Pitufa.at

Yesterday we got chatting with Kunas from the village Malatupu who come to Puerto Escoces to fish and harvest fruit and veggies from the gardens they have here. At the moment 3 men and 2 boys stay in one of the huts that are built on the reef. Instead of asking for presents and trying to sell us overpriced veggies (like the Kuna in Puerto… Continue reading »

We’re still in the quiet bay of Puerto Escoces, there’s not much to do here, no hiking trails and the water is too murky for snorkeling after the heavy rains. Yesterday we took the dinghy around the bay in the hope of catching a glimpse of a crocodile (according to the fishermen there are many around here), but couldn’t spot one. We saw some hornbills… Continue reading »

We’ve just experienced how fierce thunderstorms can be in the San Blas Islands. It started like a normal thunderstorm at 5 o’clock in the morning, but by 6 o’clock the wind accelerated to 40 knots sustained, visibility went down to a few metres, so we turned the engine on, kept a look at the GPS and were prepared to set the anchor newly in case… Continue reading »

Today it poured down incredibly for hours. There were times when we couldn’t see the shores of the bay through the dense curtains of rainwater. We filled up both watertanks, all jerrycans and buckets–no more worries about saving water in the next time. The monkeys in the surrounding mountains seem to be not that happy with rain. Each time it starts they loudly utter their… Continue reading »

We spent another day in Sapzurro yesterday, waiting for the swell to go down. During the night, there was some commotion on deck, then we heard the clip-clap of the catflap and Leeloo delivered a squid to our cabin. After ungratefully refusing her generous gifts of mice, moles, birds, snakes and frogs for years, we decided it would be a shame to waste the little… Continue reading »

Off the coast of Panama lies the Comarca de Kuna Yala, an autonomous region where the indigenous group of the Kuna live according to their traditions and culture, successfully avoiding the “blessings” of the western civilization. There are 365 islands (1 for each day of the year) so we’ll take some time exploring them

yesterday we got out all things from the saloon cupboard to reach the huge compartment full of cans and other long-lasting provisioning underneath. Checking our stock revealed that many delicacies need to be eaten before they expire, so we just had to buy some veggies, fruit and eggs from our veggie-lady Marta here in Sapzurro to be prepared for the next weeks of cruising. We’re… Continue reading »

Yesterday we hiked to the next bigger town Capurgana. It was an incredible experience walking through the rainforest, with large butterflies fluttering around us and colourful flowers everywhere. The region here is within the “Darién gap”, a nearly impenetrable jungle in Panama and Colombia that reaches from the Caribbean all the way to the Pacific, without roads and very few inhabitants. The colonialists were fended… Continue reading »

Today we took a walk up the hill (steep earthen steps) to the border to Panama. After 20 minutes we reached two idyllic huts with thatched roofs, each with a hamack and a relaxed soldier in it. 10 minutes and a few hundred concrete steps later we reached the village on the Panamian side: Puerto de la Miel. It’s also not connected to a road… Continue reading »