Panama City is on the Pacific side of the isthmus, and we were to sail from Colon, on the Caribbean side. So we were in for a wild bus ride right across the isthmus, in the process crossing the Continental Divide. For anyone familiar with the Divide in Montana and Wyoming, at over 8000 feet, Panama's version was a complete non-event - 300 feet! Didn't even have to shift the bus to a lower gear! Incidentally, Colon, on the Caribbean coast, is farther west than Panama City on the Pacific.

We left Colon and sailed east then south to the San Blas Islands. I'm sure everyone has a movie-induced vision of Pacific Islands - lowlying islands with coconut palms, sandy beaches, canoes. Well that's what we saw, but in the Caribbean. The Pacific Islands were something completely different.

The San Blas are populated by the Cuna tribe, who were originally refugees from mistreatment in Colombia. The archipelago consists of three areas; the mainland, the inner islands and the outer islands. Most of the tribesmen live on the inner islands which are incredibly crowded and have no land suitable for crops, nor any fresh water.

So early in the morning families set out in their canoes for the mainland. Some of their trips are 20 miles or more. The more affluent (relatively speaking) may have outboards (almost all Yamahas) the others sail or paddle. The men work in their gardens or tend their chickens or pigs; the women wash clothes, gather food and fresh water, the children, like kids everywhere, play. By noon the women and children are usually home again, but the men stay longer.

The people are mainly self-governing, and take care of their own problems. There is a council meeting daily and complaints are dealt with promptly. If Juan complains that a neighbor looked at his wife today, the neighbor will be criticized; but if Juan complains the neighbor looked at his wife last week, Juan is judged a trouble-maker who probably has something sneaky in mind.

The two greatest crops among the islands are cocoanuts and kids. Accordingly, when a palm hut gets too crowded a few of the family are sent to the outer islands to tend the cocoanut trees. They are rotated back with the family after a few months and another group sent out.

One of the greatest tourist industries is the making of "molas". These are squares of brilliant colored cloth appliqued with geometric designs. Tourists can't resist them. They are a part of the clothes of a well-dressed Cuna woman, along with a long skirt, blouse and beads wrapped around legs and arms. Many of the older women add a black streak down the center of the forehead and nose, also they smoke long clay pipes. Men usually wear shorts and t-shirts.

The Cunas are a matriarchal society, and Rose says that's why they are such peaceful people. (She says!) Grandma rules the hut and picks the husbands for daughters and grand-daughters. She can also throw a guy out, and if she does, he acquires a reputation and it's difficult for him to find another wife.

Little girls are trained rigorously from the age of six in sewing and housewifely things. Little boys get no discipline at all; they'll get plenty when they're married.

The people live in palm huts, no floors and no "modern conveniences" - except for one enterprising young man that we met. We first noticed a TV antenna at the peak of his hut, and as we walked around it, discovered a solar panel on the roof. He proudly invited us in to see his grandest possessions - two battery-powered television sets, one black and white, the other color. He could only receive two channels, but he had some video tapes and charged the villagers to watch them. He also had a "very modern kitchen", a four burner gas range with a propane tank. "Fried chicken - very good!" From somewhere he had acquired some mismatched six-inch ceramic tiles and laid them on his sandy floor. "Very easy sweep!"

I could go on at much greater length about these admirable people who seem so destitute to us. But they don't consider themselves poor; they have plenty to eat, shelter when it rains, no heating problems, no interference from the Federal Government, and a serene way of life.