Comarca de Guna Yala

Although the Guna people have lived in eastern Panama for at least two centuries, scholars fiercely debate their origins. Language similarities with people who once lived several hundred kilometers to the west would indicate that the Guna migrated eastward. However, oral tradition has it that the Guna migrated to the San Blas islands from Colombia after the 16th century, following a series of devastating encounters with other tribes armed with poison-dart blowguns.

Regardless of the origins of the Guna, who called themselves the Dule, scholars agree that life on the islands is relatively new for them. Historians at the end of the 18th century wrote that the only people who visited the San Blas islands at that time were pirates and the odd Spanish explorer. However, the Guna flourished on the archipelago due to the abundance of seafood. They supplemented this with food crops grown on the mainland, including rice, yams, yucca, plantains, bananas and pineapples.

Today there are more than 44,000 Guna living in the comarca, with three-quarters living on the islands and the rest on tribal land along the coast; about 6000 Guna live elsewhere in Panama and Colombia. So communal are the island-dwelling Guna that they inhabit only 48 of the 365 cays; the rest are mostly left to coconut trees, sea turtles and iguanas.

Charter sailing trips with a friendly and experienced American couple on their 52ft sailing boat Blue Sky. Includes kayaks, fishing gear and snorkel gear.

Molas are beautiful, elaborate patches of embroidery. To learn about the culture, history and sewing of world-famous Guna molas, visit www.molasfrompanama.com.

The undisputed gems of the Archipiélago de San Blas are the Cayos Los Grullos, Holandeses and Ordupuquip, a triangle of three virtually uninhabited island chains that are separated by calm blue-green waters and surrounded by shallow reefs.

At the lower southwestern corner of the triangle are the Cayos Los Grullos (Crane Cays), a mere 10km northeast of Río Sidra. The northern tip of the triangle is formed by the Cayos Holandeses (Dutch Cays), while the Cayos Ordupuquip are located in the southeastern corner. Despite the lack of tourist facilities in the cays, yachties love to anchor near these islands, though it takes skill behind the wheel to keep your boat afloat here. The snorkeling in the Cayos Holandeses is astounding, though you’ll see plenty of tropical fish and colorful reefs anywhere in the cays.

More a tour and a holiday than mere transport, the popular San Blas Adventures four-day service takes travelers between Gardi (Cartí) and Capurganá just over the border in Colombia, visiting both inhabited and deserted islands, sleeping in hammocks under thatched lean-tos or in Guna communities, eating meals that verge on gourmet and swimming and snorkeling along the way.