Page 285 - The Rough Guide to Panama (Travel Guide)

Around Golfo de SAn MiGuel The Darién anD easTern Panama 283
VISITING AN EMBERÁ OR WOUNAAN VILLAGE
Staying overnight in an Emberá or Wounaan village is a great way to interact with villagers
and learn about their day-to-day activities, as well as giving you access to the rainforest.
Accommodation will either be in a traditional communal house (raised, thatched and
open-sided) or in a family home. Communities that are used to greeting tour parties tend to
offer slightly better facilities (showers, flush toilets and maybe even mattresses and mosquito
nets), whereas others may provide little more than a wooden floor or a hammock for you to
sleep on, and possibly a fire to cook your own food and a bucket of water for washing.
As many settlements are located on tidal rivers only accessible at high tide you may well
have to hang around by jetties waiting for the water level to rise – generally, you need to be
flexible and organized, taking food with you where possible, since many communities expect
you to provide the food to cook and village shops are thinly stocked. Bottled water – or the
means of purifying it – is both necessary and scarce; beer is more widely available, though
check on the village etiquette before indulging and be discreet in your drinking, except when
the whole village is having a party.
Most visitors head for villages round the Golfo de San Miguel or in the Distrito Sambú
section of the Comarca Emberá-Wounaan, where you first need to report to the comarca office
in Puerto indio (see p.287) and pay the $10 entry fee. Mobile phone signals are fickle, and some
communities have no coverage at all; given the difficulties in communication in the darién, most
independent travellers just turn up. The tourist coordinator (or president) is the person to ask for
on arrival. They can tell you the prices and whether money needs to be paid to them (to be
disbursed later to the relevant people) or directly to anyone who provides a service. They may also
allocate you a personal tourist coordinator (usually $10/group – or solo traveller – per day), who
will organize all aspects of your stay. families usually take turns in hosting visitors to ensure that 8
wealth is distributed across the community, but it is essential to sort out what’s to be paid to
whom from the outset to prevent misunderstandings. Costs are charged per person and itemized
separately: village community fee (usually $5–10, but word is that it may soon be increased to
$20); accommodation ($10/night); meals ($4–5); services of a cook ($10/day per group or solo
traveller); fishing trips or guided hikes ($10–15; more to a harpy eagle nest); body painting with
jagua – (dye from the juice of a tropical berry mixed with charcoal; $5); and dance performances
($40/group). Assuming you take one excursion and three meals a day, you should budget around
$50–60 per person per day, plus transport ($15–30/person, depending on the distance and the
number of people, if you manage to catch a piragua colectivo; $80–200 for a private hire).
Sales of handicrafts are also an important aspect of village visits, displayed in a small shop
or by the artisans themselves, and at set prices (usually from $20) that are inevitably lower than
in Panama City. if you don’t intend to buy anything, alert the tourist coordinator to avoid
embarrassment; otherwise, try to spread your purchases round several artisans.

La Palma
Resembling no other town in Panama, LA PALMA, a predominantly Afro-Darienite
settlement of around six thousand, is the regional administrative and commercial hub,
where motorized dugouts from the coastal and riverine communities jostle for position
at the narrow and non-too-salubrious main jetty. The town’s one sultry street is
chock-full of hole-in-the-wall restaurants, bars and hotels, and shops selling welcome
piles of fresh produce and other goods that are regularly shipped in from Panama City.
Most visitors gravitate to La Palma to connect with transport to Emberá communities
such as La Marea and Mogué, or those further afield up the Río Sambú, and you’d be
well advised to stock up with supplies while here – the (pricier) village stores are
unlikely to provide much beyond tinned fish, rice and biscuits. If you don’t have the
means to purify water, make sure you pick up a flagon or two of the bottled variety.
arriVaL anD DeParTUre La PaLma
By water-taxi Water-taxis to La Palma run from Puerto last return water-taxi to Puerto Quimba leaves around
Quimba (daily 5am–5.30pm; every 30min; 40min; $4). The 5.30pm.

270-289_Panama_3_Ch8.indd 283 30/06/17 11:52 am