Our first full day in Panama City I had scheduled us to go on a tour of the Embera Indian Tribe- we lucked out and were able to join another couple ( this saved me money as the tours are based on how many people go)
The driver picked us up at 8:30 on Saturday morning and the other couple were in their 70's and enjoyable to be with. We drove past the canal and down some beautiful lush foliage areas for about an hour. We arrived at the meeting place to be greeted by 3 members of the tribe. 2 men and one of the cutest little girls. We were loaded into a long dugout canoe but I was surprised to see an outboard motor on it. Talk about the clashing of 2 worlds. We carefully crawled in and balanced on the wooden seats and set off up river. It was a great trip - quiet with birds and wildlife on the banks. We turned andwent up a small fork of the river and the depth of the water was such that if it had been any longer into the dry season we might of had to get out and push.
Soon we rounded a corner and the sounds of drums was vibrating through the jungle. Our greeting committee was a group of men all playing different instruments- and women and children waving from above.
I need to tell you here that Kaiden and I had a chat before leaving the City. The Embera Indian women do not wear anything on the upper part of their bodies. He looked at me in amazement and said " well I know where I am not looking". The tribee believes in Henna tattoos and both the men and the women are covered with them. You may have seen this on the show the Amazing Race as this is the Indians that they visited.
The Embera Indians make most of their incomes from the wonderful baskets that are woven so tightly that they will hold water. All the fibers used and the dies that are used to make the colors are all natural. I was told that for every dollar that they charged stands for a day in the time it took to make the basket. The baskets shown ranged in the cost of $70-100. The baskets are all made by the women and they gave us a demonstration of the weaving. The men carve items out of wood and and a large nut that is referred to as Panamanian Ivory. We were allowed to ask questions and found out that there were about 100 people living with this tribe- that their diet consisted of rice and fish and fruit. They do have cell phone but mostly this is because when their land was declared a national park area they no longer could farm it and turned to tourism for their support. They have to be in contact to arrange the tours. But because of their location often times one of the men must crawl up a tree to get reception and they charge them when they are in town or any where they can. They do have a government school for their children and if they want to go past 6th grade they have to go into the city. They have a primitive school and the teacher is not Embera and after we ate the kid showed us where it was- up the hill but it looked like many others I have seen in Panama with te flag pole in front , desks, chalk boards etc.
The village consisted of about 10 huts up on stils with primitve ladders to reach them. The ladders were logs with steps carved in them and even were used to tell guests when they were welcome- if the steps pointed up you were welcome if the log had been rolled over with the steps down you were not.
Sure beats a doorbell.
The Embera are also know for their colorful fabrics that are used for the womens skirts.- the colors are very bright almost neon like, and this fabric is hanging from each hut.
We were then treated to lunch. We crawled up to the central hut and we were treated to a wonderful lunch of friend talapia fish and patacones served in a simple banana leaf bowl and fresh pineapple and papaya. Kaiden loved that we all just ate with our fingers and he proclaimed that it was the best meal he had ever eaten. And I have to admit it was very good, We sat on primitive benches and were shown how they have a type of fire pit in each hut area - it is a box that is filled in with river sand and the fire is on top of that,- this all in an area that is made of wood and bamboo.
to be continued
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