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Comarca de Kuna Yala consists of over 360
islands strung out on the Pacific coast
of Panama. They are independently run by
the Kuna, with a separate government, language,
customs and culture. Kuna women make the
famous colorful, handstiched applique textiles
called molas. Marty wanted to visit San
Blas, where the Kuna live, to see if we
could get a good deal on molas. Unfortunately,
the high number of tourists dumped off on
cruise ships three to four times a week
have eliminated any mercado-like pricing.
Supposedly when the cruise ships visit,
the number of people on the islands can
triple, leaving barely enough room for anyone
to turn around. However, unlike the cruise
ship visitors, we drove to the end of the
most difficult road in Panama.
We found the turn to San Blas at N09°13.502'
W078°57.889' with some help from the
locals. It got dark, drizzley, and muddier
the further we drove into the mountains.
Even with the help of our great IPF flood
lights, we weren't familiar enough with
the road to keep enough speed up one huge
hill. When I stepped out of the truck I
almost fell as the mud was like ice. Just
as I was pulling out our WARN winch cable,
a jeep with five muddy guys in fatigues
stopped just in front of Rover. They said
we could winch to their jeep. They helped
us over the next hump and then let their
jeep roll down the hill to get it started
again as their battery was dead. We gave
them the rest of our cold beers in the cooler
and many thanks. We winched to a tree to
get over the next bump and Marty plowed
through to the top. They told us this was
the worst part of the road and that we could
find Cabinas for rent just 5 minutes up
the hill. We pulled into the Kuna Yala institute
and met Havoline who said we could park
there and even spend the night in their
home. We stayed the night in the truck,
but agreed to give him a ride to the end
of the road the next day. The road ends
at an airport strip. There were many Kunas
waiting for a four wheel drive taxi to take
them to Panama City. They charged us $5
for driving on the landing strip and $5
for 3 pictures.
Not only did we lose a shock bushing on
the road to San Blas, we also realized one
of our new rear Old Man Emu shocks, that
Marty replaced in Guatemala was already
shot. Try finding heavy duty shocks for
a Defender in Panama. With no Old Man Emus
or Bilstiens to be found we resorted to
genuine Land Rover parts.
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