Day One - Embera

In true Panamanian fashion, we woke up to tropical rain in Panama City.  But after stopping at the supermarket, we continued to the Chagres River where we boarded our canoes to Embera Drua.

A little bit of a bumpy ride to the village due to a lot of mud and shallow water but our river guides got us all there safely – some of our own travelers hopped out to help push the boats at times too!

And, as soon as we got to Embera we were welcomed warmly, and immediately started learning fascinating things about their lives and culture.  Embera Drua is a village of indigenous people who open their home in the middle of the Chagres National Forest to share about themselves.  Their village was started with two families and a total of eight people.  Now, they have two leaders – one male and one female – that are elected by the people and over twenty different families.

They are primarily an artisan village where you can find beautifully carved statues, jewelry, and woven baskets.

When you walk in, it’s like you’ve been transported to another world.  Dogs, chickens, and monkeys walk freely through Embera.  And we met a new animal called a “gato solo” by the natives but we would recognize it as a “coati.” 

After learning about their background, they fed us a delicious lunch of fish and patacones (which we actually saw being prepared!) as well as offered for us to get temporary tattoos with their traditional designs, unique to the artist.

Then our students joined the native children in a game of soccer and visited the medicine man’s garden of remedies. 

As well, the people of Embera shared some of their traditional songs and even invited us to dance with them! 

Finally, we swam in the river that runs along Embera and returned to our hotel in Panama City. 

To end our first full day in Panama, the group went to a nearby outdoor Italian restaurant.  Tomorrow we will visit the Panama Canal and then relax at Santa Clara beach before meeting our host families in Santiago – can’t wait!