Page 106 - The Rough Guide to Panama (Travel Guide)

104 The Panama Canal and CenTral isThmus Parque NacioNal chagres
VISITING AN EMBERÁ COMMUNITY
Just a couple of hours’ travel away from Panama city and colón, the Emberá village tour is an
established favourite with cruise ships and tour operators (see p.76). Publicity brochures glibly
talk about the emberá “living much as their ancestors did centuries ago” although you don’t
need to look further than the use of outboard motors, mobile phones and spanish – not to
mention the jeans and T-shirts often donned once the tourists have evaporated – to see that
the emberá are undergoing radical change. staying overnight, or preferably for several nights,
2 affords a better opportunity to interact with villagers and venture deeper into the forest. That
said, the day-tours can still offer a fascinating partial snapshot of traditional emberá life and
culture, and there are obvious benefits to communities: income that will afford them greater
self-determination, renewed cultural pride and a revival of ancestral skills and traditions.
For a less touristy scene, visit an emberá community in the Darién (see box, p.283), where
with far fewer, and smaller tour groups, it’s easier to learn about village life without disrupting it.
THE TOUR ITINERARY
although villages vary in setting and character, excursions are similar. Prices ($110–185, not
necessarily including the $5 park entry fee) and tour-group sizes vary; even travelling in a small
party is no guarantee you won’t be cheek by jowl with other tourists once you’re in the village,
especially during the cruise ship season (oct–april). Morning pickup (8am–8.30am) is followed
by an hour’s bus journey to lago alajuela, where life-jacketed tourists fan out towards different
villages in motorized dugouts. The boat trip (30–60min depending on the village location
and river water levels) is itself a highlight, gliding through vine-laden forest with raptors
wheeling overhead and metallic kingfishers flashing past. at the villages, traditional
wood-and-thatch buildings sit on stilts, and you’ll be greeted by enthusiastic kids and women
who form a dazzling collage of fluorescent sarong-like skirts (uhua) and multicoloured
bead-and-silver-coin necklaces, their hair often adorned with hibiscus flowers.
Activities generally include a village tour, a talk about the traditional emberá way of life (see box,
p.275) and a demonstration of basketry or woodcarving as well as a short walk into the rainforest
with a village elder to learn about medicinal plants. a simple lunch precedes traditional dances
accompanied by drums, bamboo flutes and maracas, after which tourists can get their bodies
painted with jagua dye, frolic with the kids in the river and peruse the finely made crafts on display.
unlike the guna, the emberá are fairly comfortable being photographed and general shots of the
village (though not inside homes) and dances are allowed, though permission should always be
sought from individuals. Most tours pile back into the dugouts at 2.30–3pm for the return trip.
VISITING INDEPENDENTLY
it is possible and cheaper to visit independently from Panama City – several of the
communities have their own website with mobile phone contact numbers (listed below). They
generally charge around $70 per person (for up to two people, less for larger groups) for the
day, which is approximately what they receive per tourist from the tour operators. But you’ll
still need to call in advance to ensure a boat ride. getting from Panama City to Puerto de
Corotú, the departure point for most villages on lago alajuela, is time-consuming on public
transport (2hr 30min) and will probably also require some travel by taxi. Take any bus signed
“Transístmica” from the front of albrook bus terminal, and change at san Miguelito onto a bus
bound for la chibima. after the bus stop, turn into the first road on your right, where you
should be able to find a taxi to take you to the port (around $10).
CONTACTS FOR INDEPENDENT TRAVELLERS
Comunidad Drua T6709 1233 (Ivan, in Spanish) or Sabanitas. $70/person for two people, or from $140/
T333 2850 (community phone, Panama City – ask person overnight, including all transport, meals and
for Johnson for English) Wtrail2.com/embera. Day- activities.
tours cost $90/person, for two people. Scenic location Comunidad Tusipono Emberá T6539 7918
and great river trip. (Antonio Tócamo), Wemberatusipono09.blogspot
Comunidad Emberá Quera T6703 9475, .com. Day-tours only, which can include the
Wemberaquera.net. This almost too perfectly community’s new butterfly breeding conservation
maintained village sits on Río Gatún, so departure is project, and a visit to a waterfall. $45 for two people;
from Puente Río Gatun – a $6 taxi ride from $80 including transport from Panama City.

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