The highlight of my time there was a visit to an indigenous village in the rainforest of mid Panama. The Embera tribe living here welcomes tourists as a way to offset the limitations to their hunting and gathering lifestyle resulting from the creation of a national park in the area in which they live. I must admit I was a bit cynical as to what I would experience, expecting the “Disneyfied” tourist shows of other areas where the natives shuck their t-shirts and jeans, don their traditional costumes, perform and then change clothes, hop in their car and go about their 21st century lifestyle. Not so here. The Embera live in their rainforest villages in traditional style as they always have. The villages host small groups of tourists for a few hours on only three days of the week and spend the rest of the time living as they have for centuries with a few exceptions as noted below.

We were transported by van into the depths of the rainforest and after some time came to the banks of a wide river. There on the banks of the river were 25-foot dugout canoes hewn from single logs. The men of the village were waiting to transport us to their riverside village. Some wore ceremonial, multi-coloured, beaded skirts that their wives had crafted for them upon their marriage while others wore only loin clothes. They also sported bandoliers of coloured beads and wide silver bracelets on each wrist. They shook our hands, welcomed us in Spanish and loaded us into the dugouts. The only part of the picture that jarred was the outboard motors attached to the rear of the dugouts. They had been purchased from the proceeds of their eco-tourism venture to allow us to reach their village more quickly. Given the mid 30’s temperature and high humidity, we were glad of the breeze produced by their speed.