THE GUIDE - The Rough Guide to Panama - page 390

ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE: SAN IGNACIO DE TUPILE
By boat San Ignacio is a 40min boat ride from Playón Chico, the nearest airstrip.
ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
Community restaurant By the wharf. The community's only restaurant is up the stairs to
the right by the wharf, and serves a decent plate of fried fish with rice and plantain. Daily
6am-7pm.
Obued Nega At the far end of the island behind the church, close to the generator 333
2001/2/3/4 (public phones). This place has basic cement and wood rooms with reasonable
mattresses and private or shared bathroom; the better upstairs rooms have a balcony and ham-
mocks. Meals served at a waters ide rancho . The room price is fine b ut t he all-inclusive pack-
age is on the high side. Doubles $25 , packages with meals and tours $60 /person
< Back to Guna Yala
The eastern isles
What might loosely be described as the eastern isles stretches over the whole of the eastern
half of the comarca , which, outside the sprinkling of lodges near Achutupu and Mamitupu,
sees precious few outsiders beyond the odd yacht and Colombian trading vessel. Here, lack-
ing the protection of an offshore reef, the seas are rough and transport between communities
sparse. After storms, rubbish jettisoned from boats will wash up on the shore in places.
Ailigandi
Westernmost of the eastern islands, overlooking coastal mangroves ( ailan means mangrove),
Ailigandi has its spot firmly cemented in Guna history as the first place of organized res-
istance in the Guna Revolution of 1925, symbolized in the Guna swastika flag (representing
an octopus) fluttering proudly above the rooftops. It's therefore a good place to witness the
annual revolution celebrations . A pivotal figure in the rebellion was Chief Olokindibipilelel
(Simral Colman), whose statue - incongruously clad in suit and bowler hat - claims a cent-
ral position on the densely populated island of around 1200, next to the obligatory basketball
court. A warren of pathways weaves through tightly packed thatched dwellings, in the midst
of which is squeezed the tiny Museo Olonigli (no fixed hours; donations welcome). As with
other museums in the comarca , it's a single room stuffed with artefacts whose significance
only becomes clear through the explanations (in Spanish) of the owner-curator, Roy Cortéz
Olonigli. He elaborates on traditional culture drawing on his own woodcarvings, which de-
pict Guna symbols and rituals.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE: AILIGANDI
By boat Ailigandi is a 10min boat ride from Achutupu airport.