Page 269 - The Rough Guide to Panama (Travel Guide)

The easTern isles Guna Yala 267
Achutupu and Mamitupu
Five kilometres east of Agligandi, the unusual crescent-shaped island of Achutupu
(Assudub), dotted with banana trees and coconut palms, has a deceptively spacious feel.
The village has a primary school, health centre and restaurant by the pier, alongside a
basketball court. It’s inadvisable to swim off the strip of sand that might optimistically
be called a beach, due to pollution. There’s nowhere to stay on the island itself, but a
couple of higher-end lodgings are close at hand.
Just a few hundred metres east of Achutupu, Mamitupu (Mammidub) has ten sailas
governing a traditional village of about 1200. Photography is forbidden here, though it
is permitted on excursions to the mainland.

aRRIVal anD DEPaRTuRE aCHuTuPu anD MaMITuPu
By plane The airstrip, 200m across from Achutupu on the Achutupu for a few dollars.
mainland, receives daily Air Panama flights ($81 one way). By boat There are occasional boats to Cartí, though it can
Motorized dugouts greet the plane and will ferry you to be a 4–5hr haul ($45 one way).
7
aCCOMMODaTIOn
Akwadup Lodge West of Achutupu T832 5144 or huts, with decent mattresses protected by mosquito nets, a
T6126 0737, Wakwaduplodge.com. A 5min boat ride good-size table, private washing area (for bucket and
west of Achutupu, this exclusive (by Guna standards) lodge water ablutions) and solar-powered electricity. Flush
offers comfort and seclusion in a row of seven simple over- toilets are shared, as is the pleasant rancho dining area.
the-water wooden bungalows. They’re set rather close Rates include community taxes. $180
together but nicely decorated, with two double beds in Dolphin Lodge (Uaguinega) Uagitupo T396 4805 or
each, solar-powered ceiling fans and mosquito nets. Rates, T6090 8990, Einfo@dolphinlodgesanblas.com. A
which are on the high side, include meals, lodgings and stone’s throw across the water from Achutupu, on a tiny
airport transfer. Community taxes ($15) are extra. $224 islet, this easy-going place has well-built, if tired, wood-
Cabañas Mamitupu Mamitupu T6017 2618 (Pablo and-cane cabañas facing the water. Palm trees are
Nuñez, who speaks English); or contact Agostín Silva, sprinkled over a grassy area with a central bohío and a
receptionist at Hotel Costa Azul in Panama City (T225 pleasant and breezy restaurant where you can tuck into
4703). Set apart from the main village in a palm-shaded succulent seafood while gazing out to sea. Community
grassy end of the island stand four simple sandy-floor cane taxes ($15) are extra. $160
Ogobsucum and Usdub
Beyond Mamitupu, completing the remaining 75km to Puerto Obaldía, you pass the
densely matted, thatch rooftops of the comarca’s most populous communities: the
four-thousand-strong twin settlements of Ogobsucum and Usdub, renowned for their
gold craftwork. The next notable community is the pine-clad Isla Pino (Dubbag), which
unlike any other island in the comarca has a large hill; though only a little more than a
square kilometre in size, it boasts a couple of forest trails and a picturesque waterside
thatched village.
Travellers rarely venture this far east to these more traditional communities, where
you will need to check in with the police and ask permission of the saila to visit or
stay on an island – make sure you are appropriately clad (see box, p.255). It is
usually possible to negotiate with a family for a hammock or bed, pay for meals and
engage the services of someone to explore the rivers and rainforest on the mainland.
The seas along this stretch of coastline are particularly rough and should only be
navigated in a decent boat, with life jackets – not the shallow leaking dugout
favoured by many boatmen.
aRRIVal anD DEPaRTuRE OGOBSuCuM anD uSDuB
By plane Air Panama flies three times a week (Tues, Thurs Panama City (see p.252).
& Sun) to Ogobsucum ($85) from Albrook Airport in

244-269_Panama_3_Ch7.indd 267 30/06/17 11:51 am