San Blas Islands are part of Panama and it is an archipelago with around 370 islands and small sandy islands part of coral reefs. Only 49 of them are inhabited and mostly by the local Kuna Indians.
It is easy to get to.
The San Blas Islands are located in the Northwest of Panama, which borders Colombia in the East and Costa Rica in the West. You can fly from Panama straight into the San Blas Islands or you can take a boat from either Cartagena or Capurganá.
The San Blas Islands are remote but don’t feel overwhelmed by getting here.
If you don’t want to cross the jungle or open waters of the Caribbean Sea you can use a plane to get to San Blas. You can book flights at Air Panama or Aeroperlas, but make sure you book in advance.
Discover the pristine and untouched archipelagos in the world
Most of these impressively pristine islands have few roads and even fewer people. Here you can discover many new species that are unknown to the science in some of those uninhabited islands. If you are searching for that desert island feel, San Blas is the perfect destination.
San Blas is also known to have some of the best spots for snorkeling in the Caribbean of Central America. Many of the islands are ringed by healthy coral reefs and gorgeous water. The coral reef attracts many stunning species. The best time to go snorkeling is from June to October because the water visibility is better and there are fewer currents.
Photo credit: Markus Leupold-Löwenthal / Wikipedia
The Kuna People
The real name of San Blas is Kuna Yala – Land of the Kuna. The Cuna are famous for their bright molas, a colorful textile art form made with the techniques of appliqué and reverse appliqué.
About 50.000 Kuna’s live on the 49 major islands of San Blas and are controlled by their own community leader called a Sahila.
The island is picture-perfect with lapping waves, swaying palm trees, and gentle breezes and no Wi-Fi or TVs. Evenings are leisurely, with everyone relaxing and enjoying the slow Caribbean pace.
San Blas is an indigenous territory located northeast of Panama. Discover the San Blas Islands and relax in a typical rustic bungalow over water, hosted by a native Guna family. The San Blas Islands are popular with eco-tourists due to their pristine natural state.
Featured image photo credit: Marc Veraart / Flickr
Bhutan is the only country in the world to rank Gross National Happiness (GNH), above economic growth GDP. It is designed to measure and protect the collective happiness and wellbeing of the population, people’s quality of life, and makes sure that “material and spiritual development happen together.” We all always strive for happiness, and one of the main goals of our lives is to be happy, but with economic growth has on the front line, that is not easy to find the right balance. The people of Bhutan have found this balance.
In 2015, the country had a population of 760,000 inhabitants with there are three main ethnic groups: the Tshanglas, the Ngalops, and the Lhotshampas. The official language is Dzongkha, a language closely related to Tibetan and Nepali. The capital and largest city is Thimphu.
How does Bhutan measure happiness?
The country has been ranked as the happiest country in all of Asia, and the eighth Happiest Country in the world according to Business Week. In 2007, the country had the second-fastest-growing GDP in the world.
The Kingdom’s philosophy is based on four central pillars – equitable social development, cultural preservation, conservation of the environment, and promotion of good governance. It is put into practice using a 30-page questionnaire that every Bhutanese should pass, describing various indicators such as health, psychological well-being, education, pastime and hobbies, and so on.
Over five months, Bhutanese were interviewed across the country and it was concluded that GNH has grown significantly from 0.743 in 2010 to 0.756 in 2015. An indication that shows overall people’s lives are getting better.
The government has a belief that a society’s happiness should be measured not only by its material indicators but also by the health, education and contentedness of its population.
For many centuries, the kingdom has preserved much of its culture, maintaining its environment and cultural identity by avoiding globalization and staying isolated from the world. Bhutan limits the number of foreigners in the country each year, and every traveler has to pay the two hundred and fifty dollars a day fee.
The Internet, television, and western dress style were banned from the country up until the beginning of the 2000s as part of a radical plan to modernize the country. Bhutan became the last nation in the world to be introduced on television. In the past years, globalization has begun to influence Bhutanese, but things remain perfectly balanced.
This tiny country was created in 1616 as a Buddhist sanctuary from a refugee monk from Tibet. The country was so well isolated from the world and well preserved its identity. The novelist James Hilton called it Shangri-la, a secret Himalayan valley.
Bhutan is the only Buddhist Kingdom in the world – its official religion is Mahayana Buddhism. Buddhism is supported by the government both politically and economically. The government gives subsidies to Buddhist monasteries, monks, and other Buddhist programs. Buddhists also are very influential politically with a guaranteed voice in public policy.
Bhutan government has also made significant efforts to keep other major religions out of their country as promoting other major religions are not allowed in Bhutan.
The restrictions on tourism and their protection of natural resources have let the country preserve the beautiful landscape and physical country as well as their cultural identity.
The country’s economy and culture are still growing and changing, adapting to globalization, while still able to preserve its unique thousand-year-old traditions and culture.
The idea of gross national happiness was developed by Bhutan’s previous monarch, the fourth king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck.
Want to learn more about Bhutan? Check out some of our other posts about Bhutan.
Dominica is an island of volcanic origin located between the French islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique in the Eastern Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island.
Dominica has plenty to offer for vacation destinations in the Caribbean such a scuba diving, whale & dolphin watching, hiking, bird watching, exploring a pristine tropical rainforest along our Waitukubuli National Trail, discovering the unique culture or simply relaxing on one of Dominica’s secluded beaches.
Dominica enjoys a mix of cultures, African language, foods and customs mixed with European and Caribs traditions. The largest and most mountainous of the Windward Islands, it has an area of 751 sq km and it is largely covered by rainforest and is home to the world’s second-largest hot spring, the Lesser Antilles mountain with volcanic peaks of lava craters, the largest of these are Morne aux Diables, Morne Diablotins.
English is the official language, but Creole or French-based patois is still spoken by a big part of the population. The local currency is the Eastern Caribbean dollar, but you can use US dollars, which are accepted at most businesses, as well as major credit cards and traveler’s checks.
The Waitukubuli Trail located in Dominica is the longest hiking trail in the Caribbean at 115 miles. The trail showcases the best of the culture and heritage as well as its extraordinary rugged interior.
The Waitukubuli National Trail is part of the Morne Trois Pitons National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Dominica’s Hot Water
Dominica has the highest concentration of dormant volcanoes in the world, which created a number of natural spas and hot pools from the healing sulfur springs. The hot springs offer a relaxing and reviving experience.
Wotten Waven is well-known for its natural hot sulfur springs and mud pools that are believed to have medicinal qualities. Local villagers have created spas with its own special charm and amenities, from private sulfur baths and mud pools.
Dominica offers some of the best diving in the Caribbean with warm and clear water and great visibility. Most dive sites are located along the western side of the island.
You can explore calm shallows with curious seahorses and over 20 species of whales that frequent visit these seas. The sperm whales can be explored from November to March.
Some other underwater attractions are the La Sorciere fantastic wall dives or the volcanic ridge of Crater’s Edge, where can make appearances barracuda stalk, tuna, and snapper.
Canyoning
Dominica is packed with some of the mother-natures most exceptional and the impressive canyons and water pools. Canyoning is basically a sport where you navigate a water-filled canyon using abseiling, climbing and jumping.
You can join tours where professional guides take you on a tour of a lifetime with a unique experience to explore the rivers up close, under a rainforest canopy, climbing, swimming and splashing in a cool, fresh river.
Whales and dolphins are plentiful in the crystal blue waters along Dominica’s coastline throughout the year. Dominica is the only country in the world the Sperm Whales can be sighted year round with a peak season is between November and June.
Sperm whales are the largest predator on earth, reaching up to 70 feet long, and weighing 60 tons. They can dive more than 6,000 feet deep to hunt in the dark with echolocation for a large and giant squid.
Other species that can be found year-round in the waters off Dominica, includes the pantropical spotted dolphin Stenella attenuata, the Fraser’s Dolphin, Lagenodelphis hosei, the bottlenose dolphin
short-finned pilot whale.
The Boiling Lake is situated in the Morne Trois Pitons National Park, Dominica’s World Heritage site. It is a flooded fumarole 6.5 miles east of Roseau. It is filled with bubbling greyish-blue water that is usually enveloped in a cloud of vapour. Dominica’s Boiling Lake is the second-largest hot lake in the world. The largest is Frying Pan Lake, located in Waimangu Valley near Rotorua, New Zealand.
If you visit Rosalie Bay, Bout Sable, Cabana Bay, Wesley and Calibishie beaches between April and June, you may observe one of the most fascinating rituals – turtle hatching. Dominica’s shores are visited by four of the seven known species of sea turtles – Loggerheads, Hawksbills, Green Sea Turtles, and the huge Leatherbacks.
The female sea turtle will come ashore to lay her eggs and in a few months, the hatchlings will try to make it back to the sea. Unfortunately, there are many hungry predators waiting for this moment and only a few reach out to the sea.
