the Kuna Indians of Kuna Yala, Panama
I felt really different, here. Well, all the people were very nice and I felt different because I have
never seen so many children. They all wanted to follow us around. I saw pretty clothes. The Kuna women had scarves on their heads and Mola dresses on them. We even bought a Mola from them, one for me and one for my mom. They had gold noserings and bracelets covering their legs and arms. They are dark skinned and not very tall. They were like four inches taller than me.
The guy who was taking us around town, Martinez, showed us all around. The houses were made out of bamboo and palm fronds. The people didn’t have any cars, they only walked and the ground was only made out of dirt. Instead of cars they take dugout canoes to go to work. The pathways between the homes was like one huge place where you would get lost – a giant
maze. Some people tried to pick my brother up and he did not like it. Some girls played with my hair, which made me feel weird. Lots of them followed us, whenever there was a bunch of kids, then there was a whole troop of kids following.
Their bathrooms are made out of bamboo and hang over the water. They poop right into the ocean. We didn’t swim in those spots.
The Kuna Expressway is when they take their dugout canoes going every which way in the
morning. We would sit on the boat and watch them. The canoes were all very different and some even had dogs in them. All were different colors, my favorite was a green and yellow one. They were carrying food, gravel, coconuts and all sorts of stuff in them.
In Puerto Escoses there was one big huge mean crocodile. Chomp! Like he had really big teeth. I felt a little bit scared. Especially at night, I thought he was going to come on board eat me up. We didn’t swim there anymore after that.
Ratones Cays has a lovely beach where you can swim and play and a cool coral reef. Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty! The sand is pretty white and soft. Hermit crabs are fun to play with there too. A big jellyfish washed up on shore so that I could study it and not get stung. I was swimming along with Ariel and her friend blue Flounder and I saw a Flounder fish that I thought was sand going side to side. I studied it for a while and figured out that it was a fish just like in Finding Nemo with eyes on top of his head.
Hello Ella and the rest of the gang
Thanks for sharing those nice stories about your trip. All sounds (and smells) wonderful!
Tell your Dad and Mom that I really like the “spot” link that allows us to see where your boat is currently sailing. Now (Oct 26, 5:40 pm Mt time) you guys are (were) somewhere off the coast of Nicaragua (post #50)…pretty cool! We wish we could join you in this journey, especially to catch (and eat) some of those big Mahi Mahi!!
Saludos a todos,
Franco & Jane Basile
Wow, what an amazing journey! We think about you often and hope that you are experiencing wonderful adventures everyday!
I love your storys I already know that if you were in my school you would get all 4s
your friend, Grace Carven