Costa Arriba de Colon, Panama

The San Blas Islands

The San Blas are a group of approximately 370 islands located in the Caribbean Sea off the
coast of Panama. These pristine islands are picture-perfect tropical islands covered with white sand and coconut trees.

Many of the San Blas are inhabited by their indigenous Indian tribe, the Kuna (or Cuna). The Kuna Indians are a strongly-knit tribal society and believed to be descendants of the Caribs. The Kuna have a matriarchal society in which the line of inheritance passes through the women.

Located just a few miles east of La Sirena, the beauty and uniquness of the San Blas Islands is not surpassed anywhere in the world.

Culture and Traditions

The culture of Costa Arriba de Colon is derived from its geographical and historical circumstances.
During the Spanish colonial period African slaves were imported for hard labor. Many of these slaves escaped and hid in the Panamanian jungles. These escaped slaves became known as cimarrones. Descendants of the cimarrones are found in the coastal towns of Costa Arriba today.

The descendants of the cimarrones developed traditions influenced by their African heritage. These traditions often mixed Roman Catholic and ancestral African practices. The congos and the diablo activities which take place during Carnaval offer some of the best examples of this fusion of religion and tradition. The congo dancers of Costa Arriba appear on the scene each year on around the 20th of January. Each town has its own congo groups.

The congo dancers wear feathered head dresses and costumes representing African animals and
motifs. Their unique and exotic dancing is accompanied by beating drums and represents stories of the past.

The center of Costa Arriba culture, Portobelo, is located just a few miles west of La Sirena.