Contrasts within the country… the USA is said to be a land of contrasts and so is Panama. Having spent several days in the land of the Kuna as well as Bocas Del Toro was educational. Both areas are on the Caribbean, both are poor (in relative terms) and both bracket the Mosquito Coast.

Bocas is populated by a combination of indigenous tribes, African slaves and Jamaicans. The main language spoken is Creole, a mix of several languages. The locals live in built up towns of wooden homes on the edge of the sea or in mangrove swamps, filthy and run down. The average income appears to be quite low with most of the cash coming from tourism. We visited on New Year’s Eve but I have the feeling the party atmosphere dominates the main town of Bocas all year long. The visitors are a mix of dreadlocked surfers and preppy beachgoers who alternate between laying in hammocks and bar hoping with countless numbers of each to choose from. The food was quite good but the average waiting time for a meal was about an hour from point of ordering, fine if you’ve nothing to do and nowhere to go but otherwise it pretty much sucks. Boca a great place to chase girls and get drunk and not necessarily in that order. Using water taxis to bar hop was a new experience for me. Racing back to our hotel after midnight in an open speed boat crashing over the swells and waiting to see if it takes a wave wrong was also new for me. A bit of an adrenalin rush to be sure. So my basic impression of Bocas is… old style, poor, hoping sailor town, a great place to go whoring and drinking or equally to simply vanish from the world. This is a place that would serve fine as a modern day set for a new Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

The Kuna to the East are an entirely different story. The Kuna, following an uprising in the 20’s, gained semi-autonomy. Several years ago they took the seemingly drastic measure of kicking out all foreigners living in or owning property (everyone not Kuna) they did this without paying for the land they recovered. This has allowed them tremendous control over their future. Where Bocas is fighting the loss of one of their best beaches (Red Frog Beach) to a large development the Kuna face no such issues. To outward appearances the Kuna appear every bit as poor as the Bocas locals, poorer even. But what the Kuna have achieved is sustainability and defacto independence. The tourist islands they manage are operated as non-profits and benefit the village not individuals. The vegetables served to the tourists are brought in which eliminates artificial price spikes to locally grown produce. They harvest coconuts and sell them to the Columbians. They have a relatively nice school are travel as far as Panama City to sell handicrafts. What I admire about the Kuna is that if tourism vanished overnight they would continue on with minimal disruption. While they use outboard motors to ferry visitors to the islands most of their fishing is done from hand paddled dugout canoes. The manage fish stocks to avoid overfishing. The jungle for 100’s of miles around their land is trackless and seemingly impenetrable.

Two populations in relatively close proximity yet worlds apart. The Kuna have a system worth study and imitation. They have much to offer other populations living sustainably in potentially prime tourist locations like the Hindu Kush and Karakorum.