Biography

Nick Pérez

Chief Guide Officer

Nick is a native Kuna Indian giving special tours to Kuna Indian land in Kuna Yala, Panama.

Nick was born in Ogobsucun, one of the 55 Kuna Indian villages.

He came to Panama City when he was seven years old to continue his schooling. When he finished high school in 1989, Nick worked as a barber on United States military bases in Panama for eight years.

He then spent one year studying and traveling in the U.S.A. getting to know the American culture and history. Nick knows the Kuna Indian culture as well, having learned from his father the history of the Kuna.

Nick has also worked in many Kuna Indian lodges and in the Tropic Star Lodge & Fishing Resort in Panama.

Currently Nick works as a personal assistant to an American programmer and manages two apartments in Panama City, but is available for personalized tours to San Blas and Panama City. He is also very knowledgeable about and can offer recommendations on accommodations in San Blas/Kuna Yala, especially the Sapibenega Lodge in the Playon Chico community, the Kuanidup Lodge in the Rio Sidra community, and the Dolphin Lodge in Achutupu community. All three lodges offer snorkeling, hiking, cemetery visits, waterfall tours, and exploring Kuna communities to see how the Kuna Indians live and how the Kuna women make the famous mola (dress). Nick has worked as a guide in all three lodges, and knows them better than anyone else.

Tours

Personalized, guided tours are priced from $190.00 USD per person, all inclusive, except for beverages. Contact us for a price quote that incorporates your choice of lodging and the number of individuals in your party.

Tours include:

• Round-trip transportation from Panama City to Kuna Yala
• Boat transportation from the Kuna port to the hotel island
• All taxes in San Blas
• Community tour to experience the Kuna people and their everyday life
• A tour to Dog Island to discover and snorkel a ship sunk in the 1940s
• A visit to the island with a single coconut palm
• Visits to other island hotels
• Breakfast, lunch and dinner--lobster and King crab are not included, but can be ordered separately

Nick offers guided tours because he wants his clients to have a spectacular time in Kuna Yala. This is a very different experience from self-guided travel in the area, where hotels and villages often have no bilingual individuals, making communication and a complete cultural experience very difficult.