Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
doubles, each looking out onto the sea, with hammocks on the front deck. Good food is
served under a communal central
rancho
, and traditional showers (bucket of water and soap)
and toilets (a mix of traditional and flush) are shared. Prices incl
ude
meals, daily tours (to
both a beach and a village) and transfer from Cartí or El Porvenir.
$60
/person
Cabañas Coco Blanco
6700 9427 or 6058 7824, for Ligia,
cocoblancocabanas.com
.
Offers six superior sandy-floored cane-and-thatch
cabañas
(sleeping 2-4) with comfy beds
and private bathrooms, tapped into the island's septic system. Though possessing more dec-
orative trimmings than most and fabulously positioned on the tiny beach, the
cabañas
are
tightly packed. The food is nicely prepared and usually includes lobster or other shellfish, so
in
the closed season
the price is r
educ
ed ($85/person). Rates include meals, daily tours and
transfer from Cartí or El Porvenir.
$100
/person
Hotel El Porvenir
By the airstrip, El Porvenir 6718 2826,
hotelporvenir.com
.
This
long-established hotel, offering the only accommodation on the island, is pleasantly situated
in grassy grounds with its own veranda bar-restaurant and eleven rather gloomy concrete
rooms with tin roof and private cold-water bathrooms. Rates include full
boa
rd plus two daily
excursions to nearby islands. Good discounted package deals available.
$70
/person
Kuna Niskua Lodge
Wichub-Wala 259 9136 or 6709 4484.
At the time of writing this
popular two-storey concrete, cane-and-thatch building plum in the middle of the village was
being slowly restored.
The Cartí islands and around
The dirt road connecting Panama City funnels backpackers and day-trippers into the coastal
hamlet of Barsukum close to the largely disused Cartí airstrip. Only a coconut's throw away,
the
Cartí group of islands
, together with the tiny uninhabited palm-covered retreats of
Icodub, Ansuelo and Iguana nearby, inevitably experience the greatest number of tourists in
the archipelago. The best recommendation is to stay on one of the smaller islands - Carti
Yandup if you want to sample Guna village life, or Icodub for the desert-island experience -
and drop by Carti Sugdup during the day to visit the excellent museum, or in the evening if
some community event is on.
Carti Sugdup
Close to the mainland, densely populated
Carti Sugdup
forms the stadium-sized hub of this
island group and is one of the
comarca
's busiest communities, with around two thousand in-
habitants. Motorized dugouts are constantly coming and going, so it's a good place to seek
onward transport, though not a desirable place to spend the night - and the island is a favour-
ite pit stop for cruise ship passengers.
The centre comprises a few large, functional cement buildings, such as a secondary school,
medical centre, library and post office, standing amid a maze of cane and thatch. There are a
couple of restaurants, and numerous stalls selling soft drinks and snacks testify to the island's
