DAY 104: Isla Grande - Panama City - San Blas: how to sail from Panama to Colombia

After visiting the Coiba National Park, we wanted to escape from Santa Catalina. It was too small, too boring and too disconnected from the world. Therefore, we decided to drive all the way up to the Caribbean sea and visit Isla Grande.

ISLA GRANDE

We read that Isla Grande was a famous holiday destination for locals, but what we did not know was that they only go to spend their weekends on the island. The island was almost empty and we found a room as soon as we arrived. Only our hotel/restaurant was the only one open on the island. It was very nice though, but we were still disconnected from the outside world. No internet nor phone connection on Isla Grande. No supermarkets either!

Isla Grande is not very grande though

Although Isla Grande turned out to be very expensive for us (we were forced to eat three times a day in restaurants), the island was worth the trip because of its beautiful white sand beaches. We could also snorkel around a small coral reef and relax on the beach with music and a bottle of rhum ;)

PANAMA CITY

After 3 months travelling, it is in Panama City that we felt civilised again. We hadn’t been able to find a single shop with normal clothes in 3 months, or a proper hairdresser’s. So as soon as we got to the city, we went straight to the mall in front of the bus terminal and spent our afternoon there cutting our hair (qué falta hacía un corte de pelo!!) and buying stuff and clothes. It might not sound very exciting, and we would never spend half a day in a mall back in Europe... but believe us when we tell you that anybody in our situation would also have needed it.

Panama City's skyline

Minutes before heading to the hairdresser!

Panama City is in fact the only capital city in Central America that is worth visiting. All the other capitals (Guatemala City, Tegucigalpa, Managua or San José) do not have much to offer and are very dangerous. But Panama City has a beautiful old city centre and an impressive skyline. The touristy areas are very safe and the nightlife is quite good as well. 

 

The very unimpressive Panama canal

Visiting the Panama Canal was more or less compulsory, however it turned out to be much less impressive than expected. We thought that we were going to see a huge river with imposing locks, but what we found was a mirador packed with tourists wanting to watch how the big cargo ships went through the locks. Yes, the Canal has an undeniable historical background, and the boats are huge and remarkable... but the locks are far from impressive. (Im Ernst, da kann ja fast die Benninger Schleuse mithalten!). 

This visit was really unnecessary and we wouldn´t recommend it at all.

Panama City was our last destination in mainland Panama before going to Colombia. There are three ways to get from Panama to Colombia: by plane, by land (quite dangerous because it is a FARC controlled zone) or by sailboat. The land option was never on the table, the plane cost almost the same as the sailboat, but the sailboat trip is wicked.

SAN BLAS

The Stahlratte, Steel Rat in German (???)

There is a big tourist business going on between Panama to Colombia at the moment, and boats are leaving daily from the Panamanian San Blas islands to Cartagena de Indias in Colombia. You only have to go to one of the many hostels in Panama City and you will find a list with all the sailboats and their availabilities. A lot of friends recommended us to book the big sailboat “Stahlratte”, which was supposed to be the most famous and best boat on this itinerary. The spots on Stahlratte usually get sold out really quick, so we had to book it 3 months in advance. 

On board the Stahlratte

We left on January 31^st. A Jeep picked us up at 5.30am in the morning and brought us to the main harbour of the Kuna Yala Region (where the San Blas islands are located). From there, the Kunas (the only indigenous group present in Panama) took us to our sailboat. We were very warmly welcomed by the crew and had an incredible breakfast (honestly, the food of the Stahlatte is by far the best we have eaten on our trip). We also met the other passengers, mainly bikers who were crossing the continent by motorcycle. Half of them had our age so we had a great time with them on board.

The Kuna people live in two or three of the 360 islands of the San Blas archipelago. They enjoy a sort of autonomous governance and are completely self-sufficient. They eat fish, coconuts, yucca and bananas. 

Kuna Yala Island

Kuna woman

The Kuna women are very easy to recognise: they wear colourful skirts, transparent white or black blouses, bandannas on their heads, many large bracelets all over their legs and arms, and piercing rings through their noses. At first they never look very friendly, but once you get to know them, they are very hospitable. Joana had the chance to meet a couple of Kunas. They brought her to their tiny island and she was able to visit their home and family. Joana bought two bracelets from them, since it is their only way to earn a bit of money. We were very happy to find out that Ludwig, our boat’s captain, was extremely kind to the Kunas, and had a very good reputation amongst them. Many Kunas came to have lunch or hang out to our boat during our stay.

Our trip lasted about 4 days: we spent two days in the San Blas islands, one day sailing, and half a day in Cartagena de Indias. Once all passengers got on board the first day, we sailed for three hours to a small group of islands quite far from the touristy zone. The boat anchored in the middle of tiny paradisiacal islands, one of which was inhabited by the Kunas. We spent two wonderful days snorkelling, enjoying the spectacular beaches and having barbecues on the islands at sunset. 

This is where we anchored for 2 days

Joana rope swinging off the mast!

Our stay on the San Blas islands was unforgettable and we have to say that we were kind of sad when we shipped to Cartagena.

The open water sailing to Cartagena was very rough though. We left at 6 am and the sea was very choppy. Almost everyone got seasick - we didn´t! :) But that day was hell because the seasickness pills knocked us out completely, and we were only able to rest on the deck, fighting the wind and the sun. We are definitely not sea people. The only distracting moment was when many dolphins jumped out of the water and followed us on our way to Colombia for a while. That was fun.

Fortunately, we arrived to the harbour of Cartagena on February 2^nd. We enjoyed the last breakfast together on the Stahlratte and then were brought to the mainland. 

 

In our next post we will tell you about our stay in Cartagena, Taganga and the amazing Tayrona National Park.

Take care!

 

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