Dokodemo Door

The comarca of Kuna Yala (land of the Kuna), also called San Blas, is located at the northeast of the country, on the Caribbean shore. The indigenous Kuna indian live there, ruling their own land almost independently from the central government and being their main governing body the Congreso General Kuna (Kuna General Congress). In 1925, tired of being abused and thinking that their secular lifestyle was threatened, the Kunas raised against the Panamanian authorities getting the current autonomy with some bloodshed. There are some 30000 Kunas in la comarca.

Kuna Yala is not as accessible as other parts of the country. Since a gravel road was opened connecting the  interamericana with the village of El Porvenir, the west part of the comarca is not so isolated, but if you want to go to a more remote part you will have to jump on a plane. And the adventure started right at the airport: the plane we had to take to go to Playón Chico was an “experienced” (read battered) DH Twin Otter. The flight was very bumpy because of the clouds and as we were not too used to small planes the 45 minutes felt very long.

The Playón Chico “airport” is just a concrete airstrip and a tiny house. Just 10 years earlier the airstrip was made of gravel and it got flooded easily in the rainy season, making the flights more complicated. I also heard nightmare stories about the flights years ago before reliable airlines took over improving dramatically safety, including one about a door opening during the flight and the co-pilot popping out to close it being grabbed by a passenger…

Yandup Hotel staff were waiting for us and we jumped in a small boat that in just 10 minutes dropped us at the hotel. Our first impression of Yandup was really good: a sort of Maldives 1.0. The island did not have more than 100 meters of diameter, with 8 huts for guests and one bigger being the restaurant. The rest of the island was just coconut trees and a  small beach with fine white sand.

The Kunas only allow sustainable tourism . The huts are made with wood from the mangroves and the electricity comes from the solar cell panels. No big resorts, no high raises, no luxury outlets despite the growing interest from foreign and local investors in the area. This gives la comarca a unique and special feeling. Our hut was big, spacious, with basic furniture and no hot water. The air coming from the sea passed through the spaces between the wooden walls giving a fresh feeling and making you feel the ocean even closer, and it was just a few metres away.

In the hotel price were included 2 daily excursions and the 3 meals of the day (water also included, but not other drinks). Each and every meal we were served was fantastic, with fish and seafood cooked in many different ways. The amount was fair but no excessive, so at the end you did not feel like a balloon, quality before quantity.

In the mornings we were taken to one of the inhabited islands (there are over 300 hundred, so plenty of choice), each day to a different one. They were small and perfect picture postcard like: neat circumferences of white sand filled with coconut trees and palms and surrounded by transparent waters and coral reefs. We normally stayed for over 2 hours with plenty of time to swim, snorkel or just chill. The coral reefs were very damaged and although some parts were good in general they were just ok.

As the Kunas don’t have enough resources to patrol effectively all the island in their territory sometimes they are used as temporary bases for narcos or just simple smugglers, either from Colombia or from Panama. In one of the islands we went to spend the morning we found a gun that had been dumped into a bonfire, still loaded with bullets, but not working any more.

After lunch there was another daily excursion to get to know more about the Kunas, their culture and lifestyle. The first day we went to Playón Chico colony, where over 3000 people live. The village is in an island linked to the mainland by a concrete bridge. The Kunas used to live in the inlands, but around 100 years ago they decided to move to the coast because of the illnesses (yellow fever, malaria, cholera) and in general more inhospitable conditions.

The very first thing we saw once we arrived was that there were children everywhere. They came to the dock to say hello and then they surrounded us for most of the visit. The Kuna families usually have between 5 and 10 children and since infant mortality dropped drastically in the late 70s (thanks to doctors and medicines being available in la comarca), the proportion of children grew exponentially. Nowadays the doctors are all Kuna and they go to study medicine to Cuba in exchange programs sponsored by the cuban government.

The village was a mix of brick houses with more traditional wooden huts, all of them very close together and hardly any open space. I asked why having so much land around they live packed together, and with a half-smile our guide replied: “we like living like this, together, we could spread if we wanted as there is plenty of land”. Another key point in la comarca is that only Kuna people can own land or a have a business there. They turn their backs to money in order to preserve their identity and customs.

The biggest hut is used as a meeting area and for political and sociocultural events. The village has 3 chiefs and each one has a hammock in the big hut rather than a chair or a throne. The Kuna chiefs allow any religion, not only their traditional one, so the village had a catholic church (with a spanish priest that has been there for some 30 years) and a mormon church (their volunteers stay for periods of 2 months). Just a few weeks before we went a fire had been declared, burning down a part of the village, so some of the huts were being rebuilt. Nobody died but some people had to jump into the water at night running away from the flames.

We also visited the school. There are 2 daily shifts: primary school in the morning (7 to 12) and secondary school in the afternoon (12 to 5). Secondary school here is more oriented to practical activities that will help the students to live a Kuna lifestyle (carpentry, boat making, cattle handling, agriculture…). The Kunas who want to study more common subjects like sciences or literature go to other areas of the country (it was normal to see Kunas in Panama City).

The visit to the cemetery was particularly interesting. It is in a small hill in the inlands but close to the shore. There are traditional burials and others that copy some of the external religions imaginary, like crosses or tombstones, even if the person was not a christian (“just a trend” our guide said). In the traditional burials the body of the deceased rests in his/her hammock, which is buried with him/her. The surface of the grave is shaped simulating a pregnant belly to reinforce the idea that the deceased is back into Mother Earth´s body.

Since Kuna Yala has never been very well connected to the rest of Panama due to the jungles and the mountains around it, the Kunas have always had a strong commerce bond with Colombia by the sea. Colombian boats travel along Kuna Yala coast exchanging all kind of products (from seeds, to animals to TV sets) for coconuts. In fact till the mid 90´s the coconut was the “official currency”. Strange enough there are no coconut post production plants at all, while in Colombia there is a big industry related to coconut derivates.

All in all, some unforgettable days in a real paradise, charismatic and authentic at the same time. I would not mind to go back some day.