Isla Estrella, San Blas, Panamá

Over Thanksgiving we flew to Panamá where we went camping on a tiny, remote island in San Blas, an island chain in the indigenous Kuna Yala territory.  We took a harrowing 2 hour drive through steep mountains and jungle to the coast followed by a 1.5 hour boat trip out to our island, Isla Estrella. Neither one of us had been to San Blas, although we've both been to Panamá, separately.  Since one of my best friends is from Panamá, she put us in touch with a local Kuna who let friends camp on his island.

We camped in a tent on the island where a few Kunas, the indigenous people of San Blas, lived in a small hut.  They cooked every meal for us - delicious whole fried snapper, spiny lobster, conch, fried snapper, tuna, octopus, and more fried snapper straight from the water around the island.  

San Blas, a beautiful and culturally rich region, is an archipelago comprised of hundreds of islands, and a small amount are inhabited. The islands are home to the indigenous Kuna Yala (also spelled Guna Yala), who run the islands as a comarca (autonomous region) with minimal interference from the Panamanian government.  The Kuna have their own language, government, and still have full voting rights in Panamá.

A Kuna woman dressed in the national dress, which is worn daily by most Kuna women.

We were told that the Kuna live on the islands that have access to rivers - the archipelago stretches for about 140 miles, and most of the locals use dugout canoes from a hollowed tree trunk and wooden paddles as their mode of transportation.  The inhabited islands are crowded with bamboo huts and people, which is a stark contrast to the uninhabited small sand islands that we passed on our way to Isla Estrella.

Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/panama/comarca-de-kuna-yala#ixzz2pHjYoBHN

Local fisherman have no problem catching an abundant and diverse amount of mariscos (seafood).

Isla Estrella - our island for the weekend

The island gets its name from the thousands of starfish around the shore - you had to watch where you stepped in order to avoid them.  While snorkeling, we also discovered a large amount of sand dollars just under the sand's surface.

Conch shells were all over the island's shore ranging in size from small to enormous!

Our tour guide told us there is 'one island for every day of the year' - and he's right - there are nearly 400 small islands with palm trees and turquoise water as far as the eye can see.

We spent a lot of time reading in hammocks, snorkeling, and exploring the island.

Our first night of camping was incredibly windy and rainy, and we only had a few palm trees for protection from the wind. This was only my second time camping - my first camping experience was in the Thar desert in India over Christmas 2 years ago.  Needless to say, my camping experiences have been pretty extreme so far (at least I think so)!  The wind was deafening, and I did not sleep well.  At one point I put a towel over my head to try and drown out the incessant flapping of the tent. It helped a bit until I had to go to the bathroom.  Luckily there was a toilet on the island which flushed by dumping a bucket of water into it.  Unfortunately, there are zero lights out there, and even with a flashlight I got lost a couple times.  Oh, and I was not too happy to find HUGE blue crabs crawling around the island in the dark. The second night was much better, as it was considerably less windy and I found my way to the bathroom without getting lost.  Plus, coincidentally, my friend's brother and his family showed up on our second day on the island, which made the trip that much better.

Our camping spot :)

Near dusk, dozens of pelicans circled the shore and dove into the water for their meal.

I bought a traditional bracelet from the locals, which she wrapped around my wrist - unfortunately I had to take it off for a formal event and can't figure out how to put it back on!

A beautiful sunset over dinner

We had a wonderful time in San Blas, and I highly recommend you go visit!