Back in February, Mateo organized a hike from his community across the cordillera to Kuna Yala with the goal of joining in the Kuna Independence Day celebration when we arrived. We started off near the border of Panama Este and Darien provinces. We began by hiking into the Comarca Wargandi to the community of Nurra to meet our guide. (The Kuna people live in three separate comarcas which are roughly equivalent to reservations, though the Kuna have greater autonomy and self-governance than the other indigienous groups.)
We hiked the four hours to Nurra where we met our guide, Gaspar.
After lunch in Nurra, we went for a quick swim in the river, and then headed out for another 4 hour hike to our campground.
We camped for the night by the side of the river. My Thermarest proved adequate padding for the stones, while others hung their hammocks between the trees.
We headed out the next morning. From here on our path would take us through virgin rainforest, becuase we were hiking through the Kuna Comarca, it is likely we were among the only gringos to ever see this part of Panama.
Around 11am, we reached the top of the cordillera, and got out first glimpse of the Caribbean. Unfortunately, we still had another 7 hours to go before we reached the coast.
We took this photo of the group using a campo tripod, i.e. a machete stuck in a tree.
Apparently, Ryu is King of the World. The rivers were so refreshing that we stopped every hour or so for a quick swim. On the Carribbean side of the cordillera, the rivers were pure enough that we were able to fill our water bottles directly from the rivers.
Seven hours later, and a slight case of heat exhaustion on my part, we reached the coast. Unfortunately, the boat to take us to the island wasn't there, so we had to spend the next 90 minutes hanging out in the local garbage dump while our guide went for a boat. This part of the jungle wasn't so pure.
I was still recovering later that night when someone asked me to show them how I felt. This picture was the result.
The next day, still feeling exhausted, we got up to join the party. Kuna all over the island were parading through the streets.
Eventually, we ended up at the center of the celebration, the chicha house. This is where the Kuna served their traditional alcoholic beverage made from fermented corn and coffee beans. Caffeine and alcohol, it was an indigienous Red Bull and Vodka. They lined us up in groups of 6 to 8 people, and while the crowd chanted and clapped, we chugged down bowls of chicha.
Nikki joined the ladies half of the house, where instead of bowls of chicha, the women were served chicha in shot glasses made from gourds.
Here's Gaurav, Alan, and Ryu partaking of the bowls.
And another round.
We met a lot of people and made a lot of friends that day. In the front of the picture, is an albino Kuna. The Kuna have the highest rate of albinism of any ethnic group.
We got up early in the morning to catch our boat ride back. The boat took us 9 hours down the coast using it's 40 horsepower engine. We were all on the verge of seasickness for a couple of hours as the boat went up and down 6 foot swells.
Once the boat landed in Carti, we managed to negotiate a ride to Chepo in the back of a pick-up. You can see the effects that the combination of salt water from the boat ride, and the ride in pickup had on my hair in this picture.
The whole trip was an amazing experience, and I recommend it for anyone who wants a serious adventure, and is comfortable with their spanish.
1 comment:
That must have been one heck of a hiking trip!
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