Our First Adventure in Panama

One of our first days in Panama was one of our best and most interesting. Our guide, Alex, suggested that we visit the Embera tribe. We pretty much did anything he suggested, because he knew a lot more about the opportunities than we did.

First we had a canoe ride over to the Embera village. Our canoe driver was Reigu. He was quiet with a nice smile and sooo helpful. (He spoke Spanish but not English.) Every time I turned around I saw him grabbing our bags and carrying them all for us, like a Sherpa, and he was also always present when we had to walk over bumpy, rocky paths to get to our final spot - the waterfall. His arm would be right there to help steady us or catch us if we lost our balance. Same with Alex. He was fabulous. I might write something just about him later on.

Such beautiful kids! The Embera people are small and appear to be kind and happy. They speak their own language and Spanish. They rely on tourists to provide an income and any extras we can. We brought along fruit which the kids loved. I also had some packs of gum in my pocket. You should have seen the kids jump to life when I pulled those out and handed them out. I mimed to them "sharing" since I only had a few packs with me. We did see them share, but boy were they grabby at first when I had those packs of gum in view. LOL!

They fed us a delicious meal of fresh fish and fried plantain. Yummy!

They (with interpreters) explained how they dye reeds and make their cloth. Unfortunately I couldn't hear most of what they said. Then they danced and we danced!

Alex helped find some families with young kids, and we gave them five quilts! Highlight of the day!

After all the dancing and hanging out, they set out tables of their wares to sell.. beautiful bracelets, earrings, various kinds of cloth, bowls, etc. Then we departed and got back on the water to find the waterfall.

arriving at the waterfall.. we jumped in and swam in our clothes. It was refreshing and so fun! This part of the trip was an "Alex Special." Most tourists don't get to go to the waterfall. We experienced many Alex Specials during the week.