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Confessions of a Flashpacker, A California Girl’s Search for the Perfect Beach…

a travel blog by kate_hansen2005

After being asked for about the fifth time in 5 days if I have a blog, I think I just might give it a shot. It must be some sort of sign, an end to those long travel emails sent to everyone in my address book. I think I’ll keep the entries short and sweet, I know I sometimes don’t even want to read a blog entry longer than 2 paragraphs…but maybe that speaks more to my attention span than yours.
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Flashpacking my way through Central America Easier said than done…

Panama, Panama

I was recently introduced to this concept by Albert, a fellow traveler. This is apparently not a new concept as it already has a Wikipedia entry and references on the most respected travel blogs. I think this is as accurate a description as you could come by for me. I’m a paradox in what I’m finding a land of contradictions. This whole trip seems to be laden with paradoxically comedic travel experiences. Now where was I, yes, explaining “flashpacking”. A “flashpacker” is different from a backpacker primarily because they have more disposable income and are travelling on a larger budget. They tend to use public transportation, backpacks, and stay in hostels. They have the best toys on the market, small laptops (so they don’t have to travel with that clunky MacBook Pro), SLR digital cameras, iPods, iPads, iPhones…you name it! Where your poor college backpacker is cooking all their own meals and trying to live off of $100 a week including lodging, a flashpacker enjoys more meals out and participates in more activities like zip lining and snorkeling tours. I personally like to travel light and do some local shopping as well.

After flashpacking my way through Europe last summer, I’m finding flashpacking in Central America to be much different. Using more buses than trains, adhering to my “No Shorts…Ever” rule is proving harder than I imagined. The roads are often unpaved and schleping my backpack through poverty stricken, depressed towns I feel like more of a flasher than a packer. It’s probably time to dust off the one pair of VERY long shorts I did bring. Crap, I was planning to ditch them in hopes of fitting one more new dress in my suitcase.


permalink written by  kate_hansen2005 on July 1, 2010 from Panama, Panama
from the travel blog: Confessions of a Flashpacker, A California Girl’s Search for the Perfect Beach…
tagged Flashpacker
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Tropicbird…more like Tropicturd

Portobelo, Panama


My face hurts
So I met Captain Julian at my hostel and he seemed so laid back and easy-going. His price was a little higher per night than a hostel, but I thought, “Wow, I’ll be getting a sailing experience!” I promptly agree to a 2 day sailing cruise in the San Blas Islands. 2 days later, we haven’t even gotten 2 hours from the Panama coast due to engine problems. Suddenly 2 days looks like it’ll turn into more like 5, which I guess is just as well, this was the leg of my Panama trip that I was most anticipating.

Except the trip has been a bit too odd. The roach-infested Tropicbird is really more like a Tropicturd, and laid-back Captain Julian has quickly become Captain Jekyll. You might manage to boil some water between swats with your chanclas at the cucarachas (seriously, did they really follow me here?). Like most sailing trips, you have to work, but the captain has given us no instruction and gets angry at the drop of a hat when something is done incorrectly. The sailing cruise has turned into a horrible family vacation where dad is in a bad mood and threatens to pull the car over. Actually I wish that he would pull this boat over, but at this point we’re off the grid and at the mercy of time and the captain, so I’m hoping Wednesday morning comes quickly! I haven’t used the internet since last Thursday, so there’s probably some family member somewhere thinking I’m lost at sea. No, I’m just lost to the mercy of a self-righteous captain with a dilapidated boat, same difference. After throwing up not once, not twice, but three times on the way to the Chichime Islands and getting 2nd degree burns (no joke) on my face while in the shade, the end unfortunately can’t come soon enough. I’m counting the hours.



permalink written by  kate_hansen2005 on July 2, 2010 from Portobelo, Panama
from the travel blog: Confessions of a Flashpacker, A California Girl’s Search for the Perfect Beach…
tagged Tropicturd and CaptainJekyll
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The Coconut Business is Booming…The Kuna Yala, native people of the San Blas Islands

San Blas Islands, Panama


Mola and Bracelets

Kuna Yala man in dugout boat

Kuna Yala dugout boat

Kuna Yala hut on Chichime Island
The Kuna Yala do not like the name San Blas Islands since it was given by the Spanish and prefer simply Kuna Yala. The 55,000 population are autonomous and have their own strict laws. Among these, intermarrying is prohibited and no one who is not a Kuna may own property. Each village has three chiefs, or Sailas, who hold authority in the village, and three Caciques rule the nation. Of the Caciques, one will be elected supreme leader of the Kuna Nation. While the islands have no electricity (and certainly no huts littered with satellite dishes), they do get drinking water using an underground system from the mainland.

Coconuts are their main item of trade, and every coconut even on the beach belongs to someone. I met a Coconut Guard today and he informed me that it is his job to watch the coconuts on one stretch of Chichime Island for 4 months. After that time he will be replaced, and then sent to guard a different grove of coconuts. While he must have been exaggerating, he told me that his stretch of the island will produce one to two thousand coconuts, that Colombian boats will purchase for $15 each. If this is true, I need to invest in an island outside of the Kuna nation!

The Kunas hold “congreso” to discuss community issues and enforce laws and penalties. Breaking Kuna law can result in being penalized by filling barrels with coral remnants to be used for landfill (again, that pesky global warming is slowly turning small islands into mere shoals). One Kuna man received 10 barrels of landfill as punishment for hitting his wife. After complaining that his aggression was provoked by his wife, she received the same punishment.

Once or twice a year the Kuna have a spiritual celebration called the “chicha” ritual. An intoxicating sugarcane beverage is brewed for months ahead using a special press. The “chicha” is then drunk in the “chicha hut”, tourists lucky enough to be in the area are welcome to partake. I think the chicha would help the pain of my pinche 3rd degree burns, but alas I saw no chicha brewing during my trek around the island today.

The Kuna Yala also stitch “molas” which are Panama’s most famous handicraft, in addition to intricate beaded bracelets. The women paddle by each visiting boat, dressed in embroidered fabric, wrists heavy with beaded bracelets, noses pierced in the middle, and look to bargain their perfect souvenirs to arriving travelers.

Interestingly enough, the Kuna is a matrilineal society in which the women control the money and chose their husbands (who could ask for anything more?). Transvestites are also common, and are often accompanied by children to make the role even more convincing. Homosexuality refreshingly has no stigma here.

This place just keeps getting better and better! I feel so lucky that I’ve gotten to see firsthand that places like this still exist! But if you’re not Kuna, don’t expect to raise your children here. Now, about buying my own island…


permalink written by  kate_hansen2005 on July 2, 2010 from San Blas Islands, Panama
from the travel blog: Confessions of a Flashpacker, A California Girl’s Search for the Perfect Beach…
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Cocos and Ed Hardy

San Blas Islands, Panama


Coco the pet iguana
On the island of Chichime I meet a Kuna boy who looks to be about 15, but is probably older since the Kuna are rivaled in their small stature only by the pygmy. He’s only visiting and lives in Panama City selling cell phones. He has his pet iguana on a small leash wrapped around his wrist. His iguana (or ari in Kuna) is named Coco and is about 4 months old with a short tail. His other pet iguana, who was not invited on this paradise island vacation, bit Coco’s tail off. Coco seems relieved to get a vacation.

As he walks off I notice he is wearing an Ed Hardy-esque hat, a coat of arms for douche bags everywhere, and I wonder how things like that end up on this little island. At only 800 meters in perimeter and boasting 4 families inhabiting it, I see some of the oddest things…like Ed Hardy hats, and Tom Cruise brand jeans. It’s curious how pop culture even seeps in at these far reaches.


permalink written by  kate_hansen2005 on July 3, 2010 from San Blas Islands, Panama
from the travel blog: Confessions of a Flashpacker, A California Girl’s Search for the Perfect Beach…
tagged EdHardy, Chichime, Coco and Kuna
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Winner, Winner, Lobster Dinner

San Blas Islands, Panama


Lobster, their last meal will be our best...

Lobster

Winner, Winner, Lobster Dinner
The Kuna men paddle by in their dugout boats several times a day selling various fresh catches. After twice refusing, we manage to negotiate $25 for 2 big lobsters and 2 medium lobsters. I refuse to take part in their boiling, and after watching Julie and Julia last night, I’m quite convinced that if I boil them to death they will come leaping out at me. I will not be a lobster killer. But after the lunch of canned Salmon, mayonnaise with potato salad (I say this because there was a higher mayonnaise to anything ratio in this salad of nastiness), and cold baked beans, murdered lobster is sounding delectable. Here’s hoping the baby cockroaches infesting the kitchen don’t get to it first…36 hours!

~~~~~~~~~

The fresh-from-the-sea-to-my-plate lobster was delicious! By far the best meal we’ve had so far, probably because we actually ate fresh seafood and prepared it without the Captain. I knew Captain Jekyll was going to lose his shit when we put the cutting board with the lobster onto his precious newly-painted deck to crack it open. After working for a long time to pry the meat lose, we finally ate and I now understand why lobster is so expensive in restaurants. All the Captain could say was that it was just okay, blah blah blah lobster is overrated blah blah blah. But of course his meal of mayonnaise salad and baked beans was absolutely delicious…what is wrong with that man? He sure makes for some entertaining blog entries though!


permalink written by  kate_hansen2005 on July 4, 2010 from San Blas Islands, Panama
from the travel blog: Confessions of a Flashpacker, A California Girl’s Search for the Perfect Beach…
tagged Lobster and JulieAndJulia
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They say the third time’s the charm…

San Blas Islands, Panama


The SS Tropicturd
The comedy of errors that is the SS Tropicturd helmed by Captain Ginge continued today on our journey to Dog Island, which actually ended up being a longer journey to the Lemon Islands. I’m calling him Captain Ginge today because of his obvious hair color, and it best matches his salty, snarly British personality.

Upon arriving at Dog Island, Arnud advised Captain Ginge not to drop anchor because we were on corral, but he of course would not listen. Then not 2 minutes later he screams at Arnud to bring the anchor back up. He decides we cannot anchor at Dog Island and must instead go to the Lemons. That was easier said than done, and we had to circle all around the atoll and radio another boat for directions before successfully anchoring. Once anchored, the fishing line was completely tangled in the propeller…so much for fish for lunch. I’m starting to question our fearless leader’s abilities.


permalink written by  kate_hansen2005 on July 6, 2010 from San Blas Islands, Panama
from the travel blog: Confessions of a Flashpacker, A California Girl’s Search for the Perfect Beach…
tagged CaptainGinge and LemonIslands
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The Lemons, paradise found (with internet!)

San Blas Islands, Panama


The perfect beach

Lemon Island hut

Paradise found

We reach the picturesque Lemon Islands and drop anchor surrounded by about 10 islands. We paddled out to the reef off of one of the islands, and enjoyed some spectacular snorkeling thanks to the clear water and amazing weather. It’s better than Belize with a wider variety of fish and coral, but minus the sharks and rays. If only we could have been here all these 5 days.

~~~~~~

When Captain Ginge started plucking his nose hairs, I knew it was time to venture away from the boat once again. Anne and I rowed to the island across from Elephant Island (the one with the internet and big screen TV showing the World Cup) and found the most perfect beach. The beach I’ve been looking for all my life…it even had a hammock overlooking it. White sand, crystal clear turquoise water, palm trees, you name it! But this doesn’t mean the search stop, oh no, it’s just begun!


Snorkeling off the Lemon Islands

Snorkeling off the Lemon Islands 2

permalink written by  kate_hansen2005 on July 6, 2010 from San Blas Islands, Panama
from the travel blog: Confessions of a Flashpacker, A California Girl’s Search for the Perfect Beach…
tagged LemonIslands, NoseHairs and ElephantIsland
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Anne and Arnud, restoring my faith in the French

San Blas Islands, Panama

It’s been a long time coming, but at last my faith has been restored. At the risk of sounding totally American, I used to dislike the French as a rule. It has a lot to do with being robbed by a group of French hoodlums (did I just use that word?) 10 years ago. So when they approached me and encouraged me to join them aboard the Tropicturd I took a leap of faith. I will no longer think badly of the French, in fact I’m considering going back as a tourist.

They are so lovely that they’ve actually continued to be nice to Captain Jekyll to his face, while I throw in sarcastic comments or just try to avoid speaking to him all together. I knew I would like them as soon as Arnud told me with a chuckle that he’s a merchant seaman. Their English is not very strong, and my French is non-existant, so we often speak Spanish, which turns out to be the perfect language in which to complain about Captain Jekyll without him catching on. Not only that, they’re the type of couple that is low-maintenance and no-fuss, come to think of it I hope I’m not restoring their dislike for Americans!


permalink written by  kate_hansen2005 on July 7, 2010 from San Blas Islands, Panama
from the travel blog: Confessions of a Flashpacker, A California Girl’s Search for the Perfect Beach…
tagged French, Anne and Arnud
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