Seasickness

After two days of battling seasickness from 10-ft ocean swells and doubting the sobriety of our temperamental captain, all of us aboard The Joshua breathed a collective sigh of relief when we first saw land on the morning of March 18th.

The Archipielago de San Blas is a scattering of over 360 white-sand, palm-treed islands nestled in the coral reefs of eastern Panama. The promise of exploring these postcard-perfect islands is what originally convinced us to forgo the plane flight and embark on this border-crossing journey by boat. Now it was time to relax and let the wind gently glide our sails through paradise.

Or not.

A short swimming distance from the island of El Porvenir, Captain Freddy informed us that the engine was broken and we would not be touring the islands as planned. We could try and catch a flight to Panama City on a little puddle-jumper plane or wait for Freddy's friends to arrange some type of motorboat/jeep/bus combination. But none of this would happen any day soon. Desperate to set foot on that white sand, a few of us hired a local Kuna Indian to motor us to his favorite secluded spot. He took us to a gorgeous (almost)deserted island with no electricity or snack bar - just a friendly Kuna family sewing molas and collecting coconuts.