It’s after Christmas already and I’m home since a week. It’s time to wrap up the last part of the trip and release it to where it will stay forever…a memory.
So, let me take you to some interesting living styles. After dropping off the rental car at the border I coincidentally met another traveler who I have seen before and together we strolled over the border and took the next bus. In David we separated again as I wanted to go to Santa Catalina for 2 nights. However, I also had some other plans and finally thought that I might run out of time and thus decided to go to Panama directly. It was a long drive and I didn’t arrive before midnight.
Nevertheless, I really wanted to go to Darien, an area that is scarcely visited by tourists and close to the Columbian border. You need a guide but I had still to meet mine. The only description I had before taking the bus was this:
hl matia wants to know the package well. The package is 300 is fine yes or no. good hours ask matia do you have a document to come to Darien if she has okay ok
*Routes to Darien.
You enter through the Pacoras stops and then you get a bus that says Meteti Darien.ok
for the 10th of December your departure to Meteti Darien.
to sleep at the hotel Graon. to go out the next day you take a goat
Q design Puerto Quimbas at 5:00 am in the morning to get to Puerto Quimbas and then read your document or postage ok. to the guard and then after that you take a boat that designed sambu and then you pay the captain of the boat 25 dollars and then I told the captain to leave you at the dock of the chungas and not meet at the dock ok. and then we walked to the cavaña… ok
And no, this is not a bad translation by Google. I needed a friend of mine to make sense of his writing. But it didn’t scare me off. If anything, it got me even more curious. So, after a short night in Panama City I boarded another bus, which I named disco bus because the music was more than the speakers could handle, and drove 8 hours to the little town of Meteti, where I had to sleep. Why? Because the little boats leave only in the morning. A fact that could have been fatal the next day, when I run to the bus station just to see the little bus pass by me without stopping. Damn. I was furious. Then, 30 minutes later I was in the next one. The little port wasn’t really busy yet and I decided to have a fast breakfast. An error, maybe? Because, once I was back at the dock there were already lots of people…and no tourists at all. I actually had to register with the border patrol post (I will not de-register later so I am curious on what they will do with that piece of information now). Then two foreigners stepped off the boat and shouted “hey Matthias”. I was like “How the fuck do you know me?”. They were instructed by my guide to tell me to make it to the boat. Too late folks. It’s already full.
My hope was with fellow passengers that we might be able to organize another boat. It took several hours and it wasn’t clear but we made it.
Two small boats later I was in the village of my guide. Right after lunch he dragged me out to a forest walk. I did not enjoy it. I mean it was a nice forest but it was humid as hell and just uncomfortable. I was glad to be back again and relax. Yes, traveling isn’t easy.
We had planned a long hike the next day. But when morning came a visitor stopped by and I saw that my guide was torn between fulfilling the obligation to me and joining the visitor and the community in preparing a meal for the mothers. Because, here mothers’ day is on the 8th of December. Hell, that could be interesting. So, I released him and actually joined in on the cooking. No worries, I just peeled onions. I didn’t want to poison them. A small favor I did lead in me giving a speech in front of the community. In Spanish! Those jokers! 😀
That night we did a night tour and saw quite some animals. However, as he pointed to a big spider on the ground I was more cautious where to put my feet. And just when I thought the tour is over we went to a tree just across from his house (and thus my place!) and he showed me a tarantula. Holy fucking shit. I do not want that in my room. And the rooms do not even have walls! I reasoned that this was why he left the light on. To scare away the spiders. I mean, that works, no? The mind tries everything 😉
The next day we did the long hike and again it was hot pretty soon. He showed me a huge tree but we did not see as many animals as I hoped but overall it was just a nice walk. Sometimes, I was put off a bit by the stories he told. Stories of women he met and wanted him. He made it sound like it was last month, just to later find out that it was 30 years ago. Still, it sounded like regret. How many regrets do I carry around? Damn, seeing it from the outside it makes no sense to drag those around with you all your life. We have to move on.
On the last day we did fish. It was an enjoyable thing to do. Especially, since I have never fished (if you do not count that failed try in Chile this year). I actually caught two fish while he asked me if it is true that in movies, some movies, women are completely naked. So much for concentration 😉
I had one more goal for this trip. San Blas. It is an archipelago of 365 island and yes, it is as tropical as it sounds. The island I was on just had a few huts and there are some where nobody lives and you could pitch your tent. The only obstacle could be drug traffickers passing by and taking a dislike in you. Shit happens.
The Kuna, who live here, fought successfully for an autonomous region. Panama as a country doesn’t get involved here. And another interesting fact is that they have a matriarchal society. It sounds nice but, in the end, it is the same shit, just reversed. The lands (or islands in this case) are inherited by the oldest daughters and actually, all the guys, who worked on the island, where there representing some female “owner”. All decisions are done by the women.
But I had a very quiet time there, added by the limited internet access there. So, finally I could use my hammock…in the rain pauses. I was really happy that when we did a snorkeling tour we had sunshine and exactly the weather I imagined for this part of the trip. No matter what, this was very relaxing.
While both of these groups consider themselves indigenous the reality of western life has its grip here as well. In Darien I saw children playing outside all the time and a livelier community life than I see here. But then, when darkness came, I heard also TV and radio blast from the neighbor. And yes, trash is a constant problem. We have no solution and imagine what it is like in an indigenous community.
That was all what I wanted to see and on the last day in Panama City I had no more interests in seeing some more touristic points. I just enjoyed the city to the fullest and prepared for the flight home and the freezing weather 😉
Thank you for being in my travel group for this trip. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
Love,
Matthias