Dog Island, San Blas Islands, Panama
We began our Caribbean adventure just outside the mainland of the district of Kuna Yala or the San Blas Comarca. In the early morning we cruised up a small river and enjoyed a wide variety of birds and experienced for the first time the rain forest of Central America. We also had our first look at the indigenous people of the area. The Kuna people are the best-known ethnic group both within and outside of Panama, they hold 320,600 hectares on the mainland, the adjacent waters, and the 365 islands that compose the archipelago. Only about 50 of these islands are inhabited on a permanent basis and the others are used for fishing, tourism and as coconut plantations.
Coconuts are the basis of the Kuna economy. The families harvest the groves in a rotating basis and each coconut gets sold to Colombian buyers for about $ 0.25. Pioneer of ocean beaches, coconut palms are one of the plants all of us relate to tropical beaches, though they are originally from Asia. Normally, not further than three feet above the high tide line, they lean towards the sea trying to overhang the sparse vegetation of vines and herbs to be able to drop their ripe nuts within the reach of the waves. Dispersed by the ocean currents, coconuts have been seen to remain a viable seed for months floating in the water. When it finally reaches land, a sprout coconut can be “self-potted” for several months; the husk provides some mineral nutrients, though most of them come from the milky sap and oily endosperm within the seed. Despite them being beach plants, they really cannot tolerate salt water permanently, needing a regular supply of fresh water. They have a very vulnerable reproductive cycle and abortion of the fruits may occur at any point by water stress, lack of fresh water.
In the afternoon these unique plants provided shade and atmosphere for a relaxing beach and snorkeling experience, the first of many we will have on this voyage along Central America.
We began our Caribbean adventure just outside the mainland of the district of Kuna Yala or the San Blas Comarca. In the early morning we cruised up a small river and enjoyed a wide variety of birds and experienced for the first time the rain forest of Central America. We also had our first look at the indigenous people of the area. The Kuna people are the best-known ethnic group both within and outside of Panama, they hold 320,600 hectares on the mainland, the adjacent waters, and the 365 islands that compose the archipelago. Only about 50 of these islands are inhabited on a permanent basis and the others are used for fishing, tourism and as coconut plantations.
Coconuts are the basis of the Kuna economy. The families harvest the groves in a rotating basis and each coconut gets sold to Colombian buyers for about $ 0.25. Pioneer of ocean beaches, coconut palms are one of the plants all of us relate to tropical beaches, though they are originally from Asia. Normally, not further than three feet above the high tide line, they lean towards the sea trying to overhang the sparse vegetation of vines and herbs to be able to drop their ripe nuts within the reach of the waves. Dispersed by the ocean currents, coconuts have been seen to remain a viable seed for months floating in the water. When it finally reaches land, a sprout coconut can be “self-potted” for several months; the husk provides some mineral nutrients, though most of them come from the milky sap and oily endosperm within the seed. Despite them being beach plants, they really cannot tolerate salt water permanently, needing a regular supply of fresh water. They have a very vulnerable reproductive cycle and abortion of the fruits may occur at any point by water stress, lack of fresh water.
In the afternoon these unique plants provided shade and atmosphere for a relaxing beach and snorkeling experience, the first of many we will have on this voyage along Central America.
