It was a long hard slog up to Ustupu, but we
eventually arrived and dropped anchor in the main anchoring area. Sv Dalyan –
Meric, had arrived the day earlier, and he came over to our boat to welcome us
and to pass on some information about Ustupu. We noticed as we were entering Ustupu,
how many of the Guna Revolutionary flags were flying. A little later the
officials arrived asking for the anchoring fee and insisted we buy a Guna
revolutionary flag, as the month of February was their celebration month. We
were in a delicate situation so thought we’d fly the flag while we were in
Ustupu to respect their culture BUT it will be taken down asap.
The revolutionary flag is the second Guna
flag and was created by Waga Ebingili at age 11. Apparently, he had a dream of
a flag with three red stripes, a white centre, and a black cross and shared his
dream with his grandfather. They interpreted its meaning:
- Red Stripes: Represent the blood spilled by Guna
fighters during the revolution.
- White Stripe: Signifies the peace and purity that the
Guna people uphold as a guiding principle.
- Black Cross: Reflects the suffering of those who fought
against oppression.
Later, the white stripe was replaced by
yellow to represent prosperity. Today, the Guna Revolution Flag remains widely
recognized across Panama. Although some find the black cross controversial, it
purely represents the Guna people’s struggle for justice and unity.
The ‘swastika’ on the Guna Yala flag
aligns with the counterclockwise version, connecting it to themes of balance,
cosmic cycles, and harmony with nature. Guna Yala flag of San Blas, Panama,
with its counterclockwise ‘swastika’ (卍), or the ‘swastika’ represents the night and karma. Information taken from Wikipedia
We had decided to stop off at Ustupu due to the
awful weather predicted for the next few days. Ustupu anchorage offered
protection from the expected 35 plus knot winds coming from the NW North and
NE, plus the swell, as we were behind the island. We knew we could buy the odd
fresh veggie, freshly baked bread rolls and there were several local
restaurants. Ustupu is made up of two islands joined together by a few bridges,
plus there is a small airport and we would often hear a small aircraft preparing
to land, as the anchorage was in the flight path. In fact, there are quite a
few small airports on the various islands in Guna Yala. Some are old remnants
from WWII, that were built by the U.S.A.
We ended up spending a week anchored in Ustupu.
The current weather patterns have been very unusual for this time of year, even
the local Guna people are complaining as there has been plenty of rain. This
time of the year is usually their dry season. Some Guna people have been saying
that it is cold – well we are not complaining as at least it hasn’t been hot
and humid.
What has been fascinating to watch are the men
going out in their ulus (dug-out canoes) to their fields, regardless of the
weather conditions. Many people do not have outboard engines, so they row out
across the bay to some of the outlying islands. We watched three men rowing out
across the bay that we had motored across, in swells I would not have felt
comfortable in, sitting in Passages, let alone in a little dugout canoe.
We saw some youngsters enjoying themselves in an ulu.
They rowed out to the middle of the anchorage/bay and then jump overboard, then
scrabbled to catch the side of the ulu as it drifted down stream. We thought
they were mad as the waters were not great. We didn’t attempt to make any water
while we were in Ustupu as like in many islands, toilets are situated along the
water’s edge and the odd time we would see some ‘interesting’ things floating
along. It didn’t take long for Passages hull
to look dirty.
Many people, mostly the Guna women, make mola’s. (We
saw the odd man making a mola). We had been shown a few mola’s on the various
islands that we had visited so far. The women wear mola’s across their chest
and waist areas. Some are extremely elaborate and either have geometrical
designs on them or birds/wildlife found in these parts. Most of them are done
by hand although I did see a very old Singer sewing machine being used. Seeing
the sewing machine brought back memories as I learnt how to sew at school using
one of those machines.
Ustupu is a very significant and important
village in the Guna Yala culture, as it played a significant part in the
Revolution of 1925 and one of the founding members and leaders, Nele Kantule
was born in Ustupu and is now buried on the island that was behind us, in the
anchorage.
On our
last day/evening in the Ustupu anchorage, we had a little bit of excitement. We
were at the restaurant on the ‘waterfront’, when we noticed a sail going past
the entrance to the anchorage. The yacht put down anchor under sail, which was
rather impressive. Pandemonium erupted – the officials and locals sitting along
the dockside (which there were many and seem to be there the whole day) became
very animated and asked us if we could tell the recently arrived yacht to move.
The reason for the drama was that they had dropped their anchor right in front
of the water tower, which is fed from the mainland via a pipe on the seabed. We
knew that many islands have water towers and it is a cardinal sin to drop
anchor right in front of the water tower.
We dinghied over to the boat to inform the two
guys, Steve, originally from Perth Australia and Patrick from the USA, about
the locals wanted them to move their yacht. They told us their engine had died
on them and they had spent the whole night bobbing along, waiting for good
light to enter the anchorage. By this time, the officials had come over so
Steve and Patrick explained to them what had happened. The officials were quick
to hook them up and move them further up the anchorage.
This wasn’t the end of the ‘drama’ – while I was
drying the dishes after dinner, I was peering out the galley/kitchen porthole
when I said to Mel, ‘I think Steve’s boat is dragging’. Mel popped his head
outside to look and sure enough, the yacht was dragging, heading towards Dalyan
– Meric’s boat. Mel sounded the hooter and flashed the huge spotlight we have
onto Steve’s boat, as they were none the wiser. Meric responded quite quickly
to the sound of the hooter and saw what was about to happen. Steve’s boat
collided with Meric’s, but we later found out that no damage was caused.
Steve tied his boat alongside Meric’s for the
night. The following morning, before we left the anchorage, Meric towed Steve
further up the anchorage, making sure he had let out enough chain to prevent
his boat from dragging, before Meric also left the anchorage
After being in the Ustupu anchorage for a week,
we left for Mamitupu anchorage, while Meric left for further up the island
chain. We had to motor the 6NM to Mamitupu as the winds were from the bow and
we were limited by the surrounding reefs. We knew that the next few days there
was some more unsettled weather, so we didn’t want to move too far.
I have mentioned this a few times that Passages
is a heavy boat, so she doesn’t handle swell when under motor. We knew we would
not be able to make any anchorage further west with the current winds and
swells.
We had only been in Mamitupu anchorage for about
15 minutes, when another boat Ara, anchored slightly further along. Nancy and
Steve from Camden in Maine came over to us for a cup of tea and we had a good
chin wag. They were planning on only staying in the anchorage for a night
before heading further down towards Isla Pinos, where we had recently been.
We ended up staying in Mamitupu for a week, due
to the weather and the awful swells. While we were anchored a few boats
anchored alongside us. Some were going further down the island chain, while
others were like us slowly making their way up the chain.
It was good to have some company. We met
Christophe and Benedikte, French Canadians who were making their way to
Cartagena. John from the USA, Steve and Helena from the U.K (the creators of
NFL), and Carla and Volker from Glucksberg, Germany – near the Danish border.
In Mamitupu, Pablo is a well-known individual as
he is mentioned in the various books and apps. He speaks English and was once
married to an English woman and lived in North London for over 6 years.
According to all the information on Mamitupu, Pablo ran the coconut press which
extracted coconut oil from coconuts after they have been shredded by hand. It
was a ‘must see’ if you stopped off in Mamitupu. Unfortunately, the coconut
presses were not working. Since we knew we would be in the anchorage for a few days
(it ended up being 8 days due to the awful weather) Mel offered to look at them
both but promising Pablo nothing. Anyway, Mel was able to get one of the
presses going but unfortunately the other one was beyond repair. It was quite
frustrating as Mel had to contend with island time mentality and time frame.
We eventually left Mamitupu and meandered our way
behind the island chain to Snug Harbour where we met up with Carla and Volker
on their beautiful cat, Momo.
As we motored towards Snug Harbour we passed a
few traditional Guna villages. One village, Ailigandi, was made famous by
Johnny Golf who was an aircraft pilot, who worked for Al Capone. He spent his
senior years hiding out in Ailigandi.
Ailigandi like Ustupu was also a significant
place during the 1925 Revolution, as its chief at the time, Simral Colman, like
Nele Kantula was one of the main leaders in the revolt.
Snug Harbour was beautiful. Your typical picture
postcard tropical island, with palm trees and reefs. The anchorage was
protected and had beautiful clean fresh water, which was a relief as we were
getting quite low in our water reserves. It was great to be making water once
again. We enjoyed the surroundings and the lovely waters, where Mel did a bit
of snorkelling and we both went for a few swims in the beautiful waters.
Snug Harbour received its name from the English
schooners that used to stop for coconuts in the days of sailing merchant ships.
After spending two nights in Snug Harbour, there
was an opportunity for us to sail, yes SAIL, further up the island chain, so we
took it. We were running very low in a few basic food stuffs, which was pretty
good considering the last time we had done any shopping, bar a few tomatoes and
bread rolls from Ustupu, was in Santa Marta. We decided to go to Rio Diablo or
Nargana before we headed for the true, tropical and touristy part of Guna Yala,
where there are the beautiful clear blue waters and white sandy beaches framed
with palm trees.
Nargana is not your traditional Guna village as
the people have decided to adopt the more western type of living and dress
code. Many of the buildings were concrete and not the traditional stick and coconut
palm construction. The anchorage was huge and quite active as there were many
boats coming and going due to the small airport. Every morning, we would see a
few small aircraft land and then take off back to Panama City. In Guna Yala,
there are chartered boats, but they are not like in other Caribbean places as
the crew are locals. You can not just charter a boat and go off sailing; you must
have a local crew. Nargana was a dropping off and collection point.
Next time, I will write a bit about the
revolution as the national day is on February 25, with huge celebrations
planned.
So……until then……Take care, keep well, and stay
safe.
Best wishes, always
Mel and Caryn
