Embera Indian Village & Water Rappelling Trip

In July we invited Danielle's best friend David to visit the Embera Indian Village and go water rappelling with us. There are three villages along the Chagres River in the protected National Forest. These people depend on tourism to survive now, selling their beautiful handcrafted items, giving tours of their villages, and providing our transportation on the river by piraguas, their hollowed out canoes. Yes, that's a modern engine on the back of the canoe.

On arrival, we were greeted by many smiling faces at the Embera Village, where about 50 people live. The men fish and raise a few crops, but the heavy rains make it difficult to farm next to the river.

The Embera Indians are one of 7 native peoples residing in Panama. They emigrated from Columbia in the late 18th century, hunting and fishing to survive. In order to live in the national rain forest on government lands, they must send their children to school (in uniforms) and learn Spanish. It's described as a mandated educational exchange program where they learn Western culture, and in exchange, we learn theirs. It's a pretty neat idea.

The children are beautiful, dark and bright-eyed. Dogs and cats run free as well.

Huts are built 10 feet off the ground to prevent snakes, bugs and wild animals from coming in. All 4 sides are open, with no walls or partitions or privacy. The bathroom is a shared outhouse.

Girls wear colorful skirts, boys only loincloths.

Danielle and Ricky are chosen from the visitors to dance with the Indians.

We were served pineapple, then delicious fried tilapia and fried plantain chips for lunch.

Indoor kitchens create smoke from cooking fires that provide natural insect repellent.

Traditional colorful dress

Welcoming committee

Handcrafts are a primary source of income

We traveled by canoe quite a distance up the river and hiked to reach the waterfall where we had our first rappelling lesson. Below Danielle, David and Ricky gear-up.

Danielle with our guide.

San Blas Islands

Ricky reclining on a palm that's hanging over the water

Robin hunting for shells

Poor Ricky has to pretend he's on the golf course

Our friends' boat Slip Away with storm clouds blowing in

The moon at night over the coconut trees

We spent the last week in the San Blas Islands. Beautiful!!! The snorkeling was the best we’ve ever seen, with awesome coral and fish life. It’s like swimming in an aquarium. Danielle picked up some big sand dollars, and while cleaning a shell, something tiny and brown crawled out. We put it in a clear Tupperware container, then realized it was a baby octopus. It eats tiny crabs, and sometimes blows brown ink spots into the water. He’s about the size of my pinky fingernail. Danielle named him Friend. We kept him a few days, then she decided to leave him with another lady who has three aquariums on her boat. I told Danielle we would buy an aquarium while we’re in Panama City so she can catch and release fish or whatever she finds in the water. It’s perfect because she’s studying Marine Biology this year.

"Friend" the tiny octopus playing with my finger

Another highlight of the trip was meeting a unique couple, retired boaters Roger and Binnie, now living on land in Panama. They have 4 pet sloths in their home. Roger stopped by our boat one morning to talk to Ricky, then invited us to come by their home to see the sloths, and go out for pizza that night. We took two of the young sloths out to the restaurant, and Danielle held one, Pippin, for hours. It’s like holding a baby, with its arms wrapped around your neck. Danielle loved it! We went back the next day so Ricky could help the lady out with a computer problem, and Danielle got to hold Pippin again.

Danielle with Pippin, Roger and Binnie

The Kuna Indians are one of the native tribes that inhabited Panama when Columbus arrived. They live in the beautiful Archipielago de San Blas, and are fiercely protective of their independence, striving to keep their lands from foreign cultural invasion. They still live without electricity in bamboo huts with thatched roofs, and place their outhouses over the water. We were warned by other boaters that you can't pick up a coconut on Kuna soil. Until the late 1990's, their primary currency was the coconut. Every tree has a family's claim to its fruit. In a good year over 30 million are sold and bought predominately by Columbia. The Kuna chiefs decide each year what all the tribes will sell their coconut crop for, preventing buyers from playing one Kuna off another to bring prices down.

In 1925 Panama tried to force the Kuna people to adapt to their more modern ways by sending teachers, missionaries, and police to live among the people. After a struggle of wills, the Kuna chiefs killed all the police and sent the other outsiders back to the mainland. Panama officials were ready to send troops to wipe out the Kuna race when the Americans stationed warships between the Kuna Islands and Panama, protecting the Indians.

There are nearly 400 small, sandy-beached islands in the chain, most of them only inhabited by sea turtles, iguanas and lots of coconut trees. We anchored in an area known to boaters as ''the swimming pool" because of the shallow reefs encircled by small islands. Huge schools of beautiful fish abound in the untouched coral.

Danielle finds a rare 4 pointed starfish.

Every day Kuna fishermen come by in their cayucos (dugout canoes) selling their catch of the day: lobster, crabs, octopus and fresh fish. And can you believe, they ask us to charge their cell phones! They also ask for cokes and candy.

The woman pictured above is dressed in the distinctive dress of Kuna women. She has a gold nose ring, colorful fabric wrapped around her waist as a skirt, topped by a short-sleeved blouse in brilliant colors. They also wrap their legs, from the ankle to the knee, in long strands of tiny beads, forming colorful geometric patterns. A bright head scarf and many necklaces, rings and bracelets are standard accessories. She was selling hot tortillas early in the morning. We put honey on it and had a wonderful breakfast.

Master Mola Maker Lisa is famous for her craft, as well as for the fact that she's a man.

It's a strange custom for us to comprehend, but historically the Kuna are matrilocal, meaning that when a man marries, he moves in with his wife's parents, coming under the control of his father-in-law. The possessions are passed through the girls. If a family can't produce a female offspring, they raise one of the boys to be a girl. Thankfully they don't force him to then marry a man. Confusing, I know.

Sea Ya - Ricky, Robin and Danielle