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Published: August 6th 2007
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Yesterday I visited the Kuna and today I visited the Embera Indians. These past two days have been unreal.
Today we traveled into the rainforest at Chagres National Park, about an 1½ hour drive from the city. Just driving to the park was an experience. About 10 minutes outside the city you could start to see the economic status of the people outside the city. Panama City is so prosperous it is easy to forget about the poverty in the country. About 35% of the people in this country live in poverty. Our tour guide told us that the average income out here was about $5 a day. It was easy to see this as we drove through the mountains. Most houses are about 3 rooms, made of cinderblocks. There are no glass windows except for decorative cinderblocks that have holes in them to make a design. Everyone owns their own chickens. Sadly the litter in some areas was taking over yards, but when your main priority is to survive worrying about littering is not a concern.
When we got to the park our canoes were waiting to take us down the river. Our first stop was to
hike through the forest along a river to a waterfall. The ride down the river was so fun. Not many people can say they’ve ridden in a canoe driven by native men-by the way the Embera men have stuck to the traditional dress unlike the Kuna men. We arrived at the trail, and had to climb out of the canoes onto the shore. At this point everyone was trying to get up a ledge using a little path that had been made. The problem was that the earth in this area is clay and very slippery, so everyone was having trouble getting up. Instead, a friend and I decided to see if we could go up another way. We asked two men sitting on some rocks watching us (I know why they watch now) if we could go that way. They gave a nod and we headed over to a ledge that hadn’t worn away. Meredith stepped up easily, no problems. As I stepped up I realized that I had put my foot too close to the edge, but before I could move the cliff slipped and so did my shoes and I found myself on my knees and hands.
Looking up I saw the two guys and one of our guides laughing hysterically. For the rest of the anytime our Embera guide (not the tour guide, but this was a man from the village) saw me he looked like he was going to laugh.
And so the hike began and it was quite an adventure. I must say that I am so thankful that I am from Florida. While everyone was having problems with the humidity I was fine. On the bus our tour guide asked everyone where they were from. Most everyone was from rather dry states. When I said I was from Florida, he said, “Well, my dear, welcome home.” (Oh and just an odd fact only myself and one other person on the ship is from Florida. There are more people from Oklahoma. Weird huh?) Back to the hike. It was fun. I wore my “water proof” hiking boots which are not so waterproof when you are hiking through knee deep rivers. Still that was something I always wanted to do. After several almost falls and climbing over sharp, slippery rocks we made it to the waterfall. Our guides were very patient, especially considering they
were jumping from rock to rock barefoot, like it was nothing.
The waterfall was amazing. Everyone jumped into the water and swam out to the waterfall. The goal for many of us was to get behind the waterfall. It was so much harder than it looked and resulted in several wardrobe malfunctions. We all wanted to play longer, but we had to hike back to the canoes and ride out to the village, which all occurred without incidence.
The village, Tusipono, is on the top of a hill. As we arrived several women walked down to greet us. All of the women in this tribe are beautiful and all the men quite handsome. Their features are so striking. The Embera are well known for their dress. The women wear bright skirts and nothing on the top, though some wear intricate beaded necklaces. The men wear only some cloth on the bottom and a sort of beaded skirt. It is interesting how strongly the Embera have kept to their customs. The only real modern thing I saw in the village was the motors on the back of the canoes.
Once everyone was in the village we were invited
into the meeting house for lunch and to learn about their culture. Lunch was fried fish and plantains served in a leaf bowl. It was really good fish, cooked perfectly.
After lunch we were invited to watch some of the dances that are mostly done by the women. It was amazing to see the age range, from about 65 down to 4. They performed three dances for us while the men performed the music. After they showed us one of the dances where everyone dances with each other. The women can dance with men, they can dance with other women, but the men can not dance with other men. After that dance we were all invited to dance with them. One little boy came up to me and asked me to dance. It was so fun. The kids that danced with us were all so sweet and very outgoing. They were especially outgoing when they knew they were going to get something like a sticker or little finger puppets.
I was so sad when it was time to leave. Everyone started walking back down the hill to the canoes. One little boy grabbed my hand to walk me
down. And of course I almost slipped down the hill. The boy just looked up at me like I was crazy. Turning I saw our guide, the one who saw me fall the first time, who is actually the chief, grinning at me. I just shrugged and said that it was a good thing the boy was with me.
So two incredible experiences in two days.
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Mom
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Add these to your blog larry@ccf-llc.com norafamily@SBCglobal.net jrnora@comcast.net jcoegatti@comcast.net Lots of love Mom