San Blas Islands, Panama
And we’re off! Sometimes you walk out your front door to find the world has gotten a little too small. Too many cars on the freeway, too many calls at the office, too many stories on the news; it can all be a bit overwhelming. But then again, it can also be just the motivation you need to set off in a new direction…one that puts everything in a little different perspective. We stepped out our front doors this morning to a world entirely removed from the one that can drive so many of us a little crazy back home. This is a world where nature still competes on more than equal footing with technology…one that seemed far from small and instead offered the chance to get lost in its expanse for a while.
We started the day with a pre-breakfast introduction to the tropics by means of a Zodiac cruise up the Chargoon River. This mangrove-lined river provides an entryway to the native Kuna Indians, but also serves as refuge for hundreds of plant and animal species. Introduced coconut trees reached up through the dense mangrove branches; the perfumes of countless flowering plants wafted past on the morning breeze; and mud crabs peeked out from their little burrows along the river’s banks. Still, the birds perhaps impressed us most of all. They danced in and out of view on wings of varying design and color, some even serenading our inflatable gondolas with song. And though the dense foliage did its best to shield its inhabitants from prying eyes, we were able to spot numerous species in the morning light: red-lored and brown-hooded parrots, black hawks, bare-throated tiger herons, mangrove swallows, and yellow warblers, just to name a few. And this was all before breakfast!
After we returned to the ship and replenished our bodies’ nutritional needs, some of the Kunas came aboard to welcome us properly to their little group of islands, and to shed a little informational light on their culture. Soon, we were in the Zodiacs once more for a short ride over to Acuatupu Island for a first-hand look at their quaint homes, their handmade canoes, and of course their famous embroidered molas. Their island is postcard perfect and one that can easily be missed amongst the hundreds in the San Blas group…a hidden gem occupied by a group of people still trying to remain mostly hidden themselves from the onslaught of the modern world. And as we left our new friends behind, we set off for our next stop, ourselves looking forward to being a little lost in time for a while longer.
And we’re off! Sometimes you walk out your front door to find the world has gotten a little too small. Too many cars on the freeway, too many calls at the office, too many stories on the news; it can all be a bit overwhelming. But then again, it can also be just the motivation you need to set off in a new direction…one that puts everything in a little different perspective. We stepped out our front doors this morning to a world entirely removed from the one that can drive so many of us a little crazy back home. This is a world where nature still competes on more than equal footing with technology…one that seemed far from small and instead offered the chance to get lost in its expanse for a while.
We started the day with a pre-breakfast introduction to the tropics by means of a Zodiac cruise up the Chargoon River. This mangrove-lined river provides an entryway to the native Kuna Indians, but also serves as refuge for hundreds of plant and animal species. Introduced coconut trees reached up through the dense mangrove branches; the perfumes of countless flowering plants wafted past on the morning breeze; and mud crabs peeked out from their little burrows along the river’s banks. Still, the birds perhaps impressed us most of all. They danced in and out of view on wings of varying design and color, some even serenading our inflatable gondolas with song. And though the dense foliage did its best to shield its inhabitants from prying eyes, we were able to spot numerous species in the morning light: red-lored and brown-hooded parrots, black hawks, bare-throated tiger herons, mangrove swallows, and yellow warblers, just to name a few. And this was all before breakfast!
After we returned to the ship and replenished our bodies’ nutritional needs, some of the Kunas came aboard to welcome us properly to their little group of islands, and to shed a little informational light on their culture. Soon, we were in the Zodiacs once more for a short ride over to Acuatupu Island for a first-hand look at their quaint homes, their handmade canoes, and of course their famous embroidered molas. Their island is postcard perfect and one that can easily be missed amongst the hundreds in the San Blas group…a hidden gem occupied by a group of people still trying to remain mostly hidden themselves from the onslaught of the modern world. And as we left our new friends behind, we set off for our next stop, ourselves looking forward to being a little lost in time for a while longer.
