A brief trip to paradise

Last you heard I was in Bocas Del Toro, Panama - a place with heaploads of angry people - the government is selling off lots of land to foreigners, causing prices to rise, lives to be disrupted, and people to be generally unhappy. From chatting with people, it looks like only 2-3 years ago cars were a rarity on the main island - i.e. one every half hour - while there's still no gridlock, it's easy to see the the way of life is changing for all the locals. The ambience is therefore not excellent, as everyone is annoyed that you're there, or trying to make a fast buck. Ah well.

From there I headed to San Blas - a territory governed by the Kuna - an Indigenous group that gained autonomy in the early 20th century. The territory includes the San Blas Islands (my destination) - a group of approximately 365 islands, most of which are super-tiny and filled with palm trees, white sand and the occasional shell. They're surrounded by the clearest water one could possibly imagine. In other words - paradise.