San Blas Islands

SAN BLAS ISLANDS (08.07-12.07) 

At 5.30am, we were picked up by 4x4 jeeps to bring us to the departure location of the boat. It was a very bumpy ride for two hours and the first seasickness pills were taken already. At the waterfront, we switched to a watertaxi to bring us to the boat. A minor detail was that at that time, they had no contact with the captain and no idea where to go. For our search for the boat, we had a small detour around a few islands. On the way we came across a small group of dolphins – a good prospective for what more to come!

With a tiny delay, we arrived at the Nacar, our beautiful catamaran for the next 5 days. We were welcomed with great Bon Jovi music while we met the crew (two brothers from Colombia + their 4 cats and Sofie, a Swedish girl) and the rest of our group: Lise and Brigitte from Canada, Helen from England, Brad and Kate, Jack and Harry from Down Under and New Zealand.

The program was island hopping around the San Blas for the first three days, followed by a 36 hour crossing on open water. We spent our time around the islands with snorkeling around the reefs and even a ship-wrack, chilling at the beaches, playing some beach-volleyball and dancing salsa in the sand. Everyone had brought more than enough alcohol along and so the afternoons and evenings were filled with games and socializing (“gezelligheid”), before retrieving to our little private cabins on board. We were served 3 meals each day, and every time we were pleasantly amazed by their cooking skills and effort. The meals included freshly caught lobster, crab, fish and a variety of salads & fruit: We were spoilt!

The San Blas islands is a collective term for 365 islands of which only 49 are inhabited by the Kuna Indians, the rest are uninhabited. Some of the islands are not bigger than a basketball court. The islands were stunning: virgin coconut-beaches and turquoise water around it. The water was very clear and snorkeling around the reefs was beautiful. The pictures say it all!

After the last evening on an island with a bonfire and a fiesta-meal, we headed out for open water. This was the harder part. Although we all took our seasickness pills, Pam got very sick already the first night and had to sleep on deck. Everybody spent most of their time lying and sleeping for the whole next day. However, one happening made the day: A group of approximately 60 dolphins surrounded us and joined us in our direction!! Part of the group was swimming right in front and beneath us, and the rest was showing off by jumping around ahead of us! This continued for more than 15 minutes. The captain (even he was impressed!) slowed down the boat and threw out robes to hold on to while we jumped in the water. It was an incredible experience hearing the sonar sounds of the dolphins and seeing them diving into the deep. Unfortunately, they didn’t come too close, and left soon after the boat slowed down. Full of excitement we got back in the boat, but soon after everybody was lying down again.

After a last good night of sleep – even for Pam – we woke up with the view of the skyline of Cartagena – we made it to Colombia! The vibe of the group was very good, and although we split up to different hostels, we did meet up a few more times the next couple of days in Cartagena.

Overall, we concluded that these 5 days were definitely the highlight of our trip so far!