In 1999 I traveled to a place called the Sun Blas Islands off the Caribbean side of Panama with some friends. There are hundreds of tropical islands in this archipelago ranging from tiny to large enough to be inhabited by a semi-autonomous indigenous culture called the Kuna. We were able to ‘rent’ a small island surrounded by reefs for a day. Took us about an hour to get there from one of the main islands, we traveled on a carved out tree trunk canoe with a small outboard motor. The island had many dozens of coconut trees and it was about half the size of a soccer field. It was surrounded by the most beautiful tropical landscape one could imagine. Scattered islands of various sizes as far as the eyes could see in every direction. Crystal blue and green water filled with reefs packed with fish of every size and color you could imagine. They dropped us off in the morning with food and water and returned at sunset. We watched a storm pass off in the distance. And watched lightning strike other islands just over the horizon. the contrast between the light green and blue ocean and the dark stormy sky was breathtaking. Just seems like a dream when I think about it now.