great sleep with the cool breeze blowing in off the Caribbean and the quiet. It was soooo peaceful after 3 nights at booming Lunatic's Castle.
They have a fresh water well that they pump into this cistern. This water is used for showering, flushing toilets and cleaning, however they haul their drinking and cooking water from the mainland-
There is only power at night which is provided by a generator-
Lunch and supper were the same. We had a choice of fried fish or fried chicken. Why bother filleting?
Our first island visit was to Perro Chico where they've sunken a small boat to attract fish and grow corral. Cacique Cruisers, the company I travelled with, offers free snorkeling equipment-
and I used my underwater camera for the first time! I've made 63 dives without my own camera and now finally I have one! I am pretty impressed by its pictures-
Yes that is a jelly fish! There weren't many fish to see and the people were walking on and touching the corral. There is no education by the guides to "DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING!'
Even though I'm not a beach person, I did fall asleep! After the last few nights of pounding bass in my room, it's no wonder!
After lunch, we visited a 'piscina', a very shallow spot in the middle of the sea where there were many starfish - different colors of brown/orange-
and a green one-
People gather daily in the church-
where the Chiefs lead the service from the hammocks-
and library-
However poor they seem to be, they are 'connected'-
The streets are narrow and muddy when it rains-
Women wear traditional dress and according to our guide, not just today for our benefit-
I love the sail! And-
that doesn't look like too much fun to me!
The mola is appliquéd symbols done by hand-
and reflects their beliefs. It is worn as part of traditional clothing.
Our next stop was the island of Chichimé which was larger but still only took about 15 minutes to walk around-
Men free dive up to 50 feet to find lobster which they sell to local restaurants-
Oh ya, almost forgot-
I hope a category 4 or 5 never hits those islands! I don't think the leg beads would do much to protect those homes...
ReplyDeleteLooks like you'll be getting your fill of fried fish for a while! Take good care.
(Fabulous picture of your guys!)
Loving the footnotes 😀
ReplyDelete