Category Archives: Culture

Information about the current culture of a location we visit.

The Puberty Party and Learning More About the Kuna Life

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Continued from yesterday”¦ After everyone else was served, we were offered the beer. Suddenly, all eyes were on us, intently watching for our reaction. Visually speaking, we would have mistaken it for molasses. It was black and thick, like syrup. They insisted we do the little dance prior to drinking it. Another local joined in to lead us in the dance, which we think we followed along with pretty well. We went to down our beer. It was absolutely disgusting. Mr. G had lied when he said it was non-alcoholic. In those 8 days, it had definitely fermented. It wasn’t a strong alcohol taste, but it was enough to make a gross beverage even grosser. Christi could barely get a small sip down. Eric took one gulp. Everyone insisted we finish our cups. Eric took another sip and said he could drink no more. Everyone was disappointed we wouldn’t drink it, but simultaneously incredibly amused by our reaction. We sat down and held onto our cups for a while people continued to insist we drink it. When it was evident we would drink no more, two guys drank it for us.

We asked where the girl being honored was. Apparently, a special room with a special layout is built for her somewhere, and she is Continue reading →

Exploring the Carti Islands and The Puberty Party Begins

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When we were done at the museum, Jose locked up. Wow, John was right. He was closing for the cruise ship, which we found odd. John took us on a tour of the island. He showed us the two schools, both concrete bungalows. He took us a several nice view points. We got a good look at the fourth island that we hadn’t actually seen until just then.

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He took us to the pier, which are two large concrete docks side by side. There was a big trawler loaded with Continue reading →

Carti Suitupo and the Kuna Cultural Museum

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Today was the busiest day we have had in a while. Since we went to bed early, we were up early, too. We peered outside. No cruise ship. We made breakfast and again peered outside. This time we saw the cruise ship in the distance, approaching us. We decided to get to shore ASAP. We knew it would take the cruise ship a while to bring down their tenders and shuttle the tourists to shore, so maybe we could get in and out before too many tourists flooded the islands.

We quickly got the dinghy down and headed out to the closest island, Carti Suitupo. Carti Suitupo is the closest to the mainland of all the islands, and thus the most densely populated. We went there first because it is the island with the museum. We saw a dock just around the corner from Kosmos’ line of sight, a small wooden dinghy dock. We watched a motorized dugout canoe with two tourists pull up to the dock. We pulled in on the other side of the dock and waited until a local wandered by, then asked if we could leave our dinghy there. He said no problem.

From the dock there was a narrow dirt walking path that led between tightly packed huts. Most of the huts had bamboo walls and a roof made of thick layers of palm fronds. A few of the huts had a slanted metal roof similar to what we saw around the rest of the Caribbean. We did see a couple of buildings made of concrete. Some of the huts were almost touching. All the yards were surrounded by bamboo fences. The edges of the houses and the fence were literally on the edge of the walkway. With the housing so tight, in a way, it reminds us of Medieval European cities, except in Europe the buildings aren’t made of bamboo and palm fronds.

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There were a lot of people walking around, many carrying big quantities of assorted food products. Several times we had to Continue reading →

Welcome to the San Blas Islands, Panama

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At around 0330, we approached the east end of the San Blas archipelago. We were heading for the Canal Caobo, a channel just south of the group of small islands known as Holandes Cays. Eric slowed down to 1400 RPM. He set the radar/chart plotter so that the charts overlaid on top of the radar. He studied it carefully to make sure the land masses matched the chart exactly. He made sure the depth we matched the chart. We were relieved everything lined up. We proceeded slowly into the channel, carefully watching the depth sounder to make sure the depths continued to match the charts. This is the first time we have ever done a night entry without navigational aids, such as channel markers. Flying blind and relying on your electronics is a little scary. By a few minutes before 0600, we were as deep as we dared to go in the dark. We had hoped the sun would be rising by then, but it was still pitch black.

It was relatively calm in the channel — for the most part, at least. We did get the occasional bigger wave. It was a million times better than Continue reading →

History of the Kuna, An Indigenous People Group of Panama

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Lake Madden is a man-made lake in Panama that is part of the Panama Canal system. Evidence has been found in the Lake Madden area that indicates humans first settled there 11,000 years ago. It is believed the people flourished since it was so full of natural resources. The word Panama is derived from an indigenous word meaning “an abundance of fish”. Evidence shows that some of the first pottery making in the Americas started in Panama at around 2,500 BC. It is believed agricultural activity in Panama started as far back as 3,500 years ago. Around 100 BC an extensive trading network that reached from Peru up to Mexico was established and Panama was part of it.

In 1501, the Spanish explorer Rodrigo de Bastidas “discovered” Panama. At the time, the Kuna people were Continue reading →