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Sapibenega Lodge (San Blas Hotel)

(3 votes)

Written by Matt Landau

Monday, July 03 2006

Sapibenega is one of San Blas´ Kuna-run hotels. It has 13 bamboo huts and is known to be the first ¨totally ecological Kuna lodge.¨ While Lonely Planet called it one of the finest ecolodges, it´s extremely similar to the other ones out there.

The huts are all bamboo with thatch roofs and fairly spartan. They are two rooms (with two beds) to a unit separated by pretty thin walls. The island hotel is seemingly self-sustaining. Solar panels, septic tank toilets and no hot water. The property felt very clean and natural. The rooms aren't large but I spent most of my time in the hammock on the backside of the cabin, which was about 3 feet from the water's edge. There wasn't a lot of reef there but I imagine the snorkeling would be about a B - . The visibility looked quite good.

There's only one little light bulb in each bedroom and the solar generator gets turned off early, so you get lots of sleep. I'd say sapibenega is ideal for couples or people who are into culture and biology/nature. It takes a special kind of guest to appreciate being so "back to basics". I've never slept better and my days felt incredibly long there (in a good way). Time seemed to stand still. After one day, stress felt miles away.

The food was better than I expected and eating by torchlight as the waves crashed was something else. The guests were all super cool and we chatted until about 9pm, which feels very late on an island with minimal electricty.

Sapibenega Lodge

Tel. (507) 215-1406

Fax: (507)215-3724

Cell. (507)66765548

P.O. Box 87-3425 Zona 7 Panama

Website: sapibenega.com

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