Day 1 - Embera Tribe - Sayeef

Wake up one day in Tampa, and the next in Panama. Our 'first' day was full of first experiences. Our day started with some great breakfast. 'Light continental breakfast' has a different Panamanian definition. It was fulfilling and more than prepared me for the day ahead. Cereal with bananas, fruits, and even some eggs and toast, not only filled me up but made me feel right at home. I remeber asking Nilesh, the Hostel manager, with my broken spanish: "Que es para desayuno?" He answered with all they had to offer, ending with coffee, 'muy importante.' He laughed when I told him, "Bien, bien, bueno para la salud." Honestly, I could not have asked for a better breakfast. Thanks to my mom, I am a big breakfast fan?, so mom don't worry, I am getting good breaksfast...

The day officially began when we got on the bus and were introduced to our half-Chinese, half-indigenous nature exploration guide, Juan. He seemed intimidating at first with strong build and that pony tail; all he needed was a harley davidson. But, he turned out to be extremely nice. He told us some interesting facts about Panama from describing the National Parks and Rain forests to talking about the Panama Canal. Apparently, 1/3 of the country's population lives in Panama City and that 10% of the entire population consists of indigenous tribes such as the Guaymi, Kuna Yala, and the tribe of our visit, the Embera Tribe.

The Embera Tribe could only be reached by motored-canoes and that experience was awesome. As we drifted into the water and I looked across the mountainous terrain, covered in lush forests, I sang the Jurassic Park Theme song ( I know you all know it too). It was a totally different experience because of such a large area of unadultered nature. The river landscapes really define the ecotourism of the Panama. My most favorite part of the whole day was when we got off the canoes and went hiking into the rainforest. The group's nature walk ended at the waterfall where the students went in for a swim. Billy and I, on the other hand, decided to go on a little adventure. We noticed some terrain alongside the waterfall that seemed climbable. With cameras at our sides, the 'steve erwin' in us seemed to lead the path as we carefully stepped on the right rocks, and supported ourselves with the right spots (except Billy...ants are always in the most unlikeliest of places). We followed the waterfall up and discovered there was another steep waterfall going down leading to the main one. After awhile, we decided that the trail would go on pretty far and decided to head back to the group. The thrill of the hike was awesome, it almost felt like we were traversing unchartered territory. But I realized, this is the Embera's home; this is the type of places in thier natural environment that they travel across all the time. Without a doubt, our expedition hike would be commonplace to them, if not a matter of a daily routine. It seemed at first, that to be able to hike this land, a new place every day would be so much fun. But the Embera way of life incorporates such traveling through the rainforest. Their traveling used to be a means of sustenenace, para buscar la comida.

After our hike into the rainforest, we got back on our canoes and headed toward the tribe. Once we landed, the natives began playing some lively music as a welcoming to tourists. They seemed to welcome us with open arms as a part of this Embera tourist attraction. Women came out with thier colorful dresses. Children and infants toddled about playing around in the background. The men with thier red loincloths guided us the whole time from the canoes to the front of the village. We later found out that one of the oldest members of that tribe was leading the song with his original Embera flute. Afterwards, we walked uphill to a large hut for a cultural, educational activity. Our day ended with a communal song and dance that we were all warned by our guide, not to deny. "If they ask you to dance...Dance." Overall, we learned about the Embera's life and how Panama's progressive modernization resulted the Embera's economic dependence on international tourism. All of this land belongs to the Chagres National Park and the Panamanian law states that hunting is prohibited. The Embera are only allowed to fish in thier own homes. They depend on trips to the city to get items of necessity and now thier village economy is centered on the selling of arts and crafts and the catering to tourism. It was interesting to view the Embera way of life but I was understanding that this is just their means of life and without it would be even more frustrating to live in a natural environment with unnatural laws.

When we got back to the hostel, we did our group reflection and around 8pm, we walked to a local restaurant called Pencas. To cut a long story short, I ate some exotic fried fish...They call it corvino and though thier translation states 'croaker,' Mr. Mejias informed me it was sea bass. A long day of adventure ended with a great meal. My bangaldeshi culture is actually used to a diet that revolves around fish. So tasting new Panamanian fish was a great experience.

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Sayeef Mirza