Sailing in the San Blas

Since school is about to start, we decided to do a sneak a 3-day jaunt in the San Blas Islands.  They are located on the Eastern Caribbean side of Panama - close to Columbia.  If you were wondering what heaven looks like - this is probably as close as it gets in real life...  Clear blue waters, hundreds of deserted coconut palm islands with white sandy beaches, 85 degree water, indigenous canoe cultures, snorkeling sunken shipwrekcks.  It's hard not to relax here. And no that's not a postcard... its a picture I took with my iphone.

The San Blas is a part of the Kuna Yala native territory and is a 30 min flight or 2.5 hr drive from Panama City.  We decided to drive since I thought it would be fun to see more of this beautiful country.  We took the road to Carti which is paved the whole way now and has a new bridge so you don't need to drive through the river anymore.  Although paved and bridged, you still need to watch out for the occasional pothole.

Luckily we made it past the potholes, bridges, and probably the craziest roller coaster road I've ever driven and parked at our destination and jump-off point - Carti.  From Carti we loaded our gear onto a native hand-carved panga boat and were taken to meet our charter.

Our sailboat charter was owned and operated by a wonderful young family of cruisers from the US.  George, Melinda, and Josh have been living on their catamaran 'Southern Belle' in the San Blas for 2 years and host the occasional charter group.  Since our host family had a 10-year-old son, it worked out perfectly so the kids each had someone to play with.  George and Melinda have been quite active with the Kuna community and have made friends with many of the natives.

I'm a boat lover so here's a few details about the boat: Southern Belle is a 1995 Fountain Pajot, Venezia-42 catamaran sailboat.  There are 4 double private cabins with closets, 2 in each hull.  In the center bridge-deck is a spacious saloon/galley that can seat 8 adults at the table.  The cockpit can easily seat 12 and also has a dining table.  Weather

protection for the cockpit is provided by a fixed bimini/dodger with removable plastic windows and screens. Ample space for lounging and sunning is available on the forward nets. The boat is the shiz.. Heck, it was even featured in Sailing magazine Read more...

Mr G showing off a Kuna classroom - 2nd grade

I must say we were lucky to have hosts with such great connections because it afforded the opportunity to get up close and personal with their Kuna friends and their communities.  Seemed like everywhere they went - the Kunas knew George and Melinda and were gracious to invite us onto their islands to visit.  We got to see how the Kuna indians live, their homes, kitchens, classrooms, pets, traditions, and family.  Special thanks to 'Mr. G' (who took the above picture of the fam riding in the single column panga-canoe, and is shown in the adjacent picture in the white shirt) for sharing his home and island traditions with us.

Kami's new friends

Local fisherman holding up a squid

Here are a few more images of some of the islands that we visited.  At each island we anchored, we swam, played in the white sand, played with starfish, snorkeled the coral reef, and drank Panama beer.   The scenery is difficult to believe because it looks like something out of a travel magazine.  Surreal is an understatement when sun goes down in the san blas.  For those of you who enjoy tropical getaways that are a little more of the beaten track - I recommend the San Blas Islands. -Chris

Surfing in El Palmar

So one of our friends, Flor, runs a business called Panama Surf School in the neighboring town of El Palmar http://www.panamasurfschool.com/.  She and her staff offer surfing lessons and surf trips for kids and adults.  I always wanted to learn how to surf - and Panama has good surf...  We decided to sign myself and the kids up for a 4-pack of lessons so we can get some surf action going on down here.

 

Turns out that surfing is harder than it looks and I have a new respect for those who can do it and make it look easy.  I must say the waves were perfect for first timers.  El Palmar is a mecca for beginning surfers since is has one of the country's most accessible surf breaks and reasonably priced accommodations and restaurants.

-Chris

Our home on Malibu beach

We rented a home in on Malibu beach in the beach town of Gorgona called Casita del Sol.  The owners Kathy and Mike are a cool couple who bought property in panama 10 years ago and eventually moved down to run an international school and property development business.  The compound has a 2 fully furnished homes, main house and guest house (we are renting both), with a swim pool and outdoor kitchen in between.  The guest house will be used as 'world headquarters' for Virtual Systems and for family and friends who wish to come visit.

Main house

Guest Casa

Pool Area

Lounge / Patio area

Beach w/view of Coronado 

View from entry

Outdoor shower

outdoor kitchen / bbq area

view from guest casa's master bedroom walkout

Welcome to our panama blog!

So we recently moved to Panama! We made the move from Bellevue, WA to Gorgona, Panama on August 17, 2011. We begin a new chapter in our family as we embark a new lifestyle, meet new friends, and immerse ourselves in the wonderful Panamanian culture for a year...or two.

We've been dreaming about living abroad in a tropical climate for years, and with careful planning and some gutsy decisions along the way we made the move.  We created this blog to tell our story.

Why Panama?
Good question, probably the one we hear most often.  In short - Panama is a lot like Hawaii but with great prices, all the comforts of a major US city, less impact by tourism, and a very friendly local culture.  We also considered Costa Rica and Nicaragua, but Panama seemed to have the best schools and the perfect balance between a city infrastructure and deserted island.  It's more westernized than any other Latin American country and i suppose that also made Panama feel just right. To give you an idea, Panama City is three times the population of Seattle and feels like a little version of New York City - loud, crowded, lots of tall buildings, and everyone honks their horn!

Decmber 2010 we brought the family to get to know Panama City, Pacific side beach towns like Coronado and Gorgona, the Caribbean and the rain forest in Gamboa. Ten days and we had a blast. Our  kids had a chance to meet other kids going to Panama Coast International School and we had a chance to meet parents and other adults who made us feel welcomed. Our friends, Misty and Alex made the move from Seattle to Panama five years ago. Talking to them about meeting new friends, places to live, and which schools the kids can attend has been valuable to us and its great to have them as a great resource. Too bad they moved to Panama City... we'll miss having them around.  On the bright side - they left their beach rental house to us so we could take over for awhile...

So we begin our first week settling in, adjusting to the 90 degree weather and humidity. Grocery shopping - 1/2 the price of US. Big plus. We love the fact that we don't have to think about Pesos, Euro or Yen exchange. Panama uses the US dollar. Another major plus! We are in the rainy season...but it is warm. Kind of like Hawaii.

So even though we feel like we are in vacation mode, I know it will have to come to an end. Just like summer. I have laundry piling up, school starting for the kids in a week, and Chris got a desk today for his office so he can work tomorrow. That means the honeymoon stage is coming to an end. We should be in a routine (I hope) by next week.

My thing? I'll be an artist while the kids are at school and Chris is at the "office" (guest house next door).