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American Spirit II - Day 15; On to Cayo Chichime & Kuna Indians; January 19, 2014



At 9:15 AM we weighed anchor and headed for Cayo Chichime 4 nautical miles away to the northeast. This island is where the Rally is going to have a "Rendezvous" on Monday, January 20 at 1:00 PM. We entered a lagoon and anchored at 10:40 AM. There were also 23 other boats in the lagoon, most with the rally, but others not. We anchored in 34 feet of water and then went for a swim. The first thing I saw upon entering the water was a ray swimming along the bottom right under the boat. The water was very clear.

After the swim, we hopped into the dingy and headed off for the northeast part of the island, where after beaching the boat went for a walk around the island. There were maybe a half dozen to a dozen little cabins that people rented while staying on the island. These people probably flew into Isla Porvenir, took a water taxi to Cayo Chichime, and spent a weekend or week relaxing. Primitive. No electricity. With the trade winds blowing, however, you never really get hot if you're out of the sun.

The thing that we found most amazing on this island and in looking at other islands around Chichime, is the proliferation of coconut palm trees. They grow like bamboo. They're everywhere. Even saw small islands, maybe 50 feet in diameter, will have at least one palm tree, maybe 2.

The history of the Kuna Indians bears some reflection here. The Kunas are physically small, rivaled in tribal shortness only by the pygmies of Australia. There are 55,000 Kunas today or about 10 percent of what they were before the Spanish invasion in the 1500 and 1600's. Each village is run by 3 Sailas (chiefs). However, the Kuna Nation is a matrilineal society. The women control the money, and the husbands move into the women's family compound. It is also normal for the women to choose their own husbands. The most important driver of the Kuna economy are coconuts. Until a number of years ago, coconuts were the official means of exchange. I'd would have liked to see a Kuna poker game. "I'll call your 3 coconuts and raise you 5 more. "The Kula's also export lobster, king crabs, and octopus.

The primary means of transportation are water taxi's and ulu, a dugout canoe that is usually paddled, but is also capable of accepting a small sail. One common aspect of these ulu's is that they seen to leak or ship a fair amount of water. Haven't seen a dry one yet. Thank God for the tops of plastic bleach bottles to use as bailers!

There are no insects on the San Blas Islands, no wild animals and no snakes.

The men get up before sun rise and paddle to the mainland in their ulu's, then walk for an hour, to work inland harvesting bananas, fruits, firewood and sugarcane. Around one o'clock they head back home for the day.

The Kuna are very private and sensitive to having their picture taken. Apparently some time ago some Kuna's were in metropolitan Panama and saw that post cards with Kuna people depicted on them were being sold for $1.00. Henceforth, if a Kuna allows you to take their picture, you have to pay them a dollar to do so.

You may be wondering how I know so much about the Kuna Indians. Pilot books. Special thanks to Eric Bauhaus's The Panama Cruising Guide for the information on the Kuna Indians. And to the World Cruising Club in recommending that I buy it.

Brian Fox




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