Page 290 - The Rough Guide to Panama (Travel Guide)

288 The Darién anD easTern Panama The souTheasTern Pacific coasT
vicious ants that tuck in to the penitent’s buttocks. The Wounaan community of Semaco,
known for its exquisite basketry, music and dance, is just a two-hour hike away. A village
guide can take you birdwatching upriver, or perhaps to a harpy eagle nest.
arriVaL anD aCCOmmODaTiOn La ChUnGa
By boat Although La Chunga has its own motorized Community accommodation T333 2516 (public
transport that occasionally travels to and from La Palma phone). Overnight guests are made comfortable in
($20) on weekdays, you can also catch a ride in the Sambú/ someone’s home on mattresses with mosquito nets and even
Puerto Indio boats, which will drop you at the La Chunga sheets and pillows. Bathrooms are shared and rudimentary.
pontoon on the Río Sambú, from where it is a 20min walk. You pay $12 for someone to prepare your three meals. $10

The southeastern Pacific coast
The Darién’s Pacific coast is as remote and unexplored as the jungle-filled interior: to
the northwest of the Golfo de San Miguel, the coastline is dominated by mangroves,
but to the southeast it comprises kilometres of deserted beaches interspersed with rocky
outcrops, cliffs and expanses of pristine forest, with the brooding serranías del Sapo and
Jungurudó a dramatic backdrop. Three places of interest stand out here: the Emberá
village of Playa de Muerto; the luxury sport-fishing magnet of Bahía Piñas (Wtropicstar
.com), staffed primarily from the adjacent village of Puerto Piñas; and Jaqué, the last
sizeable community before the Colombian border. Note that Bahía Piñas and Jaqué are
8 the only places in the Darién accessible by plane.

Playa Muerto
Attractively situated amid serried ranks of coconut palms backing a chocolate swathe of
sand, PLAYA MUERTO is the only Emberá community on the Pacific coast. Its gruesome
name (“Beach of the Dead”) derives from the corpses that used to wash ashore following
sea-battles between bullion-laden Spanish galleons and pirate ships in colonial times.
Isolated, and inaccessible by boat in winter, when the waves are huge, the village is well
worth a visit; note that there is no mobile phone coverage. Beyond the village stocks –
which are still used to punish wrongdoers – Playa Muerto has lost most of its traditions but
the setting is attractive, and the pace relaxed. You can have your body painted in jagua dye,
hike through the rainforest or take a short stroll to a nearby waterfall and natural pool.
arriVaL anD DeParTUre PLaYa mUerTO
By boat Boats from La Palma for Jaqué will call in at Playa overland two-day trek from Sambú or Garachiné (see
Muerto provided sea conditions are favourable ($30) – p.286). Alternatively, you could arrange for a local
they have to land passengers on the beach – as will the community guide (and mule if you don’t want to carry a
Halcón from Panama City (see opposite). pack) by contacting the authorities in Puerto Indio or Playa
On foot A couple of Darién tour operators include the Muerto (see p.287 & below).
aCCOmmODaTiOn
★ Community accommodation At the back of the Sleep on a mattress or in a hammock and watch the
beach T386028 (satellite phone). Choose between a pelicans and the sunsets. Shared bathroom with flush toilet
traditional, raised wood-and-thatch building with ocean- and cold-water showers. Simple meals are cooked in a
facing open sides (sleeps ten), or a smaller, two-person villager’s home ($4). $12
wooden cabaña with porch, slightly back from the beach.

Puerto Piñas
Less edgy and much smaller than the neighbouring frontier community of Jaqué,
PUERTO PIÑAS has a more impressive setting, encircled by forested mountains, in a

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