EXPLORING NATURE: SAN BLAS

On a long-ago trip to Peru, our tour group made a brief excursion to the San Blas Islands, just off the mainland of South America.

Amazing to me, people on the island still lived in reed huts with thatched roofs, looking like something from Robinson Crusoe or some National Geographic story. There were palm trees and sandy beaches and everything was quite lovely.

I took numerous photos, including one of a young woman sitting outside one of the huts. She had raven black hair and wore a red headdress, white blouse and colorfully-patterned skirt. These people excelled at imprinting cloth with exotic designs and sold their work to tourists.

This particular lady also wore thong sandals and in the photo I took of her, I notice she wears colorful leggings and some sort of beaded arm wraps. She is looking at me with a demure, Mona Lisa type smile, and I think she is quite beautiful.

I understand rising waters are threatening inhabitants of the San Blas Islands and there will probably come a time when they will have to move to the mainland to survive. It’s just another effect of global warming. If you want to visit this part of the world, don’t delay, it may soon be underwater.

I hope the young lady I saw is still alive and well. I hope she has had a prosperous, healthy life and perhaps now has children of her own.

I wonder if she ever remembers the tourist who took her picture.

I seriously doubt it.