Five in the morning is very early to wake up. In some parts, it´s early even to go to bed, so the San Blas islands had better be worth waking up at this ungodly hour for. They were thankfully, although we only stayed a night on the islands, more happened in that day than would normally occur in a week.

After getting a jeep from Panama city to the river to wait for a boat to take us to the islands, we witnessed another jeep speed off the bank and jump into the river. Apparently the driver was trying to brake but accidently slammed down the accelator by accident, though our guide guessed otherwise that he was trying to scare the other passengers by stopping as close to the edge as possible. Thankfully no-one was hurt but I don´t know what happened to the other tourists who had to wait hours for another jeep but were still going to be taken back by the same driver.

The islands are inhabited by an indiginous group called the Kunas. Apparently they are very traditional and generally wary of tourists, however this didn´t seem to be the case when the tourists bring snacks or cigarettes with them.

Just after we arrived, we set off to a more remote island with white sand beaches and warm seas. Shortly afterwards, the rain came in and we had the experience of swimming in a downpour. Later the guides came back for their spear fishing and took us out to fish a bit more before it got dark. They didn´t let us use the spear guns unsuprisingly, but we were able to go snorkling and see a barracuda get speared only a few meters away from where I was swimming.