After two weeks in Panama City, where I could enjoy some urban delights, like regular yoga classes and hippy food, the smells of Casco Viejo got the better of me. So I travelled to Playa Venao, a remote, but therefor not less touristy beach a five to six-hour bus ride south of the capital. Although I was grateful for the hippy food and the excellent ashtanga yoga classes in town, I was very much done with the city. There are some interesting aspects to La Ciudad, like the neighbourhood of Casco Viejo and the Miraflores locks of the Panama canal, which houses an interesting museum. Yet, although the city is popular with digital nomads and so-called expats- which are just migrants, from western countries, who are predominately white- I do find Panama City quite overrated. Therefor my earlier statement about Central American urban vibes not being all that, still stands.
Life is a Beach at Playa Venao
I spent more than two weeks in Playa Venao at a chilled surf camp, to enjoy sun, surf, and kind and fit men. After more than a month of Panama, I left the country touring the San Blas islands and making my way by boat to my beloved Cartagena in Colombia. The San Blas islands are a very popular tourist destination, visited by locals and foreigners alike. People, who are short on time, do a day tour from Panama City. Many travellers on the backpacking trail tend to take a four or five day boat trip to Capurguana, just across the border or Cartagena in Colombia.
Indigenous Panama: San Blas/ Guna Yala
The San Blas islands, which since 2011 are officially called Comarca de Guna Yala, are an archipelago of more than 300 islands, which are scattered in front of the Caribbean coast of Panama’s mainland. The islands are inhabited by the Kuna people, who are Panama’s native population. The Kuna have a distinct culture, which is reflected in their language and the women’s distinct sense of dress. Most, if not all islands, are very small and you can walk around them in 15 minutes or less. The Kuna seem to have a simple lifestyle living in modest accommodation, but I suspect they make an absolute mint from tourism. Touring the San Blas islands is by no means cheap. When entering a harbour to visit any of the islands you pay a 20 USD ‘entrance fee’ as if it were a zoo. At the dock you pay a few US dollars ‘docking fees’ and you pay transportation fees varying from 5 to 30 USD depending on where the boat you will be sailing on is moored. Then you pay the captain of your boat, the price depending how far you travel, how long you are on the boat for and what is included. You have to pay ‘entrance’ to every single island you set foot on. It’s not that every island has a ticket booth, but the captains of the boats have to pay for their passengers and that is obviously reflected in the price they charges. I have heard of people with less time on their hands, who did day trips from Panama City visiting a couple of island and ended up paying between 200 and 250 USD for the pleasure.
To Boat or not to Boat
During the five-day boat trip on Perla del Caribe, with eight other people and a fantastic crew of two, we visited six islands in total, which have all terrible clear waters and are great for snorkelling. The islands furthest to the west and closest to the mainland are very popular, especially this time of year. Touring the islands and being on a boat, was a very chilled experience and besides reading, eating, laying in the sun and swimming and snorkelling, one doesn’t do an awful lot. During our ocean crossing we were accompanied by dolphins and another type of fish of more or less the same size I couldn’t identify, which I thought was pretty cool.
Are the island worth visiting? If it’s in your budget and you have yet to actually visit a tropical island paradise, I would say, ‘yes, go for it’. If you’re already rather spoiled having visited several tropical islands in the Caribbean and/ or Asia, I would say ‘save your money’, as you might not be that impressed. It’s very difficult to travel from Panama to Colombia overland and it’s not recommended, as the border region consists of dense rainforest and there is no official road. There is also considerable trade in illegal wares in the region and getting accidentally caught up in dodgy traffic is not ideal. Unlike in Europe, where air travel within or just outside the continent can be very cheap, it’s not easy flying on a budget between Central and South American countries. If you are hard pressed finding an affordable flight from Panama to Colombia, do consider the boat, which might not be a cheaper option, but at least lodging, all meals and a chilled adventure are included with transportation.
bottom image: mexika.org
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