Yes, we are selling our home! We are going to upgrade to a larger boat. After five years with FKL and two years living aboard full-time, the time has come. But more on that later…
After leaving Snug Harbor, we really got into the more remote Guna villages, where the vast majority of the people live. Every few miles along the coast, there was another small town, often within sight of the next. Although we went ashore in many of them, just to look around, most of the stores had almost no groceries (our main interest). There was also no diesel to be had, only gasoline. The issue for us is that all fuel in Colombia is 10% ethanol, which is very bad for marine engines. It causes moisture to develop which leads to bacterial growth and having to change a lot more fuel filters. The barrier reef that protected the western part of the island chain becomes quite scarce here in the east making for some very rough hops across the open water. There is an almost permanent gale blowing down off the corner of Colombia toward Panama this time of year, so it hits us on the beam making for a distinct lack of comfort. Be sure to double click on the photos below as I add explanatory captions to most photos.
This part of Panama is known for a couple of things. The Darien jungle has long been considered impassable. In fact, there are no roads at all in this vast expanse of mountainous jungle that connects Panama to Colombia. The famous Pan American highway stretches 19,000 miles from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, through Canada to the very bottom of South American in one long unbroken path – except for this 60 mile stretch. The area technically belongs to the Guna Yala natives but even they have no settlements in the deep interior. We have read that many of the central mountains have never been visited by humans because they are so hard to reach.
Very recently, the narco cartels have begun smuggling hundreds of thousands of people on foot through the jungle along the coast on their way to the Pan Am highway and the USA. While that has certainly scared off a lot of folks, including people we know, we continued on to Colombia as planned. We have yet to see any sign of this and most of the Guna people are fiercely opposed to it. The only recent “attacks” on cruising boats all happened in Colombia. There have been a few thefts of items, such as a propane tank that was stolen from a boat in Snug Harbor the night before we arrived, but that stuff happens everywhere and is why we don’t leave anything of value out and both hoist and lock up our dinghy at night. We have noted signs in a couple Guna villages that specifically say Colombians must leave the island by dusk and are subject to fines.
This island’s airstrip has been abandoned for a stretch given the trees on either side of it!
We finally got a decent weather window where the gale off Cartagena eases significantly and the seas die down accordingly. So we staged in a tiny but super protected anchorage called Bahia Perme. Unfortunately, being so protected meant no wind and Tess was badly eaten by the jejenes (noseeums) that plague most tropical waters. They are so small they can get through screens…
We then checked out of Panama at Puerto Obaldia, where the port captain is honest and does not charge the extra $100 per person that all of our friends had to pay when they checked out of Linton Bay. Such corruption is widespread in Latin America but we have avoided most of it. We checked out the town, got a ride on a homemade motorcycle trailer, had a great pizza and made the life-risking climb back into the boat. The chop in the anchorage was very dramatic making the climb onto our transom a bit scary. We should have left the boat via the side gates but didn’t realize this at the time. As we were leaving, we were stopped by soldiers who said we had to provide copies of all of our documents. Right! Well, back to the immigration office, explained the issue and they said, no problema, and hooked us up! Back to the fortified AeroNaval base and we saw they had thousands of bales of confiscated something stacked up six feet high everywhere they could put it. All wrapped in black plastic bags. They told me it was illegal cigarettes which I sort of believe. There was no smell so it wasn’t marijuana and that many tons of cocaine would have meant many more armed soldiers. Whatever it was, it was interesting and I knew better than to try to take a picture of it.
We then had an 18 hour overnight sail to Isla Tintipan, Colombia. We skipped an earlier island due to its proximity to another where a cruising boat was kidnapped last May by narcos who thought they were drug runners. They were released but we elected not to chance that interesting experience! We had enough drama sailing into the teeth of the endless swells that we knew were waiting for us. Fortunately, we had a shorter sail than those who left from the western San Blas and our course gave us a good angle and kept us away from the stronger winds. Regardless, it SUCKED! But Isla Tintipan was beautiful and in some of the bluest water we have ever seen. There is a vast reef south of the islands and the waters were absolutely flat and gorgeous. We stopped at Islote de la Cruz, supposedly the densest population of any island in the world. It was founded by, and still run by, local fishermen who built on the reef as there are NO mosquitos or jejenes due to the absence of plants. It was very different from any San Blas island, that’s for sure. No governmental entities like police or administrators, the 45 related families run themselves, thank you. We had a real dinner at a great hostel restaurant called Santa Lova on Tintipan that catered to europeans. First “real” dining out experience in months.
From there we sailed to the Rosario islands, most famous for being where Pablo Escobar had a large vacation villa he used for entertaining on La Isla Grande. The government owns it now and it is in ruins. It once had 300 guest rooms, gold shower heads, and lush gardens all in 80’s pastels of pink and blue. One of his planes even sank out front in about 30′ of water. So of course we had to check it all out! Halfway to the islands we were stopped and boarded by the Colombian navy, checking for drugs. Very professional, short and sweet. Lunch at a nice beach resort and back to the boat as we had a very early start to arrive at the marina in Cartagena at slack tide, 0800.
Next post, Cartagena!
