Paradise beaches and mysterious mountains

"Imagine a turquoise tropical archipelago with one island for every day of the year.  With white sand and waving palms, these Caribbean islands cheat no one's version of paradise." 

This is what Lonely Planet says about the islands in the San Blas archipelago and my goodness me is it true!!  We took an extremely windy and hilly 4x4 transfer from Panama City to Carti, basically a hut along the side of a river with locals selling soda and snacks while the tourists wait for boats to the islands.  We had asked at the hostel and been recommended three islands to go to.  We picked one and told the little man with the note book where we wanted to go.  Well, several boats came and went and we didn't get called.  Several more came and went and still we sat and waited.  After asking various different people, we discovered that we were supposed to be going to a different island than what we thought as our transfer driver had booked it for us.  We finally got on a boat 3 hours after arriving at the river side.

The boat trip was fast and extremely wet.  Peeking a glimpse of the tropical islands proved difficult as the salt water battered our faces and stung our eyes as the boat sped along.  However, the drenching and stinging eyes were well worth it when we finally arrived and glimpsed the first views of our idyllic, perfect, tiny tropical island.

The islands in the San Blas archipelago are all owned and inhabited by the Kuna Yala people.  'Senidup' island is run by an exceptionally friendly guy  named Tony.  He welcomed us, showed us around and then it was time to chill and relax.

Our little island couldn't have been more than 75 metres across so it was easy to walk around.  We spent three days on the islands soaking up the sun, bathing in the tropical waters of the Caribbean and dining on fresh fish.  We took a boat trip one day to some of the other islands, went snorkelling around a ship wreck and strolled along the pristine beaches.  It really was paradise.


The only disturbance that we had in paradise was a midnight intruder into our little hut.  One other girl in the dorm hut started screaming at 1.45am and woke us all up with a terrible fright.  Somebody was in the hut!!  We were all totally freaked out and then couldn't sleep for the rest of the night.  Morning brought lots of discussion about it and eventually, after a few far fetched ideas we settled on the fact that somebody came into the wrong hut, thought it was his bag and bed but ran as soon as we started screaming and he realised that he was in the wrong hut.  All very scary but amusing now that we can look back on it.

Enjoying a stroll around the island.

Up close with a starfish!

The beautiful island of Senidup.

We said goodbye to Tony after three amazing days and took a much slower boat ride back through the many many islands to the main land.  Our driver was there to greet us and this time he had more people in the car so we were squashed in like sardines in a tin for the two and a half hour drive back to the city.


Our only afternoon in Panama was spent visiting the spectacular Panama Canal.  They say that it is a master piece of engineering and they are not kidding.  We arrived just in time to see a HUGE boat going through the Miraflores Locks.  I've never seen a boat as big.  It was slowly lowered in the lock and then gradually edged it's way through the narrow lock out to the other side and continued on it's journey to the Pacific Ocean.  The ships take about 8 hours to go through the whole canal from side to side.  There was a very interesting presentation and museum.  The whole thing was fascinating and quite unbelievable.

The ships get pulled along through the locks.

Slowly the lock doors open to allow the 
ship through.

Leaving Panama City behind we took the long bus ride to David.  I'm not a fan of this bus ride as it takes about 11 hours in total from Panama to Boquete and I have already done it twice.  Three times was definitely enough!

It was lovely to be back in Boquete though with the cooler climate and mysterious cloud shrouded mountains.  Two days here were filled with walking, admiring views of the area from ideal vantage points, drinking tea and enjoying meals out.  As last time we were hear Amy and I were staying with a local family, it was very refreshing to sample some of the local restaurants and be able to choose what it was that we wanted to eat!!  We also took Jo to visit 'My garden is your garden' as it is so beautiful.  Two private houses have these amazing grounds and let the pubic stroll through and enjoy it as well.  

We took a trip to the natural hot springs in Caldera one afternoon.  Three extremely warm pools surrounded by cute stone walls are located on a farm in the middle of nowhere!  The owners allow the tourists to visit for a minimal fee.  The addition of the cool river to freshen up if the pools get too hot is a major bonus!  The farm has a pet monkey who we were warned was very cheeky.  We found this out only too quickly when he stole Jo's t-shirt and decided to put it on.  What followed was an hilarious display of acrobatics and daring manoeuvres while he tried to get the t-shirt on.  We watched and laughed!!  Needless to say we were then hunting out rocks to pin our stuff down with!

Boquete.

Enjoying the heat of the hot springs.

The cheeky money with Jo's t-shirt!

The picturesque 'My garden is your garden'.

Tomorrow we are leaving the cool mountains of Boquete and heading back up to the Caribbean Sea to the archipelago of Bocas del Torro.  It looks like another paradise with tropical waters and white sandy beaches. Lets wait and see!