Panama 2005

Tidbits of Panama

Place: Kuna Yala Territory-Rio Sidra, and indiginous community


Took a flight on a small plane to a landing strip that came out of the jungle to the edge of the Carribean Sea. My ride was a dugout canoe and off we were, wearing yellow slickers, I was till soaked. the ride was about 45 minutes to the island paradise of the travel magazines, name of Kuanidup. My island home for a few days. It is the size of a football field, some coconut trees and wight huts plus an eating hut. There about 400 islands in this part of Panama. i mean small like the one I am on. some a bit bigger with lots of coconuts.
When flying in I saw what looked like the walled cities in Europe covering whole areas, it was the typical huts covering the islands, wall to wall. They are thatched huts of small bamboo with no windows and about a foot apart. The huts at the sea edge were open to the sea with the toilet built over the water on stilts. The great flush.
Most of the islands are solid coconuts as this is the GNP of the Kuna Indians. their biggest buyer is Colombia as Panama used to be part of Colombia.
There is no electricity or fresh water. The water is brought in by 50 gallon drums in the canoe. wondered how that was unloaded until I watched the process. Just wade out with two 5 gallon buckets, fill them from the canoe and wade into the island, climb a ladder with them and dump them into the storage drums on tip of the shower area. For most of one day and night I was the only guest. What a joke that clod pulled on me this time, there I was in my evening hammock watching the full moon over my island paradise when the young men that were my attendants took their shower, dumping water over themselves with a bowl, wearing bikinis, picture that. Young, strong, athletic, laughing, frolicking in the full moon. Ma ma mia. island paradise?