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| The Darien is the last frontier in central america, the end of the panamerican
road and a first class destination for nature lovers. It has also three remarquable amerindian cultures: Kuna, embera and wounaan. |
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day 1
We shall leave Panama city in the morning, heading east on the panamerican road
,in the direction of Colombia.
Our road trip will be mostly through pastures, teack wood plantations and an
area of secondary rainforest which is part of the Kuna ''comarca''.
Around noon we shall stop in a little roadside restaurant where you will be
served a typical local lunch ( note: Panama beer is excellent ! ).
After passing the town of Santa Fe we shall arrive to a river where we shall
embark in a wounaan duggout canoe.
It will take us half an hour of navigation through the beautiful mangrove to
reach Boca de Lara, our final destination.
We have our own hut on stilts in this peaceful wounaan village, with some anachronic
but enjoyable elements of western civilization: showers and toilets!
| day 2 Taking advantage of the high tide in the morning we shall explore the mangrove with our canoes. It is a heaven for birdwatchers, the home of thousands of ibis, eggrets, herons, pelicans, ospreys, magnificent frigates and so much more... In the afternoon the wounaan will show us how rich their culture is...Boca de Lara is an art gallery with an artist in every hut ! You will see some of their dances,and amateurs of handicrafts will buy palm fiber baskets, wood carvings and “taguas” (animals carved in a palm nut, the “vegetable ivory”). |
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day 3 This time, the trip back to the panamerican road will be done on horseback, an ideal and relaxing way to observe the beautiful nature of Darien. In case you are allergic to this animal, a transfer by boat then vehicle is another option.... Shortly after passing Meteti we will discover the intimidating rainforest of Darien.. During the hike,you'll be impressed by the size of the trees : giant cashew nut trees(anacardium excelsum), spiny cedars (bombacopsis quinata) and cuipos (cavanillesia platanifolia). After a well diserved picnic and a short transfer that will take us to Puero Kimba, we shall board a fast boat for half an hour of navigation on the rivers Iglesias, Savana and Tuira, until we reach La Palma ,the capital (!!!) of Darien.. |
| La Palma is a picturesque little town, a happy melting pot of blacks, amerindians, colombians and panama civil servants... |  |
| After the visit, we shall come back to Meteti. Depending on road conditions ( during the rainy season roads in Darien become mud pools)we shall spend the night in Meteti or in an embera indian village on the river Chucunaque*. |
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| day 4 In the morning a quick transfer towards the north will take us to the shores of the river Chucunaque ( * no transfer of course if we slept in the embera village). There ,we shall walk a little while along the river to eventually reach the embera village of Alto Playon, built on a hill with a splendid view on the Chucunaque. We shall spend the rest of the morning with the emberas and make a short walk in the neighbouring rainforest. In the afternoon we shall come back to Panama city, where we should arrive around 19h00. |
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easy
the evening with the wounaan in Boca de Lara