12/09/2022 From Panama City to San Blas Islands
Not the best start
When the jeep picked us up at 5 a.m. I was still feeling very ill. The four-hour-jeep-ride to the port was bumpy, cold (with the AC in my face) and very uncomfortable. I will spare you the details, but as soon as we got to the port (with only one toilet), Blake and I both started to get food poisoning!
Mini-island
The whole time I thought: “I’d only need to make it to the first island and I will be fine.” But when we finally arrived at the first island after a one-hour-speedboat ride, the island was tiny and only consisted of palm trees, one open hut and no toilets! Welcome to paradise!
While the others played volleyball or went snorkeling, Blake and I lay on our beach towels or in the hammocks, too weak to socialize or interact in the fun games.
Sleeping in hammocks
Then it was time to go to the second island where we were also going to stay the night. This island was a bit bigger and again we were the only ones on the island besides the Kuna people (=local tribe on the San Blas Islands). Again, while the others played frisbee or tried their balance on the slack line, we were lying on the grass in an embryo position. Our “beds” for the night were hammocks that we put up ourselves in one open room.
Amazing food on the trip – just not for us
Since Blake and I like to pretend to be foodies, the rates about the good food was one factor why we decided to go with “San Blas Adventures”. Unfortunately, we only heard about how delicious the lobster tasted for dinner or the fish for lunch on the first island. But at the point we were beyond caring. We just wanted to feel better!
So when we climbed into our hammocks with our last bits of energy around 6 p.m., we were hopeful we’d be feeling better the next day.
13/09/2022 San Blas Islands
In the next morning I actually did feel a bit better. Blake’s night, however, wasn’t as good and I saw him sleep underneath his hammock at some point at night.
Yoga in the morning
Alejandro, our Colombian guide, offered yoga on the beach in the morning, so I gave it a try. I wouldn’t call myself a yoga-person at all, but at special settings – like on a tropical in the Caribbean – I was willing to give it another go. It was actually fun and luckily, a lot took place either lying or sitting (standing was still problematic for me). Blake and I even joined the others for breakfast afterwards – the porridge with fresh tropical fruit tasted delicious!
Hammock time again
For lunch we went to another island, where we hung up our hammocks between palm trees. Unfortunately, I felt worse again, but at least I didn’t have to do anything other than lying in the hammock.
In the afternoon we went to the next island which we were also going to stay the night on – this time in real beds. Woop woop!
Luckily, Blake felt a little better, so he could join the others for some volleyball and dinner. I, on the other hand, felt like a kid being under house arrest, who had to listen to all the laughter and fun outside. Oh well, I was too weak to feel sorry for myself.
14/09/2022 San Blas Islands
We woke up to a big thunderstorm, so we put on our rain coats and ran through the rain to the breakfast hut.
Snorkeling around the island
Luckily, I was feeling a bit better again. Therefore, I could finally go snorkeling and play volleyball with the others.
Kuna village
Today we got to see a Kuna village. But in order to get there, we had to canoe in the typical Kuna canoes. Let’s just say Blake and I still have to work on our left and right skills when paddling 😉
The tour around the Kuna village was very interesting. I had quite the stomach pain again, so I had to leave the tour early. But the others got to play some games with the Kuna kids and watched a Kuna dance.
In the evening we all went out for a typical Kuna meal where we had conch and octopus (I had the veggie version – just to play it safe).
15/09/2022 From San Blas Islands to Capurgana, Colombia
Entering Colombia
Today we’d be entering Colombia – a new country and a new continent for Blake and I!
After another fresh and healthy breakfast on the island, we took off by boat, stopped on one island to get our stamps out of Panama and then entered Colombia by boat.
Vamos a la playa
We all had some beach time together and had ceviche and tamales for lunch from one of the beach stands. Afterwards we went by boat for another 15 minutes, until we reached our final destination: Capurgana.
No Colombian stamps for our passports
Due to a power cut in the entire town (sounded familiar to Santa Catalina), we had to wait to get our Colombian stamps for our passports until the next day.
We checked into our hostel with some other backpackers from the trip. The first real shower, that didn’t include a bucket that you had to dump over yourself, felt so good – even though it was still cold.
Reunion with the San Blas group
In the evening the whole group met up for lasagne and drinks and it was nice for me to talk to some of the group members for the first time – now that the trip has come to an end.
A resumé of the San Blas Islands
It definitely sucked that we were sick and the timing of catching food poisoning couldn’t probably have been worse. But the trip itself with the variety in islands, fresh food, great people, awesome guide, fun activities and authentic Kuna people was still amazing! We just couldn’t show our amazement all the time, when we were either lying on the beach or in the hammock or on the boat in an embryo position 😉…
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