Isla Cañas

Here’s a belated account of our trip back to Kirsten’s Peace Corps site, Isla Cañas. Because of the sea turtles that arrive in mass arribadas, Isla Cañas has its own section in Panama travel guides now. But we’ll always know it as ‘la isla.’ Where is this island, you say? Well thanks to the web (and the smart people at Google), it’s easy to show you:


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Arrival is by boat, going through the mangroves, so we got Connor decked out in a new (thanks Jim & Ilse!) infant vest – we tried it out in the resort pool beforehand, and it actually does a good job of keeping his face out of the water. And no, testing it did NOT include tossing him into the deep end.

arriving at the island

Due to Kirsten’s service on the island we were ‘honored guests’ and were allowed to stay in the ANAM cabin, which has indoor plumbing and an air-conditioned bedroom (!). Quite a step up from Kirsten’s lodging as a PCV.

our ANAM digs

There’s a volunteer on the island now – they’ve had a couple come and leave, but Stacey seems to love the island as much as it deserves, and the people speak highly of her. She gets quite an earful of stories about their beloved ‘Kiri’ but seems to handle it well.

Kirsten, Connor & Stacey

We took along Karina, who was just a little girl when Kirsten lived there but now has her own baby, Dario. Karina grew up on the island but lives in another town with her dad and stepmom now. Her mom died a few years ago when a hantavirus plague spread through that part of the country.

Karina holding Connor

So basically we did lots of visiting and made a couple trips to the beach. Connor got lots of attention, and we had lots of people willing to hold the babies. Unfortunately the island is about a 7-hour drive (not including pit stops) so we haven’t been back yet. But it will definitely be a possible destination with visitors!

Connor's friends on the island