Sailing back to the Seventies: John Craven finds 'his tribe' just off the coast of Panama

If you will forgive the pun, cruising is usually plain sailing, but a voyage can produce delightful surprises, even unexpected reunions.

That happened to me when our ship made an unplanned stop and I found myself face-to-face once again with a tribe that has hardly changed in thousands of years.

I had last seen members of the Kuna as they fled their villages to escape a vast new lake drowning their jungle homeland in Central America.

A view of the San Blas islands which are dotted with the houses of the Kuna people

Remote: The little-visited San Blas islands are home to the Kuna people

They were frantically rescuing thousands of wild creatures, from deadly snakes to two-toed sloths, which had struggled to the top of the tallest trees.

As the rising waters engulfed these last refuges, men from the Kuna hurtled their dug-out canoes into the dense branches and at great personal risk plucked from certain death any creature they could find.

This happened back in the Seventies in the rainforests of Panama as Lake Bayano was being created to power a new hydro-electric dam. The Kunas are normally hunters, but they were horrified by the destruction and joined an international rescue mission called Operation Noah.

I was making a television documentary and got to know them well. They even made me an honorary tribesman, presenting me with a carved, red-painted stick so I could vote at their council meetings - a memento of a great adventure. Never did I imagine I would see the Kunas again.

John Craven shows off his Kuna voting stick

Treasured keepsake: John Craven shows off his Kuna voting stick

But recently, by unexpected good fortune, I did. My wife and I had joined the British cruise ship Saga Ruby in Los Angeles on the final leg of its round-the-world voyage.

The Saga Ruby is an elegant ship - a graceful reminder of earlier days of ocean travel because, like most of her passengers, she is getting on a bit.

There are all the facilities of much larger ships (except those deemed unnecessary, such as rock-climbing walls) and, with room for just 660 passengers, you don't get lost. Nothing seemed too much trouble for the Filipino crew as they made life at sea a doddle for us over-50s.

Lectures on everything from politics to handwriting were well attended, cabaret shows were packed out and the bars were still lively come the midnight hour.

As we breezed through the Panama Canal, our captain made a surprise announcement: we would be making an unscheduled stop at the remote, little-visited San Blas islands.

A cheer went up and one of the loudest voices was mine because this incredibly beautiful archipelago of 378 islands off the Panamanian coast is where you'll find the Kunas. While a section of the tribe still lives deep in the jungle, others occupy 49 of the San Blas islands.

An elderly woman from the Kuna tribe is pictured smoking a pipe

The Kuna tribe's women wear colourful cloths and nose-rings and some even smoke pipes

We dropped anchor off one of the larger inhabited islands and headed ashore in tenders. Memories came surging back as dozens of Kunas paddled out in their dug-out canoes to greet us.

In that short journey, we travelled back centuries to the basic lifestyle of a tribe that has largely avoided the pressures of the modern world.

As we walked through narrow lanes flanked by thatched huts, small children appeared, proudly showing their pet monkeys, parrots and kittens. The women wore rainbow-coloured wraparound cloths decorated with Picasso-like geometric designs, adding to the visual impact with nose-rings and homemade rouge, while the grandmothers even smoked pipes.

Living in simple poverty yet with no signs of suffering, the tribe run their islands with little interference from the outside world, earning money by selling fish and fruit and carving dolls to ward off evil spirits.

Sadly, I didn't spot any of my old friends. In one hut, a group of elders were deep in conversation. Unfortunately I'd left my voting stick at home, otherwise they might have allowed a long-lost honorary Kuna to join in.

Getting there

Saga (0800 505 030, offers an 18-night In The Wake Of Columbus cruise which includes the Panama Canal. It departs November 14 and costs from £3,334 per person, including return flights from Heathrow, full-board accommodation, gratuities, four excursions and travel insurance. The cruise stops off in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela and the Caribbean.