We rose from under our mosquito netting for another day in beautiful, pristine Guna Yala. I know I keep using the word pristine, but this region of Panama is so incredibly unspoiled. It is truly amazing!

Megan and Chris met us for breakfast at the main building- an open sided, thatch roofed structure over the water. We occupied the largest of the tables in the dining room/meeting area. Each group staying at the lodge has a sort of assigned table. We were served eggs and devoured a bunch of the homemade bread with jam of an unidentified, sweet local fruit.

All of the staff at Yandup comes over from the village each morning about 5:00 AM. The women in their traditional dress of a blouse with a mola panel and a wrapped fabric "skirt." They cover their heads with the yellow and red fabric indicative of their local community. Strings of multicolored seed beads encircle their arms and legs to complete the distinctive look. Many wear a ring in their nose. Interestingly, the Guna men do not dress any differently from other men in Panama. I believe (or am guessing) this is because the Guna are matrilineal.

At 9:30 the conch shell horn was blown, signaling that it was departure time for the beach. We took a short boat ride to a different beach from the day before. It offered a good amount of shade and a calm area for swimming. Megan and I decided to take a walk for some photos. We found the "dirty" side of the island. There, we discovered, we were actually on the Island of Misfit Shoes. There must have been dozens of lost flip flops and crocs that had washed among the fallen palms. Only more bizarre was the well worn doll someone had stuck in the side of a tree. Megan saw it first and we both laughed hysterically at this truly odd, somewhat creepy sight.

After lunch, the boys went on the cemetery tour. It is a boat ride to the mainland followed by a hike up to the top of the hill where the Guna bury their dead. The dead are placed in a hammock in the grave. These people are married in hammocks and buried in hammocks. The elders of the community have designated hammocks (in which only the elders may lie) used for the most important meetings. No wonder I have such an affinity for the Guna- I believe in the magic of hammocks, too!

We had dinner, settled our bill, and said our good byes to much of the staff. Because we were once again making an early departure, we returned to the cabana, packed up our backpacks, and organized for the morning. We were to meet at the main house at 5:45 to head to the mainland at 6:15 for our 7:00 flight, so it was another early night.

Caribbean storms! Crazy powerful wind and sheets of rain woke Steve and me about 1:00 AM. Water was blowing in through the sides of the cabana. Poor Matthew was being soaked as the rain drove through the open air windows. We were able to move his bed to the center of the room. After draping towels over the window above our bed, we settled back to sleep. Abby was on the protected side of the room and never budged.

At 5:15, the rain continued to come down torrentially. We got our things together and headed to the main building. It was dark. Very dark. No one seemed to be around. We waited until eventually we could see a boat making its way from the village. About 6:00 we had some bread and jam. We discovered that the night watchman had been bailing out our boat since 5:00. Blanco, a guide at Yandup, and I speculated as to whether or not Air Panama would fly that morning. It seemed doubtful so we sat on wet seats with our coffee and bread. Suddenly, someone yelled something and the staff began gathering ponchos and gesturing for us to grab our bags. We wrapped our belongings in the ponchos as best we could and took a rough, wet ride toward the mainland. As we approached the dock, the tiny plane came sailing down the runway. It dropped some passengers and luckily had to go to another island to pick up more folks before coming back for us. This gave us time to "check in." We each stood on an old style scale. They added weight plates to a hook until they could determine how many kilos we weighed. They added our names and passport numbers to the ledger and we were ready to go. Off to Panama City and the next leg of our adventure.