We left Chichime to reach the Carti Islands, the only place nearby where we could buy some food and the gasoline for the “resurrected” outboard engine. In fact, we learned that it is highly recommended not to use gasoline mixed with oil that was stored for a long period (our summer time vacations), as it develops water!

Coiba - Carti Islands

Coiba – Carti Islands

Carti is a densely populated island, where we visited the Kuna Yala National museum… A one room collection of a few posters and photos illustrating the society and the history of the Kuna people since 1925, the year of their independence.

It was an experience to walk along the narrow streets of the village, with one house attached to the other, where even a small room could have not been fit any longer! With very few exceptions, the houses are huts made of cane, with the roof fabricated from palm leaves. The floor, slightly elevated, is compact sand. You can see several hammocks, as many as the people in the family.

Sugdup (from North) - Carti islands

Sugdup (from North) – Carti Islands

We stopped in a little restaurant, the Pargo Rojo, where we had fish, rice and fried plantanos (green bananas), a very common dish in the area. We were also able to source some fruit and vegetables in a small store, and finally left the island heading towards the Lemmon Cays, where we arrived after a hour and a half of motorsailing.

Sugdup – Carti Islands

Sugdup (from West) - Carti Islands

Sugdup (from West) – Carti Islands

Sugdup - Fuel Station

Sugdup – Fuel Station

Panama - San Blas
Lemmon Cays (San Blas archipelago)

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