San Blas Archipelago

The San Blas Archipelago or Guna Yala is a group of approximately 365 islands spread over an area of approximately 100 square miles. The start of the Archipelago is located about 70 miles east of the Panama Canal. Of the 365 islands only 49 are considered inhabited. It is an autonomous area of Panama under the control of the local aboriginal peoples, the Kuna’s.

The Kuna are friendly to visitors and willing to partake in trade and donations but prohibit non Kuna from owning land or settling permanently within their territory and intermarrying. We are prohibited from “harvesting” anything in the territory as it belongs to the Kuna. That includes fishing and even taking coconuts off the beach. While here we were approached by several Kuna, in their dugout canoes and pangas, wanting to sell us fish, vegetables, fruit and of course Molas.

Prior to contact with European missionaries the Kuna wore very little clothing but adorned their bodies with intricately painted designs. Post contact they transferred these designs to clothing and from that emerged the Mola. Several layers of multi-colored cloth are sewn together, then the design is created by cutting parts of each layer. Finally, the edges of the layers are turned under and sewn down. The best molas have fine almost invisible stitching.

The islands are essentially unchanged from the time of the early explorers and as such are becoming popular for eco-tourism. A few islands have some pretty rustic resorts the rest remain undeveloped.

This is an amazing group of islands. Almost every island is surrounded and protected by a barrier reef which makes for excellent snorkeling. Scuba diving has been banned for many years as the Kuna associate the activity with poaching. The reefs also make for some very tricky navigating of the entries and exits. The islands we have seen range in size from 20 meters long to a couple of acres in size. The absence of hurricanes at this latitude keeps the palm trees tall and the vegetation lush and green. White sand beaches fringe the lands.