Panama, San Blas Islands, Naguargandup Cays, Nabadup – Lots of snorkeling and a bit of cultural exchange

The humans have not gotten far.  We are still in the string of cays know as Naguargandup Cays.

They have at least managed to get the energy together to move islands.  We anchored off a little cay called Nabadup.

The next Cay over, Cambombia, is a more popular anchorage.  Both Cays are lovely with sandy beaches, palm trees and surrounded by reefs to explore, but Cambombia is populated by a small extended family.  The humans were worried I might bother their dogs and live stock, so we anchored off the uninhabited Nabadup instead,

Kuna style ‘self cleaning’ pig pen.

Both islands are close together so you can easily run between them if you want to purchase coconut bread, molar or trinkets from the local family.

Steve has picked the best month of the year to visit the San Blas Islands.  March has the most stable weather and consistent winds.  Morning, noon and night the winds have been blowing 10-15 knots from the North East.  We have also had little or no precipitation.  This has made perfect gentle sailing weather and anchorages calm and cool.

The calm settled winds also mean great snorkeling weather.  The humans have been abandoning me to explore the reefs that abound in this area.  The inner reefs abound in juvenile tropical fish, octopus, lobster, squid, hard and soft corals.  The out reefs have many of the same species, but often larger and in schools.  Steve has also been able to swim with many of the more ‘open water’ species like oceanic trigger fish and spotted eagle rays.

The San Blas Islands have turned out to be an excellent cruising ground and I am surprised that it is so quiet compared to the Eastern Caribbean.  Maybe we should keep this area a secret so it does not become spoilt by charter companies and cruise ships, as the British Virgin Islands have.

At the moment, there are only a few small hotels on the islands closest to the Carti area. it is here there is the only road into the San Blas Islands from Panama City.  The rest of mainland,  that boarders the San Blas Islands, is uninhabited mountains covered in thick jungle with no roads.

Spirit of Argo with the mainland mountains in the background.

The only way to ‘really’ visit the area is by boat.  With few resources available, the cruisers that do venture here have to be a ‘self-sufficient’ lot.  But it does make for interesting anchoring buddies.  The humans have had an opportunity to get to know the owners of a few of the visiting boats.  The majority are from a huge range of countries and are just stopping by on their way through the canal and off across the Pacific, but there are a few boats that call Panama and Columbia their ‘cruising ground’.

Hearing other peoples stories of adventure is a fun way to pass away the worst of the heat in the afternoon or the darkness of the evening.  There is also the usual exchange of electronic cruising guides, charts, TV shows and movies but if you are lucky there can also be a cultural exchange.

We were fortunate to meet the Austrian boat s/v Plastic Plankton and they treated the entire crew of Spirit of Argo to a very traditional  dinner of Buchtein.  It is a baked bread stuffed with fruit and served with vanilla sauce.

None of my lot had ever eaten a sweet for dinner and were pleasantly surprised by this Friday night Austrian treat.  And it was very nice of Katharina and Wolfgang to share the last of their ‘Ikea’ vanilla sauce with us.

If you would like to learn more about their 4 year plan to circumnavigate the globe visit their web site.

http://plastikplankton.jimdo.com/

My gang were also lucky enough to meet a group of cruisers that were doing the totally opposite of ‘Plastic Plankton’.  There are those that have ‘been there/done that’ and have now decided to ‘settle down’ and hang around the San Blas area.  This is such a beautiful and easy cruising area, I can see why they would choose to stay.  The humans were lucky enough to be invited for dinner on the M/V Eileen Farrell.

http://eileenfarrell.blogspot.com/

Now this is a big boat built for entertaining.  Big industrial galley, leather arm chairs and lots and lots of space.  All the things we lack on little old Spirit of Argo.

The owners Lorenzo and Joyce were wonderful hosts.  They entertained two other boats.  Curt from s/v Salsa brought his visiting Mum for dinner.  Curt sailed a 30 ft vessel around the world and, for now, breaks up his cruising around the San Blas with regular delivery skipper jobs. Their other guest was Cathy from the 72′ gaff rigged yawl ‘Joana’.  Cathy caught the travelling bug sailing around the world in a tall ship after a bet.  She now runs a charter business with a mate on ‘Joana’.  Check out her website.

http://www.sailjoana.com/Home.php

All this socializing has been lovely, but there are 365 more islands to visit and Steve has only one month to see them all.

VISITOR VIEW

As you can see Quinn has now got confident enough with my kayaking ability that he feels sure enough that I am not going to tip him so as to jump on with me. Kayaking between the islands is a great way to get some exercise and do some sight seeing.

Having made it to a ripe age and never been snorkeling I set about learning this new skill with the patience and forbearance of Cain and April. I was surprised at how unsettled my first few attempts made me feel – trusting your lifes breath to a small plastic tube whilst under water was a remarkably claustrophobic experience. After a few mouthfuls of salt water and much splattering around  I have been able to get out onto the reefs and it has been well worth the effort. Seeing the rays move gracefully around, effortlessly gliding and cutting their way through the clear waters is a definite highlight but, being a total novice, just swimming around in waters full of small fry in large shoals is a real pleasure. Its kind of like swimming in a huge tropical fish tank!

I have also found out that the native locals, the Kuna, pronounce the K more like a G. This led me to the realisation that all those gents who shout week in week out at the football at the Emirates are not actually supporting the Arsenal but are actually longing to return to a more simple, ecologically sound lifestyle.

Lets all chant together now – ‘Oh to, oh  to be, oh to be a Kuna’.