San Blas Islands

 So, the last stage of our Central America trip has already arrived: San Blas Islands - what a highlight! The San Blas Islands of Panama is an archipelago comprising approximately 365 islands and cays, of which only 49 are inhabited.

We get there with an organized tour as it's nearly impossible to get there now without one. We leave Panama City before sunrise and here we are at the port getting ready to bord a boat. We stay for 3 nights and 4 days...

And here is "our" island called Coco Blanco...

 

  

We have a common area where we eat and hang out. Luckely, the first day and night we're only a small group of 8 people (a Swedish couple, 1 Dutch gIrl, a German couple, a guy from the USA and us) and have a great time together! Mondays are Cuba Libre nights - so we're well prepared. Especially with the Swedish couple and the guy from San Franciso we really have a great time!

The native people living on the San Blas islands are the Kuna indians and they're a community of around 300.000 people in total. Two families are living on "our" island Coco Blanco - here's a kid playing, they're on holidays now.

The Kuna mainly survive by fishing and harvesting fruits, especially coconuts. And nowdays of course the tourism! The Kuna’s also create art on their bodies and clothes that they call Molas, especially the women. The main language spoken by the Kuna’s is Kuna but they also speak (a little) Spanish. We do have some contact with Kunas, but not that much - it's gotten too touristic and they are reall shy... That's why we didn't bother them with a photo (they don't like it at all!). Here is an exemplary picture from the internet. When girls get married, they have to wear this short haircut.

 This is where they live.

 

What a nice place on earth!

At night we head over to another, uninhabited island where the camping site is located - it is magical! No lights (electricity), no noises and the sky full of stars! Sunrise is pretty nice too :-)

Everyday we head out to different islands and have time to snorkel and enjoy the beaches...

Here's the island "Perro Grande"...

 

And here's the island "Perro Chico"... with an old ship wreck - nice to snorkle around...

Enjoying a fresh coconut...

Washday...

And of course the sunsets were great!

NEXT BLOG FROM ASIA ;-)

La Habana

After almost 3 weeks we're back in La Habana, how the locals call it lovingly. This time we stay in Vedado, a more exclusive neighbourhood which was build during the 1930s to 1950s. Here you can see the Hotel Nacional, the most exclusive and famous hotel - rooms are 200$ up!

At the malecón...

Here's the impressive University of La Habana...

Surprisingly Habana has a museum full of artifacts and belongings of Napoleon... They come from a private collector which was a fanatic and collected EVERYTHING he could... So here we are at the remodelled sleeping room of Napoleon in St. Helena... And in front of us one of the very few existing death masks of Napoleon...

The library...

The musuem offers some great views over La Habana...

The 3 weeks in Cuba went by so fast... What a beautiful country it is and also the locals are very kind, helpful and reliable... We totally disconnected as internet is very rare and somehow it was like being back 10 to 15 years ago in Europe... Very relaxing...

Summa summarum:

The three of us had a great time together. There are not many people we could imagine to travel with for three weeks; with El Tio it was just perfect.

We never missed the chance to ask the Cubans about socialism, globalisation, the executive committee and the future. We got really different answers… The advantage for us, we got to know different faces of Cuba.

If we compare Cuba to the rest of Central America the most eye-catching thing is the consumerism: not so much selection, no known (world) Brands, no “I need the newest edition of this or that”… Also the transport situation is similar: it’s a little more time-consuming to get a bus-ticket, but as a tourist in the end it’s easy. Sooner or later you’ll find everything you need.

Cubans are really friendly and most of all trustworthy people. Cuba is also one of the safest countries of America. Walking in the streets at night was never a problem. So Cuba impressed us in different ways.

Varadero

Varadero is probably the most famous and known spot for tourists in Cuba... Why? Because this languet has one of the most beautiful beaches we've ever seen! The area is full of all-inclusive resorts, but luckely there are some Casas Particulares downtown and we spend some lovely and relaxing beach days together...

 

And of course, eventually El Tío had do ride a vintage car :-)

 

 

 

Trinidad

Just an hour east of Cienfuegos lies Trinidad, another colonial-style pearl. Trinidad is much more touristic than Cienfuegos, but you can still escape the canalyzed tourist routes...

Lots of live music is played in all bars and restaurants - good times!!

Here an elementary school in the middle of the town - the after-lunch nap is called for.

Pork anyone?

Sunset time...

We did it again - more horseriding...

We also spent another relaxing beach day at nearby Playa Ancón...