Three days after departing Aruba we made landfall at 1030 this morning dropping anchor off the tiny San Blas Island of Pornenir, in the province of Panama known by the local Kuna Indians as Kuna Yala (9d33.35'N, 78d56.88'W, 50 ft). Check-in was easy:
Immigration - 6 month visas $60 pp
Customs - Interlude Kuna Permit - $23
Port Captain - 6 month Interlude Panama Cruising Permit - $193
Ashore there was a small very basic hotel with restaurant and bar, air strip and a marketplace with 'museum' to give the occasional cruise ship passengers some handicrafts to buy. The ship would be bigger than the island.
On the way in to port we saw some cruising yachts anchored off other more picturesque islands and so after a quick lunch we moved a few miles to the East Lemmon Cays and joined about a dozen other yachts in the anchorage (9d33.67'N, 78d51.76'W, 20 ft). Before we had a chance to finish putting on the mainsail cover we already had purchased three lobsters ($20), and two bags of fruits and veggies ($18) from the Kuna canoes. So far only one family selling 'molas'. Molas are the local multi-layered needlepoint handicraft known worldwide for their colorful designs and detail. The Kunas are a tiny people - one size up from the Pigmies - more on them after we have been here a couple weeks.
