The Hometown Visitor

San Blas from the Air

They say that San Blas has an island for every day of the year. Most of the islands are just little hiccups of sand a few feet above sea level with some coconut trees just rolling in the light Caribbean breeze. Others are covered with huts nearly stacked on top of each other where the natives live. A beautiful destination no matter how you look at it. The only trouble is… how to get there?

It is possible to drive there in the dry season –a long haul over tortuous road.

Dwellings crowd together on one of the populated islands.

We opted for a 45 minute plane ride. Lucky enough for us, a close friend owns a small plane and so, we met at 7:00 AM at the Marcus A. Gelabert airport for an early departure.

The weather was perfect. No clouds, light wind and unlimited visibility. The Cessna 175 was out of the hanger and anxious to fly promptly at 7:00 AM. We flew over Panama City towards the east and then cut over the mountains direct to the San Blas Islands. After flying over some of the islands, we made our way to Porvenir.

Vista de las viviendas agrupadas en una de las islas.

Porvenir is a small island, with an even smaller airstrip that covers the length of the island with some plane wreckage off the end that you can see through the clear blue water. We took the quick dime tour by walking around the island, going for a swim and having a quaint snack and coffee at the Hotel Porvenir.

We then decided to go for a scenic air tour of the historic coastline. We did some loops around Porto Bello and Isla Grande, slowly making our way up and over Colon and the Free Zone. When we reached Colon, we hung a left and flew right over the canal and Gatun Lake. Spectacular views were had the entire way.

We returned to Gelabert in the late afternoon. A day to remember.