 |
| Guna woman- a tough negotiator |
Last things first- before our loyal readers in Azerbaijan and Malta get bent out of shape, L'ORIENT is not now some seedy three-some......far from it. Les (our crewman, if he is indeed male) is a 1 inch gecko. He lives somewhere in the mizzen mast rope storage area, coming out at night to join us regularly for happy hour and dinner. He looks around (wonderful large black eyes, although a big googly if you asked me), stares a lot, then returns to his lair after about 20 minutes. Call us sentimental, but we love him/her and even leave him/her crumbs of food............which brings me to that exact point.
 |
| Lobstermen in a sail-equipped dugout canoe.....very modern by Guna standards |
Crumbs of food. Call this the paradise diet........here in the San Blas islands we are sailing among reefs and atolls that are breathtaking in their beauty. But there are no grocery stores or restaurants in the sense that a normal person understands them. Let me explain.
 |
| Guna village- the rooms hanging over the ocean are bathrooms ! |
The San Blas are inhabited by the Guna Indians and are kind of an autonomous region of Panama. The Guna live in huts made of sticks, sleep in hammocks, and don't have electricity (a few villages here and there are moderate exceptions). They seem to live on fish which they catch (we aren't allowed to fish in their waters), veggies from plots of land they use on the mainland, and food Colombian bootleg trading boats bring. Their chief industry here is.....we're still trying to figure that out. They do make amazing hand-sewn molos that are much coveted. But to be honest, the economy of this place is a mystery to us. One byproduct of their pastoral life is a complete and intentional lack of tourist infrastructure. This is way, way, way off the grid. We are living off the supplies we purchased back in Colombia but I can tell you in four weeks when we leave here there will be slim pickings on L'ORIENT.
 |
| The ultimate Molo dealer......totally ate us for lunch |
 |
| Proof of the above |
 |
| Mr. Molo brought about 200 molos over- they take about 3-4 weeks to make |
The first Guna settlement we visited was Carreto. This encounter was notable in that we met and had a sit-down with the chief of the most conservative Guna village in Panama. No electricity, no internet, no outboards, no photography, no TV........people paddling dugout canoes kind of like the 1700s. The Chief spoke both a bit of Spanish and the Guna language. It was kind of weird meeting a Western Hemisphere autocrat not funded by the USA, but we learned quite a bit from him about the Guna and the village. He also informed us that due to a coming Guna festival, we needed to leave in 24 hours or pay $50. We thanked him and chose the former.
 |
| Our 360 water view- stunning scenery here |
While the adults have largely ignored us (contrary to guidebook warnings of aggressive marketers in dugout canoes peddling things), the Guna children are quite curious about these sea-going Gringos wandering through their village. During our negotiation for the pictured molo, a 7 year old Guna girl was so enthralled by Kirstin's hair that she walked over and started touching it. I assured Kirstin that this was a Guna compliment.....and not a suggestion for a better coiffure.
 |
| Guna meeting house |
And internet? Forget it. Our Iridium Go Satellite system is OK for phone calls, e-mail and weather but not much good for anything else. This post is possible only because we are anchored 3 miles from a renegade Guna village. They have given up the Guna ways to a degree. They live in similar primitive housing, but have accepted electricity and wifi. So we bought a SIM card.......$1 per day unlimited internet, go figure............and we've returned (electronically) to the real world for a few days. We managed to buy three tomatoes and some bananas of dubious provenance from the front porch of a house - living large!
 |
| L'ORIENT in the Green Island atoll |
The other slight difficulty getting around here is the lack of accurate charting. We've been shadowing an Ocean Cruising Club rally (we don't actually join things like this) and we are aware of at least 4 boats that have hit reefs and been damaged- one nearly a complete loss. Garmin, iSailor, and the usual suspects have apparently not seen the economic benefit of charting Eastern Panama. There is a German guidebook where this nice young man from Hamburg created very detail oriented charts (bucking ethnic stereotypes with his exactitude!). We've relied on a jury rigged GPS solution where these charts are digitized, and only Kirstin can understand how it all works. So we snake our way along, reading water color and these charts to find safety. So far, so good.
 |
| Tom merging 4 sources of info to avoid hitting the reefs |
 |
| The beach at our front door |
The sailing has been amazing. Strong wind out of the North.......18-23 knots........making L'ORIENT a fast boat. We've met some interesting people......although to be honest, in meeting us, they've met people that are more interesting than we have. Whatever. The show goes on. Many more pictures to come when we have better wifi.
