Page 279 - The Rough Guide to Panama (Travel Guide)

Panama Province The Darién anD easTern Panama 277
Panama province
Aside from the Altos de Cerro Azul, Panama province east of the canal is known less
for any sightseeing charms than for rampant deforestation and the continuing urban
spread out towards Chepo – an unappealing agro-commercial town and former gateway
to the Darién. That said, Lago Bayano, some 90km east of Panama City is worth a day,
while the two adjoining Emberá communities just south of the Interamericana at Ipetí
provide the other main reason to stop en route to the Darién proper. Popular with
day-trippers and budget tours from Panama City, their relatively barren location lacks
the rainforest charm of other villages in Darién province. However, if you’re keen to
drop in, any bus bound for Yaviza, Metetí or Agua Fría will let you off by the roadside,
from where it’s a twenty-minute walk along a gravel road.

Lago Bayano
Though now earmarked for “development”, LAGO BAYANO remains a picturesque
location, perfect for boat rides and picnics, and with a fascinating cave network at
its southeastern tip. Its apparent charm and tranquillity, however, belie the anger of
indigenous communities – displaced when the reservoir was formed in 1976 and still
awaiting full compensation from the government – and the acres of forest that were
submerged when the Río Chepo (or Río Bayano) was dammed to supply Panama City
with more hydropower; dead tree trunks protruding eerily from the water act as
poignant reminders. The economic mainstay of the sixteen lakeside communities – 8
including those of the Guna Comarca de Madugandi, as well as Emberá, Wounaan
and Ladino settlements – is the commercial fishing of tilapia.
Named after Bayano, a charismatic leader of a major settlement of cimarrones (see
box, p.278), the 350-square-kilometre reservoir is a popular day-trip destination from
Panama City; at weekends, families spill out of vehicles at the impressive Puente
Bayano, which fords the lake’s narrowest point, and pile into motor launches for island
picnics, fishing trips or tours of the lake, on the lookout for caimans, crocodiles and
otters slithering around the muddy banks.

Cuevas de Majé
Southeastern tip of Lago Bayano • $3
Lago Bayano’s most fascinating destination is the Cuevas de Majé, comprising a
1km-long system of limestone caverns, replete with colonies of bats clinging to calcitic
formations. Towards the end of the dry season, it’s possible to wade your way (up to
your chest) through the entire system, emerging in a steep-sided verdant gully, dripping
with mosses and ferns. At other times, the raised water level means you’ll need to go
partway in a boat before stepping into the water, and may not be able to make it
through on foot. In either case, you’ll need a headlamp, footwear with a good grip and
a minimum amount of clothing that you’re happy to get soaked. Make sure your tour
also takes in the impressive rock walls that enclose the entrance to the nearby Río Tigre.
Comarca de Madugandi
North of Lago Bayano • $3 entry to the comarca
The indigenous community of Akua Guna (or Loma de Piedra) at the western end of
the Puente Bayano marks the entry to the Guna Comarca de Madugandi, established in
1996, which includes eighty percent of the reservoir’s surface area and extends from the
forested northern shores of the lake up the mountainous backdrop of the Serranía de
San Blas. Well over three thousand Guna inhabit the comarca, dispersed among
fourteen communities; some, such as Icanti, Pintupu and Tabardi, are beginning to
open up to tourists, but you’ll need to stay in someone’s home as there’s no organized
accommodation as yet. Enquire at Akua Guna if you wish to visit.

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