Page 281 - The Rough Guide to Panama (Travel Guide)

The InTeramerIcana To YavIza The Darién anD easTern Panama 279
the house at the junction for a 4WD taxi (around $15) for the TO/FROM PUERTO QUIMBA
11km dirt road to Puerto Lara. Occasional colectivos leave the By boat Occasional colectivo boats leave for Puerto
village for the Interamericana, from where you can catch a Quimba ($12). Boat rental for a special trip is around
bus. In the rainy season, the road is sometimes impassable. $60–80/boat.
aCCOmmODaTiOn anD eaTinG
Community accommodation Contact the president mattresses and shared toilet and shower around the back
of the tourist committee, Dionisio Negria (T6765 (and one pricier, relatively deluxe room with private bath).
3086). A plain open-sided wooden “lodge” overlooking the Visitors pay for food purchases, plus a $10/group daily fee
main street offers several partitioned rooms with for the tourist coordinator and cook. Doubles $25

Metetí
A police security checkpoint heralds your impending arrival in METETÍ, a long,
strung-out settlement that is an increasingly important commercial and administrative
hub. It’s hardly endearing, but if you’re travelling around much in the Darién, you’re
likely to pass through more than once, since it offers good links with Yaviza – from
where it’s a shortish hop to El Real, the main gateway to the national park – and Puerto
Quimba, which provides a water-taxi link to La Palma, capital of the Darién and access
point for many of the Emberá and Wounaan communities.
The village’s de facto centre lies across the bridge at the turn-off to Puerto Quimba,
where there’s a taxi rank, a handful of warehouse-like shops and a bus stop.
arriVaL anD inFOrmaTiOn meTeTÍ 8
By bus The bus station is 1.5km up the Puerto Quimba 30min), to meet the water-taxi to and from La Palma
road from the main junction. There are direct services to (5am–6pm; every 30min; 30min; $4).
Panama City (2am–5.40pm; every 40min; 5–6hr), or you Taxis Taxis will ferry you from the junction to the terminal
can flag down a bus from Yaviza at the junction with the for $1/person, charging slightly more to take you to the
Interamericana. Buses to Yaviza (5.30am–6pm; every bank.
30min; 50min, depending on road conditions; $5) usually Banks One of the Darién’s two national banks, with an
(but not always) leave from the bus station and also pick up ATM, is in Metetí, 2km west of the main road junction
passengers at the junction with the Interamericana. Buses (Mon–Fri 8am–3pm, Sat 9am–noon). You can pay your
also run to Puerto Quimba (5am–5pm; every 30min; park fees here (see box, p.42).
aCCOmmODaTiOn anD eaTinG
Crown Darién 500m before the bus station on the Puerto agenda in this tatty hotel, offering desultory service and
Quimba road T6609 1451, Ecrowndarien14@gmail bland rooms. But the tiled bathrooms are clean (cold
.com. This small hotel gets top billing, with thirteen en-suite water), the mattresses firm and you get cable TV, a/c and
rooms – some with balcony – offering tepid showers but free wi-fi. $25
enhanced by a/c and cable TV. The on-site bar-restaurant Restaurante Bellagio Signposted off the Puerto
(daily 1–10pm) dishes up a few basic meals. Free wi-fi. $25 Quimba road T6521 8753. The best place to eat in town,
Hospedaje Aruba 400m before the bus station on the and in air-conditioned comfort. Dishes are roasted or grilled,
Puerto Quimba road T6344 2388, Ehospedaje a rare pleasure in the Darién (mains from $6). Plans are afoot
arubadarien@gmail.com. Aesthetics are not high on the to offer accommodation, too. Free wi-fi. Daily 11am–10pm.

Yaviza
The gently rolling final 50km of the Interamericana to YAVIZA – now tarred, though
with sections often under repair – is mercifully slightly more tree-lined than the
stretch between Chepo and Metetí. It comes to an abrupt halt at the banks of the
Río Chucunaque, hidden behind a high chainlink fence and reams of barbed wire.
Marking the official start of the infamous Darién Gap (Tapón del Darién – literally
Darién cork or plug), the highway hiatus between Central and South America, Yaviza
simultaneously exudes a lethargic end-of-the-road torpor and an edgy frontier-town

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