San Blas Islands, Panama

Today was a very full day!  Starting with a wonderful sunrise accompanied by dolphins, through the visit to the San Blas islands and the Kuna Indians and ending with wonderful hours on a classic Caribbean island with sand, sun and snorkeling!  Both Diana and I show a 'bit of sun' now!

There are just too many things to cover from the day so I will hit what are the highlights for me.  First the islands with the homes only a foot or so above sea level.  These are one of the groups that will be hit hard by rising ocean levels!
They also had a couple of pigs - and this one came to see me!

The Kuna's are a semi-autonomous group - self-governed - within Panama, and tourism is a major part of their income.  The story goes, that the 'mola's" that they now sell are representative of the body paintings that they did prior to the missionaries arriving!  Of course, the missionaries taught them that they had to wear clothes - and the mola's are now part of the clothes and worn by the women and sold to tourists!

The islands are full of contrasts, old cultures along with cell phones and television.  The picture of the sail on the canoe (true dugout canoes - trees hollowed out) against the Prince Albert II is just one of the more visual contrasts.
A wonderful day, with sun and wind and pineapple, not much else needed for perfection!  We are off to the Panama Canal tomorrow, entering the first lock around 7AM.