Leave
your rainforest hotel and travel the first part of the morning on the Chagres
River. Inmerse yourself in the jungle for a trip that will take you to one of
the hidden Embera Villages located along the river banks.
Shorts,
T-shirt, sandals or sneakers are suggested. Moskito repellent should be handy
while in the Village, or you can also wear long pants, however the weather
would be hot. Bring cameras, binoculars and some cash in case that you
are interested in purchasing some of the crafts that are made by the Embera
artisans who are known for their beautiful woven baskets and carvings in
cocobolo wood and tagua nut.
The
Embera people were originally semi-nomadic and survived as hunters and fishermen in wide areas of
Panama, mainly the Darien jungle and the Amazonian Colombia where they were formerly
known as the Choco tribe.
When Chagres National Park was founded in 1984 to
protect its watershed, several groups of
indigenous people moved to the region from remote parts of the forest and organized themselves in small communities of 5 to 20 houses. Today, there are approximately 10 different villages on this part of the Chagres River.
Once they migrated to the protected areas they were
not allowed to hunt. Instead, they found new ways subsisting by growing their
own crops (yucca, plantain), fishing and later tourism and as wood carvers, and crafts makers and
weavers. The Chocó have their own form of government and live by their own rules.
The
women wear brightly colored cloth wrapped at the waist as a skirt and hey decorate their head usually with hibiscus flowers.
They also
wear silver necklaces and silver earrings on special occasions, many of the
necklaces being made of very old silver coins that they have inherited.
Men and
women paint their bodies with geometric patterns with a dye made from the jagua
fruit, mainly for special celebrations. The pigment remains in the skin
between 12 to 15 days.
Their
celebrations include music from flutes and percussion instruments, and dances
that are inspired in the movements of animals from the jungle.
Their
houses, composed of a single room with no walls, stand on large posts set in
the ground, and have thatched roof made from palm leaves.
This
visit to this small Embera Village will open your mind to a completely new and
amazing hidden world. Learn about their
art, medicine, dances, music and history. Gather with the people of the
village at their community house for unique cultural experience.
You
will have time of your own to walk this tiny village, to take picture and why
not, to get a 12 day Embera tattoo!
After
the visit, get back on the boats to the bus for a couple of hours drive to your
beach resort at Playa Blanca or White Beach were you will spend the next to
nights!
Relax and
enjoy at one of the favorite beaches on the Pacific of Panama.
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