San Blas Islands

How to make a boat trip from Colombia to Panama great? Take one 107 year old boat, 18 passengers from across the globe, mountains of fabulous fresh food, gallons of rum, packs of Cuban cigars, and a nutty German Capitan that we ended up naming "Nude-wig".

We arrived at the wharf on day one at 8am, dropped our bags with a giant man with a receding hairline and a long blonde pony tail who was to be one of the captain's quirky but very capable henchmen. We got a few supplies from the nearby supermarket which mostly consisted of alcohol and headed back to the wharf to be ferried across to our floating home for the next few days.

Once aboard I realised our boat was really a ship. It was 107 years old with only 85% of the 40m hull being original (the other 15% probably rusted away). The Stahlratte boat (meaning "Steel Rat" in Dutch) was originally a fishing trawler which later became a Greenpeace boat, and was later purchased by a foundation and is now run part time as a sailing vessel between Panama and Colombia.

Our sleeping quarters were in what used to be the old storage hold for fish when the boat was originally a fishing trawler, now appropriately nicknamed the "fish room". Comfortably sleeping 18 people with a huge open plan area between the rooms we were set for a spacious and comfortable journey.

Once we were under way and motoring out to sea most of the guys helped the giant Austrian "Rolly" to hoist the 4 huge sails. 30 minutes later, under the orders of Captain Ludwig, we were starting to roll along nicely, rising up and pushing the heavy bow easily through the waves, signalling our embarkation upon open seas.

Turns out "calm seas" are still to rough for some people, as three people on board retired to the bedrooms very quickly only to be occasionally seen later vomiting overboard. The rest of us seemed to have no problems and proceeded to celebrate our ocean voyage with a healthy amount of beer.

We woke up the next morning to a breakfast feast of freshly prepared fruits, warm breads, savoury scrambled eggs, cut meats, and drinks. After breakfast we managed to catch a decent sized king-fish which was stored away for the beach BBQ. We even managed to see dolphins swimming around the bow of the boat, playfully rising up and punching through the surface into the air and then disappearing again below the waves.

We arrived at an idealistic spot in the San Blas Islands amongst three islands and four reefs, perfect for exploring with mask and snorkel. After another amazing feast for lunch we entered the warm clear water. We split into different groups and a few of us headed to a distant reef to explore the local sea life for a couple of hours. I was not expecting the sea life here to be abundant around the islands but I was pleasantly surprised. We swam with a good variety of small and large fish with a lot of them being rich in vibrant colours. The quantity of corals and starfish were also impressive with a wide array of types, shapes and sizes. On the way back to the boat we followed a large eagle ray with a 3m tail that topped off my first San Blas snorkelling experience.

That evening began with celebratory beers (of our arrival to the islands) followed by sufficient quantities of rum to make us feel like Pirates aboard our old Pirate ship. Our crew broke out the Cuban cigars acquired from their recent sailing trip to Cuba and we continued to enjoy witty banter, cigars, and good rum, into the small hours of the morning. Rolly decided to involve us in an April fools joke on the Captain which involved us all climbing down into the silent engine room while he and Nicole (the other crew member) began to noisily hoist the anchor and start the ship's engine. The Captain awoke thinking the drunken idiots he had agreed to ferry to Panama had somehow wandered into the engine room and fired it up. He came running down through the bedrooms and threw open the main engine room door to be greeted with us all yelling in unison "April fools!". To our surprise we quickly realised that the Captain was standing there in the doorway completely naked! Well, at least we now knew how seriously he cared about the boat and keeping us safe. After that incident we renamed the Captain "Nude-Wig".

The next day we attempted to cure our hangovers by drinking in the ocean through our eyes by spending most of the day exploring the remaining reefs and islands around the boat. We were lucky enough to see a number of lion-fish, colourful corals, more eagle rays, schools of large fish, and many enormous starfish.

In the early evening we headed out on the zodiac to the closest island for a bonfire and BBQ of king-fish. This night was a tamer one spent talking and laughing around the fire while we drank beers and rum. Two Swiss-French guys decided to swim nude back to the boat together which made me question their "straightness", while half the boat later followed suit without the nakedness.

The next morning we sadly said good-bye to our crew and ship and were loaded packs-and-all into a small boat and were taken up a river through the jungle to meet with 4WD jeeps ready to drive us to Panama City. Our adventure did not stop once we left the boat, as our small boat stranded itself upon a sandbank and had to be pushed off by a few of the guys who were game enough to get out into the crocodile infested waters. The jeep ride had us bouncing along a dirt road and crashing through rivers followed by ascending and descending the steepest roads I have ever been on. An exciting end to such a relaxing trip.

Four days on the boat had been an amazing experience appealing to all my senses. I love the ocean and being immersed in it for so long was paradise. I will fondly remember the remote and idyllic palm tree covered islands of the San Blas and hope one day to return.