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Boys in bright shirts play pan pipes, while girls wearing molas shake maracas.

Children, some in uniforms and others in the colorful local textiles called “molas,” chattered as they hustled through the warren of narrow dirt streets on their way to school.

There are three species of these sunfish—Mola mola, Mola tecta and Mola alexandrini—which can be difficult to tell apart without genetic analysis.

Aside from their size, molas are known for their clumsy swimming style.

But perhaps the most wonderful morning was one we spent with a Guna family who arrived with a boatload of molas, the magnificent embroidered handicrafts for which the Guna women are known.