Red-eyed tree frog
6
DARIÉN
“Darien begins just beyond the suburbs of Panama City and sprawls east, thickening as it goes, until it has erased all roads, all telephone lines, all signs of civilization, turning the landscape into one solid band of unruly vegetation filled with jaguars, deadly bushmasters, and other exotic wildlife.”
—BEN RYDER HOWE
Panamá’s eastern extreme is indeed a world of extremes. The name Darién is synonymous with impenetrable jungle. Famously, the Interamerican Highway (the sole road access) peters down to a muddy track, then halts altogether at Yaviza, many miles from the Colombian border. No road whatsoever penetrates the dense rain forests that sweep east into Colombia and form the largest tract of primary rain forest in all Central America. Hence, the untamed region is known as the “Darien Gap.” As such, the 2,236-square-mile (579,000 ha) Parque Nacional Darién is a teeming hothouse of tropical biota offering wildlife encounters and Indiana Jones-style experiences nowhere excelled in the nation.
Darién province curls south and takes up fully one-half of the nation, yet is sparsely populated. Until recent decades, the rain forests extended almost to Panamá City’s borders. In 1977, completion of the Interamerican Highway spawned an invasion of settlers. Much of the newly accessible forest was felled for cattle. And villages and tiny towns dot the route. Fortunately, beyond Yaviza the forests remain almost entirely pristine. Access is via a few airstrips or by cayucos—motorized dugout canoes that ply the dark, muddy rivers, linking remote communities of Emberá and Wounaan indigenous people. This welcoming and fascinating “Amazonian” tribe (actually two closely related tribes, yet each with its own language) has traditionally lived by nomadic, slash-and-burn agriculture and by hunting using boroqueras (blow guns) and poison-tipped darts. In recent years, they have increasingly settled into permanent communities that derive a living from forestry and the tourist trade. A visit to a traditional village is a highlight of any Panamanian vacation. These people are welcoming to a fault. And it’s a fascinating and illuminating entrée into a primitive way of life that is at one with Mother Nature. Heck, go the whole hog and have your body “tattooed” with tagua-nut juice, in true Emberá-Wounaan fashion. The Emberá-Wounaan domain is split into two semi-autonomous districts, the Comarca Emberá Cemaco and Comarca Emberá Sambú.
Welcome to Darién sign, Darién, Panamá
Tourist facilities are few and far between, and with only a few exceptions, travelers should lower their expectations with regard to accommodations and food. Large tracts are a no-man’s-land in which ultra-violent Colombian drug barons, left-wing FARC guerrillas, and right-wing paramilitary death squads operate with frightening freedom (the 180-mile-long/286 km Colombian border is unguarded), notwithstanding a significant Panamanian military presence. The rain forest of Darién is one place you don’t want to be exploring alone. You must carry your passport at all times, and report to local police upon arrival. They can advise of current conditions.
Darién is separated from the Caribbean coast by the pencil-thin Comarca Kuna Yala. Darién extends from the continental divide along the rugged Serranía del Darién to the Pacific Coast. Two equally rugged coastal mountain ranges—the Serranía de Majé in the north and Serranía del Sapo in the south—rise from a narrow and thinly populated coastal strip facing onto the Golfo de Panamá. The Archipiélago de las Perlas studs the gulf, 20 miles (35 km) from shore. Well-named, these gorgeous islands are well developed for tourism thanks to their blazing white beaches and pristine coral reefs. Whales abound in the warm shallow waters.
If birding or hiking, waterproof lightweight boots are advised, as you’re going to get wet. Locals use rubber boots, which have the advantage of guarding against snakebites (the deadly and aggressive fer-de-lance is common in Darién); you may be able to buy a pair in local tiendas (shops) in La Palma and other towns.
Fer-de-lance
GETTING THERE AND AROUND
By Air
Aeroperlas (507-315-7500; www.tacaregional.com) flies from Panamá City’s Albrook airport to Bahía Piña and Jaqué on Saturday. Air Panama (507-316-9000; www.flyairpanama.com) flies from Panamá City’s Albrook airport to Garachiné and Sambú (Tuesday and Thursday), Jaqué (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday), and La Palma (Tuesday and Saturday).
You can charter planes to fly you to other airstrips, including Cana and Punta Patiño Field Stations, both of which are run by Ancon Expeditions, which makes charter flight arrangements for guests.
By Bus or Público
Buses depart Panamá City daily every hour on the hour starting 5 AM to 5 PM from the Gran Terminal Nacional de Transporte, beside the Corredor Norte in Albrook (about $12 each way to Metetí allow six to nine hours). Buses end their journey at Metetí, from where you can catch a twice-daily bus, or more numerous chivas (pick-up trucks) to Yaviza and Puerto Quimba.
By Car
The Interamerican Highway is the only road into and through Darién, connecting Panamá City with Yaviza. Don’t be misled by the term highway (the Central American portion of the Pan-American Highway stretching from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego). This is no freeway. In fact, east of Panamá City it’s almost entirely one lane in each direction. At Metetí, about 140 miles (225 km) east of Panamá City, it deteriorates markedly and 4WD is essential for the final 31 miles (50 km) to Yaviza, where it peters out at the riverside dock. This latter section is often so muddy that even buses get stuck up to and beyond their axles. (The Darien Gap is the only incomplete section of the 16,000-mile/25,800 km highway between Alaska and the southern tip of Argentina.)
By Ship and River Transport
The main form of transport in eastern Darién is by cayuco (paddle-powered dugout canoe) and piraguas (motorized canoes) along the Río Tuira and Río Chucunaque and their myriad tributaries. If you arrive under your own steam in Yaviza, boat is the only way forward: however, the police may give you a lengthy examination before permitting you to leave (or not). Piraguas typically cost about $50 per day with driver (gasoline costs extra, about $3.75 a gallon). Water taxis (every 30 minutes for the 20-minute journey) serve the capital of La Palma from Puerto Quimba, which is linked to the Interamerican Highway.
Emberá girl and baby boy, Darién, Panamá
Cruise West (888-851-8133; www.cruisewest.com) includes the remote Emberá coastal community of Playa de Muerte on its eight-day cruise-tours of Panamá and Costa Rica.
By Tours
Many tour operators in Panamá City offers multi-day guided trips to the region. However, the standout company is Ancón Expeditions (507-269-9415; www.anconexpeditions.com), which specializes in birding and nature trips with an adventure component. Panama Exotic Adventures (507-673-5381; www.panamaexoticadventures.com) offers three- to eight-day trips, specializing in stays with Emberá and Wounaan communities. Exocircuitos (507-314-1586; www.ecocircuitos.com) has a three-day “Darien Ethnic Expedition” that includes Mogue.
Along the Interamerican Highway
The Interamerican Highway runs through the intermontane basin, with the Serranía de San Blas and, later, Serranía de Darién to the north and the Serranía de Majé to the south. Gateway to Darién is the town of Chepo, 33 miles (53 km) east of Panamá City. (The town is actually 1.2 miles [2 km] south of the highway and the turnoff is easy to miss; turn south at the statue of St. Christopher on the highway). Until the early 1970s, this was the end of the road! Although it’s in eastern Panamá province (Darién province actually begins 76 miles/122 km farther east, at Aguas Frías), but locals consider this to be where Darién begins. South of town, the Río Chepo snakes through a swampy mangrove forest good for birding, including the largest colony of cattle egrets in Panamá. You can hire boats at the dock at Puerto Coquira, about 3 miles (5 km) south of Chepo.
There are very few places or sites of interest along the route to Yaviza, gateway to Parque Nacional Darién. Still, the Istmo de Darién (Darien Isthmus) contains several semi-autonomous indigenous comarcas that offer an entrée into the lives of Kuna (centered on Ipetí, 53 miles/86 km east of Chepa) and Emberá and Wounaan communities. Much of the virgin rain forest that clad the vale has been cut in the decades since completion of the Interamerican Highway (with good reason, the Panamanian government is resisting lobbying by logging and cattle ranching interests, who want to see the highway pushed all the way into Colombia). You’ll pass mile after mile of relatively recent cattle pasture.
Tropical flower, Panamá
Happy visitor with Emberá at Playa de Muerte, Darién, Panamá
About 32 miles (50 km) east of Ipetí, you might divert 1.8 miles (3 km) from the highway for Santa Fe, on the east bank of the Río Sabaná. Here you can visit Finca Sonia (507-299-6951 or 299-6529, Spanish only), an agro-forestry and community development project where locals grow fruits and make soaps and medicinal products from all-natural ingredients. Water taxis will run you 5 miles (8 km) down the Río Sabana to the Wounaan community of Boca de Lara (you can also reach it by 4WD via a turnoff from the highway, 1.2 miles (2 km) south of the turnoff for Sante Fe). A sign designates this as a place to VISIT AND LIVE WITH THE WOUNAAN INDIANS AND EXPERIENCE THEIR LIFE. Panama Exotic Adventures (507-673-5381; www.panamaexoticadventures.com) includes Boca de Lara on its trips.
The largest settlement in the area is Metetí, an administrative and commercial center, 110 miles (177 km) east of Chepo. Beyond here the going gets tougher. You can turn west at Metetí for the funky little port of Puerto Quimba, which bustles with the watercraft heading to and from the Golfo de San Miguel and La Palma, the provincial capital, (pick-up truck colectivos leave Meteti for Puerto Quimba hourly, 6 AM to 6 PM; 45 minutes, $1.50). You can get a foretaste of the Darién rain forest at two private reserves: Agroforestal Salina (507-299-6070; feliciano.salina@gmail.com) and nearby Colegio Agroforestal Tierra Nueva (507-214-6945), both of which have forest trails good for spotting monkeys, poison-dart frogs, and birds.
Finally you arrive in Yaviza, the end of the road (literally and metaphorically); you’ll need to register at the heavily fortified police station upon arrival. The sole site of interest—and surely not worth the drive!—is the overgrown and meager ruins of 18th-century Fuerte San Jerónimo de Yaviza, rising over the Río Chicunaque. Otherwise, this dour riverside village has few redeeming qualities and is unmistakably a rowdy frontier town where staring too long into the eyes of pimped-up drug-dealer types in the bar is not a wise move. You are strongly advised against exploring beyond Yaviza except with a guide or tour group.
LODGING AND DINING
The numerous barebones hostelries ($5–10) include Pensión y Restaurante Tres Hermanos Ortiz (no telephone), and Hotel y Restaurante Felicidad (507-299-6188), both in Metetí and Hospedaje Las Narishas (507-299-6393), outside Puerto Quimba. If you arrive late in the day in Yaviza, your options are pretty much limited to the grim Hotel 3 Américas, adjoining a raucous bar. In nearby El Real, the Hotel Mazareno is equally dour.
Dosi Lodge (c/o Panamá Expeditions, 507-314-3013 or 6747-6096; www.panamaexoticadventures.com) Near Boca de Lara. A lodge in a Wounaan village, this makes the most of traditional Wounaan architecture, with simple bamboo-reed walls and palm-thatch roof, this simple stilt-legged lodge is basic yet stylish. It has three rooms with polished hardwood floors; even the private bathrooms with showers have sinks carved of hardwoods. You dine in a communal setting with local villagers. Moderate.
Filo del Tallo Lodge (c/o Panamá Expeditions, 507-314-3013 or 6747-6096; www.panamaexoticadventures.com) 1.8 miles (3 km) west of Metetí. In a Wounaan village, this hilltop retreat has the nicest lodging for miles. Despite the palm-thatch roofs and thin bamboo-reed walls, the three simple rooms here are exquisitely furnished in a trendy fashion. Dining is in a soaring circular palenque, doubling as a lounge with poured concrete sofas. Stylish! Horseback riding, kayaking, and guided birding and hikes are offered. Moderate.
Pensión Casa de Hospedaje Tortí (507-640-1500) Tortí, 60 miles (100 km) east of Chepo. Primarily a truckers’ lodging on the Interamerican Highway, this no-frills pensión has 25 air-conditioned rooms with shared bathrooms. Inexpensive.
ATTRACTIONS, PARKS, AND RECREATION
Lago Bayano
Bayano, 24 miles (38 km) east of Chepo. This huge 135-square-mile (35,000 ha) man-made lake was created in 1975 when the Río Bayano was dammed. Locals swear that the waters harbor a Loch Ness-like monster. Don’t let that put you off hiring a boat at the dock at Bayano—there are many to choose from—for the 40-minute ride to Cuevas Bayano. These riverine caverns boast fabulous dripstone formations, and bats, while the lake itself is a breeding habitat for heron and Neotropical cormorant. The eastern portion of the lake extends into the Comarca de Kuna de Madugandi.
Panama Outdoors (506-261-5043 or 507-6430-2824; www.panamaoutdoors.com/cuevas_bayano.html) offers guided tours of the caves from Panamá City.
Comarca de Kuna de Madugandi
This semi-autonomous district of a Kuna subgroup is distinct from the Comarca de Kuna Yala and occupies 800 square miles (2,073 sq km) at the western base of the Serranía de San Blas. Some 5,000 Kuna live in 12 communities, and there are also Emberá communities, several of which are easily visited off the highway near Ipetí. The almost contiguous villages of Ipetí Kuna and neighboring Ipetí Emberá, (0.9 mile/1.5 km north and 0.6 mile/1 km south of the highway, respectively) welcome visitors with ceremonial dances and give craft demonstrations. Panamá City Tours (507-263-8918; www.panamacitytours.com) includes the villages on cultural excursions from Panamá City—a fascinating chance to learn about two distinct indigenous groups living almost within shouting distance of one another.
Lago Bayano, Darién, Panamá
Some 6.5 miles (10 km) east of Ipetí, the village of Tortí is a famous center for saddle making; you can stop at roadside talabarterías (leather workshops).
WEEKLY AND ANNUAL EVENTS
Two agricultural fairs bring the Interamerican Highway to a crawling halt, when the Feria Agropecuario de Tanara-Chepo (January) is held in Chepo, and the Feria de Santa Fé (March) in Santa Fé.
Saddle maker near Playa Santa Catalina, Panamá
Good to Know About
You must carry your passport to present at the numerous militarized police checkpoints. Even at Metetí, a full 31 miles (50 km) before arriving at Yaviza, police may tell you that they can no longer vouch for the safety of travelers continuing on.
Set out from Panamá City with a full tank of gas! Metetí has a gas station and a bank, opposite the main police station (507-299-0612) in the region. Yaviza has a basic hospital.
Soldier guarding the Emberá village of Playa de Muerte, Darién, Panamá
Golfo de San Miguel
The scores of rivers that drain the Darién region merge into the Río Tiura, which builds to a width of 3 miles (5 km) where it pours into the Golfo de San Miguel, an inlet of the Golfo de Panamá. The funky town of La Palma, capital of Darién province, occupies a peninsula at the marsh-fringed mouth of the river. It’s not much more than a one-street town! Many homes—often of simple lumber and corrugated steel sheets—rise on stilts over the water and mud banks. It was hereabouts that Vasco Nuñez de Balboa became the first European to sight the Pacific Ocean, on September 25, 1513; he supposedly waded into the ocean still wearing his armor. Soon thereafter, with the discovery of the gold mines at Cana, the settlement became a strategic transshipment point guarded by a fort—Fuerte San Carlos—whose ruins are slowly succumbing to the surrounding jungle. It stands on Isla Boca Chica, in the middle of the river.
La Palma is a gateway for exploring inland the Comarca Emberá Sambú, to the west. Sambú offers fascinating cultural immersions, plus sensational birding on river explorations. A colectivo water taxi from La Palma to Sambú takes two hours ($20).
Closer to La Palma is the Emberá community of Mogue, just 3 miles (5 km) inland of the Golfo de San Miguel via the Río Mogue, midway between La Palma and Punta Patiño. Mogue is the setting for the Pajaro Jai Foundation (207-460-4184; www.pajarojai.org; 420 Post Road West #202, Westport, CT 06880), which promotes ecologically sustainable lifestyle intended to integrate Darién’s indigenous communities into the contemporary world while preserving their traditional culture. Its success includes small-scale furniture factories (a single hardwood tree can produce income equivalent to 40 acres cleared for cattle) and, most notably, the Mogue community’s construction—a 15-year labor!—of a 92-foot-long oceangoing ketch, the Pajaro Jai (Enchanted Bird).
LODGING AND DINING
Many locals rent out rooms for about $10 a night. Ask around. In Sambú, try Father Hector Quinteros (hequirosq@hotmail.com), who has rooms. Most Emberá communities have basic facilities similar to those described below.
Hotel Biaquirú Bagará (507-299-6224) La Palma. There’s not much to choose from in La Palma, but this 13-room riverfront hotel run by the Ramady family is the nicest option. Rooms vary: only two have air-conditioning and private bathrooms. It has a TV lounge.
Hotel Emberá (507-299-6083 or 649-6686 c/o Ricardo Cabrera) La Chunga. Slightly more upscale than most tambos hereabouts, these four twin-room, stilt-legged cabins of bamboo and thatch have foam-mattress beds with mosquito nets, plus flush toilets and cold-water showers.
Mama Grajales’ (507-299-6428, c/o Gisela de Olmedo, in Guarachiné) Playa de Muerto. You’ll sleep like a true Emberá in two basic bamboo reed-and-thatch huts atop stilts in this remote coastal village. You can also pitch your own tent atop a stilt-legged platform. Matriarch “Mama” Grajales keeps shared outdoor bathrooms spic and span, and serves filling meals. Inexpensive.
Punta Patiño (c/o 507-269-9415, Ancon Expeditions; www.anconexpeditions.com) Situated atop a bluff with fine views over the Gulf of San Miguel and, beyond, the Gulf of Panamá, this nature lodge has 10 modestly furnished cabins with loft bedrooms and private hot-water bathrooms. Six cabins have air-conditioning; the others have fans. It specializes in guided birding and hikes. Dining is family style.
SambuHause (507-268-6905, 6766-5102 or 6627-2135; http://sambuhausedarienpanama.com, sambuhause@yahoo.com) Sambú. Run by Michael Harrington, a U.S. transplant, and his Panamanian sister-in-law, Maria, these are the nicest digs for miles. Gosh! You even get air-conditioning in the traditional bamboo-and-thatch structure with four rooms, one with private bathroom. There’s a communal kitchen and dining area, plus BBQ. Michael is extremely knowledgeable about this region, and eager to help. Expensive.
Tambo Mogue (no telephone) Mogue. In the middle of this Emberá community, this thatched tambo (stilt house) is open-walled. You can pitch a tent atop the platform reached by a notched log staircase, or simply snuggle into a hammock. It has a basic latrine and cold-water shower. Locals serve hearty fare, such as chicken, and beans n’ rice.
Werará Purú Lodge (507-299-6090) Werará Purú, 2 miles (3 km) west of Sambú. Another tambo high off the ground, this open-air, two-room thatch-and-bamboo lodge is basic but gives you a taste for indigenous life.
An Emberá family at Playa de Muerte, Darién, Panamá
ATTRACTIONS, PARKS, AND RECREATION
Playa de Muerto
9 miles (15 km) south of Punta Garachiné. Visitors are few and far between to this remote unique Emberá coastal community, on the east shore of the Golfo de Panamá. I will always treasure arriving here while participating in a 10-day adventure cruise aboard M/V Pacific Explorer (Cruise West; 1-888-851-8133; www.cruisewest.com). Alternately, you can hire a boat in Garachiné (2.5 hours; about $200 round-trip); you need to register with the police before departing. Be sure to rent a life-preserver from Gisela de Olmedo, owner of the Hotel Guarinche; call the public phone (507-299-6428 or 299-6477) and make arrangements in advance. And a small freight-ship, the Amparo, departs Panamá City once a week for Jagua, stopping at Playa de Muerto.
You’ll step ashore through the surf to an authentic indigenous village beneath thick palms at the base of the Serranía del Sapo coast range. This is a great place to hang loose for a few days, get your skin tattooed with tagua, and learn about how this community is transitioning to 21st-century life. Community members hire out as guides for about $20 a day.
RESERVA NATURAL PUNTA PATIÑO
c/o 506-269-9415 Ancon Expeditions
Fax: 507-264-3713
www.anconexpeditions.com
Reserva Natural Punta Patiño, 9 miles (15 km) southwest of La Palma A 45-minute flight from Panamá City or boat ride from La Palma delivers you to this nature reserve on a headland that encloses the northern side of the Enseñada de Garachiné (Garachiné Bay). A lighthouse sits on the point. The reserve is operated by ANCON (Asociación para la Conservación de la Naturaleza) and protects 117 square miles (30,263 ha) of varied habitat—including tropical moist lowland forest, coastal wetlands, and mangroves—much of it reclaimed from a former cattle ranch and coconut plantation. Small it may be, but this is one of the nation’s prime birding and wildlife-viewing locales, boasting an astounding 10 percent of the nation’s bird and animal species. You have a high possibility of spying harpy eagles, and even Baird’s tapir and the big cats. Macaws soar overhead. Monkeys cavort in the treetops. Poison-dart frogs hop around underfoot. And capybaras are virtually guaranteed to be there, chomping on the marsh grasslands near the lodge.
Emberá tattooed with tagua at Playa de Muerte, Darién, Panamá
Emberá members perform a traditional dance at Playa de Muerte, Darién, Panamá
Reservations are handled by Ancon Expeditions, which has three- and four-day excursions.
Sambú and Comarca Emberá Sambú
The Enseñada de Garachiné enfolds the estuarine mouth of the Río Sambú, which rises in the southernmost mountains of Parque Nacional Darién and flows north through a broad valley hemmed by the Serranía de Bagre (to the east) and Serranía del Sapo, or coast range. The village of Sambú is intriguing for its black population of darientes. Descended from African slaves who once worked the Cana gold mines, these communities maintain age-old musical and other cultural traditions, which includes bullerengue, a sensual dance that hails from the Batá region of Africa’s Spanish Guinea. To experience dariente life, head to the fishing hamlet of Punta Alegre, 3 miles (5 km) north of Patiño.
Sambú is the gateway to the 502-Square-mile (1,300 sq km) Comarca Emberá Sambú, occupying the river basin and surrounding hills to the east, west, and south. Many of the comarca’s dozen or so heavily guarded (by militarized police units) indigenous communities welcome visitors with ceremonial dances etc., plus basic accommodations. You can travel up the snaking river—a chance to spy caiman, crocodiles, monkeys, river otters, and fabulous birdlife—but must utilize an Emberá guide. However, as of mid-2009 the upper reaches of the valley, around Pavarando (the easternmost Emberá village) were put off-limits due to infiltration by FARC guerrillas. No worries: some of the most authentic Emberá villages in the region are around Sambú itself.
Sambú is connected by a rickety footbridge to Puerto Indio, an Emberá community where you pay your $10 per person fee to enter the Comarca (it’s a fascinating transition, notable in the change from squat concrete cabins in Sambú and the thatched stilt-legged tambo across the river) Nearby, Werará Purú is known for its artisans’ workshop. And in Sambú, you can hire a guide (again, ask around) and piragua to take you downriver to Chunga, which can also be reached via the only road in this part of Darién—it’s an arcing road connecting two small ports (Taimati and Garachiné, respectively, at the north and south ends of the bay).
Speckled caiman
You can fly into Sambú with Air Panama (about $50 each way), departing Albrook airport in Panamá City. Alternately, water taxis depart La Palma; scheduled service operates at 5 AM on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday ($15, around 90-minutes), but you can also hire private water taxis.
Parque Nacional Darién and Vicinity
While commonly equated with virtually impenetrable lowland swamps and rain forest, this 2,236-square-mile (5,790 square km) national park—the largest in Central America—extends from sea level to 6,152 feet (1,875 m) atop Cerro Tacarcuna, where eerie mists shroud temperate montane cloud forests. In fact, the park has five distinct life zones, including coastal mangrove systems. Almost uniquely pristine, it’s a precious repository for healthy populations of jaguars and other big cats. The chattering and screeching of monkeys fills the forest, where tapirs, capybaras, sloths, and anteaters abound. Five species of macaws flap raucously overhead, while harpy eagles soar silently above the forest canopy, their keen eyes and fist-sized, razor-sharp talons ever-ready to seize an unwary sloth or monkey for lunch. In all, more than 450 bird species have been sighted, including the rare golden-headed quetzal in the higher cloud-forest elevations.
Good to Know About
La Palma has a bank and basic hospital. There’s a basic medical post in Sambú.
The region, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981, is drenched year-round by heavy rains, feeding tempestuous rivers that crash down from the mountains to lazily snake across the lowland llanuras (plains) and eventually pour their muddy waters into the Golfo de San Miguel. It is hard to conceive that five centuries ago, Vasco Nuñez de Balboa and other gold-besotted and half-deranged conquistadores prevailed against the arduous odds of crocodile-infested swamps, extreme humidity, venomous snakes and spiders, and hostile natives to conquer the jungle for Spain, conjuring images of Werner Herzog’s Aguirre: Wrath of God. The first Spanish colonial settlements in Panamá were established here. So, too, early gold mines, deep in the interior at Cana; and fortresses along the rivers along which the treasure was ferried for transit to Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Panamá and thence by mule to Nombre de Díos and Portobelo.
Today’s treasure is counted in bird and animal sightings. Indeed Cana, where the bird count exceeds 400 species, is one of only two lodges within this vast park. For reasons of safety, it is highly recommended that you explore these zones through a reputable tour company and/or accompanied by an accredited guide. (This is one place you do not want to get injured or lost while hiking alone!) I recommend flying in with Ancon Expeditions. If you choose to boat in, the gateway is the rugged frontier community of El Real de Santa María, on the Río Tuira 3 miles (5 km) downriver of Yaviza and 40 miles (65 km) upriver from La Palma. Here visitors heading to Parque Nacional Darién must register with ANAM (507-299-6965). It has an airstrip.
Tamandua anteater on a tree
Eyelash vipers
LODGING AND DINING
CANA FIELD STATION
c/o 507-269-9415, Ancon Expeditions
Fax: 507-264-3715
www.anconexpeditions.com
Moderate
This cozy albeit simple lodge in the heart of the rain forest caters to birders and wildlife enthusiasts, the majority of whom come in on package excursions (Ancón Expeditions has exclusive use). It has 10 bedrooms, most with two single beds and basic furnishings, including portable battery-powered lamps for when the generator shuts off at night. You’ll share bathrooms with solar-heated water. Meals are served family-style in the main lodge, with a large balcony overlooking the river.
You can opt to stay in the high-elevation Pirre Tent Camp; included in some Ancon Expedition packages, it has two-person screened tents under a thatch shelter. It’s a five-hour uphill hike. You must pack your own gear, although porters carry supplies and cater to guests.
ATTRACTIONS, PARKS, AND RECREATION
CANA
c/o 507-269-9415, Ancon Expeditions
www.anconexpeditions.com
Moderate
At 1,500 feet (457 m) elevation on the southeastern flank of Cerro Pirre, this isolated biological station is renowned worldwide as a phenomenal birding site. Remarkable for its truly remote location, an important Spanish settlement—Santa Cruz de Cana—evolved here in the early 16th century around the Espiritú Santo gold mines, worked by slave labor. It was abandoned in 1727. Rusting locomotives and railcars are a legacy of a brief resurrection in the mines in the late 19th century, prompting sensations of a Heart of Darkness experience. The relatively short and easy Sendero Maquina leads to the locomotives. More adventurous souls might hike the 6-mile-long (9 km) Sendero Cerro Pirre, which climbs into cloud forest. You can even overnight at a tent camp.
The station is administered by ANCON and is easily visited with Ancon Expeditions, which operates the eco-lodge here. The company’s four- to eight-day Darién trips fly you in. If you plan on boating, check with Ancon Expeditions as to current conditions. At time of writing, the now virtually abandoned gateway river port of Boca de Cupe was off-limits due to guerrilla activity in the area.
Emberá woman with child at Playa de Muerte, Darién, Panamá
Comarca Emberá Cémaco
Much of the national park lies within the eastern portion of the autonomous Comarca Emberá-Wounaan, created in 1983 and which is divided into the Comarca Emberá Cémaco and the Comarca Emberá Sambú, in the west of Darién. Together the twin comarcas occupy one-quarter of Darién and are home to about 17,000 Emberá and Wounaan people. Comarca Emberá Cémaco comprises 28 native communities and takes up 1,112 square miles (2,880 sq km), from the foothills to the continental divide of the Altos de Puna and Altos de Limón (the ridgeline is also the Colombian border). Access is by boat from Yaviza. You must register at every police checkpoint along the route. However, at time of writing boat access was restricted due to guerrilla infiltration.
Pirre
This biological station run by ANAM, the governmental agency in charge of national parks, is on the banks of the Río Perensico, on the northeast flanks of Cerro Pirre, in the heart of Darién’s lowland rain forest. You must first get a permit ($3) from the ANAM office in El Real. It takes about one hour by boat (about $50) from El Real to reach Piji Baisal, from where it’s another one hour on foot to Pirre, which offers simple dorm accommodation ($10) and a basic kitchen, but has no electricity. Alternately, with a guide, you can hike direct from El Real—allow four hours.
It’s relatively cool at this elevation. Several trails offer fabulous birding and wildlife viewing, including Sendero Cerro Pirre, which ascends the mountain for spectacular views over Darién. You cannot hike from Pirre to Cana, as there are no trails.
Archipiélago de las Perlas
Floating in the middle of the Golfo de Panamá, this archipelago of 100 or so isles is a tropical paradise lying 40 miles (65 km) southeast of Panamá City and a similar distance west of Punta Patiño. Ringed by stunning sugar-white sands dissolving into jade turquoise waters, they tempt beach lovers who hop 20-minute flights from Panamá City. Two isles are well developed with tourist facilities and are renowned retreats of the rich and famous, including singer Julio Iglesias and fashion designer Christian Dior, who have villas here alongside those of Panamá’s own elite. The rest of the isles are home to tiny fishing communities, several of which earn an income from pearling (principally on Isla Casaya and Isla Casayita). The isles were a prize possession of early Spanish conquistadores, due to the large natural oyster beds. Hence the name: the Pearl Islands. The Spanish developed a significant pearling industry in the 16th century. And Isla Contadora (Bookkeeper Isle) is supposedly named for the role it once played in tallying booty as an obligatory way stop for treasure ships from Peru.
Many of the isles are ringed by spectacular coral reefs. The warm ocean waters also draw several species of whales, commonly sighted year-round, but most prominently in winter.
Good to Know About
The ANAM headquarters (507-299-6579 or 299-6373; www.anam.gob.pa) is at El Real de Santa María. You need to register at the police station (507-299-6137) upon arrival.
Jaqué and Bahía Piña
The southernmost (and perhaps the most isolated) community in Panamá, the coastal community of Jaqué, midway between Punta Garachiné and the Colombian border, boasts a sensational setting. Thick emerald rain forest sweeps inland and up the slopes of the mist-shrouded Sierra de Jungurudó Mountains. North of town, waves crash against rocky promontories that pincer Bahía Piña, a sheltered warm-water bay that draws humpback whales and is the locale of Panamá’s premier sportfishing lodge—Tropic Star Lodge—near the Emberá community of Puerto Piña. You can hike a mountain trail that deposits you at Playa Blanca, named for its gorgeous white sands (take snorkeling gear, as the reef-protected waters shelter a lagoon full of tropical fishes); most sands hereabouts are black. And the Emberá and Wounaan hamlets of Lucas and El Coco, and El Mamey and Biroquera, respectively, can be visited with a guide. Don’t venture alone (four Spanish citizens were kidnapped by guerrillas in January 2006 inland of Biroquera)
In Jaqué, take time to visit the women’s cooperative sponsored by Bridges Across Borders (352-485-2594; www.bridgesacrossborders.org) and which makes cards from recycled paper and natural fibers. It serves refugees forced out of the Colombian town of Choco by massacres. Bridges Across Borders also has a leatherback turtle preservation project.
Lodging: The upscale Tropic Star Lodge (407-423-9931 or 1-800-682-3424; fax 407-839-3637; www.tropicstar.com), nestled within Bahia de Piña, specializes in sportfishing using 31-foot Bertrams. The main fishing ground is the world-acclaimed Zane Grey Reef, an underwater mountain 15 miles (25 km) from shore. It began life as the private villa of a Texas oil tycoon. Today it offers 18 cabins and rooms with colonial-themed furnishings. Some have king beds. You can also rent the original hilltop villa—El Palacio—accessed by steep stairs (a funicular is provided for the infirm). Dining is family style. A one-week minimum stay is mandatory in high season
Many of the islands—notably Isla del Rey, the largest island—are thickly forested, and patient hikers might see sloths, anteaters, and white-brocket deer.
Although virtually unknown to foreigners (almost all the visitors are Panamanians), the archipelago was given a boost in 2003 when the TV “reality” show Survivor was filmed here.
GETTING THERE AND AROUND
By Air
Most visitors arrive by air. Aeroperlas (507-315-7500; www.tacaregional.com) has two flights on Saturday only from Panamá City’s Albrook airport to Isla Contadora ($35). Air Panama (507-316-9000; www.flyairpanama.com) flies daily from Panamá City’s Albrook airport to Isla Contadora ($35 each way) and on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday to Isla San Miguel ($30.50).
By Sea
National Tours (507-314-0571 or 6615-1392; www.nationaltourspanama.com) has ferry service, departing Panamá City from the Balboa Yacht Club, on Amador Causeway, at 7:30 AM and 2:30 PM, and departing Contadora at 9 AM and 4 PM ($40 each way; approximately 75 minutes); however, departure times keep changing, so check ahead. At the time of writing, Panama Pearl Marine Group (507-6784-3564; www.panamapearl.com) had suspended its daily ferry service to Isla Contadora from Las Brisas Marina, on Amador Causeway in Panamá City. However, it had plans to reinstate service in 2010.
By Golf Cart
The locals get around on golf carts, which most hotels provide for free or for rent. You can also rent from the Perla Real Inn (about $45 daily); and Coral Dreams (507-6536-1776; www.coral-dreams.com) and Waterland Adventures (507-6673-3020; mozartlee@cableonda.net) rent ATVs. Dolphins in Golfo de Panamá, Panamá
LODGING
The 326-room Hotel Contadora Beach Resort, on Playa Larga, Isla Contadora, once exuded grandeur but hit skid row a few years back and at this writing had closed and was being stripped bare by locals. Rumor has it that new owners will tear it down and build a new resort.
CABAÑAS DE CONTADORA
507-394-0307 or 250-2514
http://cabanasdecontadora.com
Isla Contadora
Inexpensive
If you don’t mind cooking for yourself, this fully contained three-bedroom house may fit the bill, although it’s one of the least elegant properties on the isle. There are also four studios. Furnishings are simple, almost ascetic. Nonetheless, it has some high points, namely ocean views from the shaded coralstone deck. And the rates are as low as $45 for studios in low season.
CASA DEL SOL B&B
507-250-4212
http://panama-isla-contadora.com Isla Contadora
Inexpensive
On the west side of the isle, this small, air-conditioned studio apartment is set in a twee garden and has equally quaint furniture, including wrought-iron seats and a mint green and maroon color scheme. It’s intended as a self-catering unit, but a breakfast is prepared. It has ceiling fans.
CONTADORA ISLAND INN
507-6699-4614
www.contadoraislandinn.com
Isla Contadora
Moderate
This bed-and-breakfast, which opened in 2006, is a lovely option, combining intimacy and class. It has two houses: the original has six rooms, the second has three rooms and a suite. All rooms are air-conditioned and have ceiling fans and safes. These one-story properties each have spacious decks to fore and rear and are very homey. Guests come together in the TV lounge with DVD library. They’re perfect for families to rent in entirety.
HACIENDA DEL MAR
507-269-6634
Fax: 507-264-1787
www.haciendadelmar.net
Isla San José
For luxurious indulgence this is the stand-out property in the Pearl Islands. It clings to a headland with fabulous ocean views. Its oval, slate-lined swimming pool overhangs the ocean, as do the 17 wooden cliff-side cabins on stilts. Albeit rustic—they’re lined inside with bamboo reeds—they’re infused with romance. Each has a balcony, ceiling fan, and air-conditioning. You can also go upscale with the graciously appointed junior suites or two-room “VIP cabaña” with king-sized beds. There are no phones in the rooms, nor TVs. The coup de grace is the open-air dining room beneath a soaring bamboo roof. This Clubhouse also has a games room and TV, and there’s a gym. Whales can often be seen while you laze in the sun with cocktail in hand. Choose from activities such as sea kayaking, ATV tours, and sportfishing. It bills itself as an ecoresort—a ridiculous notion when it has noisy Jet-Skis!
HOTEL PUNTA GALEON RESORT
507-250-4134
Fax: 507-250-4135
www.puntagaleonhotel.com
Isla Contadora
Moderate
There’s nothing remarkable about this somewhat staid property, but it has lovely gardens and a fine location over a white-sand beach. The 48 air-conditioned rooms are simply appointed, and beds are atop poured concrete bases. It has a swimming pool and open-air beachfront restaurant.
PERLA REAL INN
507-250-4095 or 949-228-8851
www.perlareal.com
Isla Contadora
Moderate
The most gracious property on Isla Contadora, this is my preferred place to rest my head. It’s run by a California couple, who graced it with Spanish colonial decor. With just six rooms (two are suites with kitchens), it is lent a romantic intimacy by its exquisite wrought-iron, heavy wooden furniture, terra-cotta floors and hand-painted blue-and-white tiles. It has a courtyard with fountain. There’s no restaurant or pool, but a beach and restaurants are mere minutes away, and it rents golf carts.
VILLA ROMÁNTICA
507-250-4067
www.contadora-villa-romantica.com
Playa Cacique, Isla Contadora
Moderate
This lovely looking Austrian-owned villa property is either quaintly kitschy or simply lacking in good taste, depending on your point of view. At least the location above gorgeous Playa Cacique earns rave reviews, and the restaurant is the island’s best. The spacious air-conditioned rooms—each with wall murals of Panamanian themes—have huge glass doors opening to balconies, but decor in some rooms has a sickly Vegas love-motel tackiness, exemplified by the Honeymoon Suite, with its king bed with bloodred velvet spread and Corinthian column posts. And a mini-golf course? What was the owner thinking?
VIVEROS RESORT
507-264-3900
www.islaviveros.com
Isla Viveros
Expensive
Still under construction at this writing, this residential resort complex promises to bring true luxury to the archipelago. Based around a Jack Nicklaus-designed 18-hole golf course and 300-slip marina, it will have rental villas and, eventually, two 5-star hotels. An eight-room cottage was slated to open in 2010.
DINING
El Suizo (507-6560-3824; elsuizorestaurant@gmail.com) Isla Contadora. Enjoy views over the golf course from this thatched hilltop grill (formerly Restaurante Gerald’s) with an eclectic menu ranging from local seafood dishes, including jumbo shrimp in beer batter, to pork chops, beef Stroganoff, and bratwurst. Open: Monday through Friday 11 AM–3 PM and 6–midnight, Saturday and Sunday 11 AM–midnight. Inexpensive to Moderate.
Restaurante Sagitario (507-250-4091) Isla Contadora. This is the preferred spot of locals, who refer to it as “Matilde’s” for the owner, who specializes in fresh seafood such as ceviche and delicious jumbo shrimp. She also does Panamanian staples, such as stews and chicken with rice and beans. Open: Sunday through Thursday 7 AM–9 PM, Friday and Saturday 7 AM–10 PM. Inexpensive to Moderate.
Restaurante Romántica (507-250-4067) Isla Contadora. In the Villa Romántica. Come for the ocean views at this outdoor restaurant known for its seafood dishes, fondues, and hot-stone dinners. It also serves salads, pastas, and steaks. Begin or end with cocktails at Beachbar Hawaii. Open: Daily 7 AM–10 PM. Inexpensive to Moderate.
ATTRACTIONS, PARKS, AND RECREATION
Isla Contadora
Despite its small size, “Countinghouse Isle” is the most developed isle in the chain. It has a dozen stunning beaches tucked into coves on the north, east, and south shores; many are overlooked by multi-million dollar vacation villas perched on the cliffs. Playa Larga, on the east coast, is the largest beach and is easily accessed from the several hotels found here. Panamá’s only nude beach, Playa de las Suecas (Swedes’ Beach), is here, too, on the southeast corner and just over a headland from Playa Larga; the snorkeling is good right off the beach. There’s even a nine-hole golf course. A noteworthy historical tidbit: deposed Persian shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, arrived in 1980 and lived briefly on Contadora before departing for Egypt, where he died a few months later.
Poison-dart Frogs
It’s remarkable to think that such tiny and beautiful creatures can be so deadly. Yet, for sure, you don’t want to pick up Phyllobates terribilis, an inch-long neon-yellow frog that can kill you on contact, thanks to its unique neurotoxin 250 times more deadly than strychnine. This tiny critter, found only in Darién and the Choco region of northern Colombia, is by far the most lethal of the 170 or so species of “poison-dart frogs” that inhabit the warm moist Neotropical forests. Choco tribes, such as Panamá’s Emberá-Wounaan, need simply wipe their blow-darts along the frog’s back—the toxin-tipped darts will remain deadly to monkeys and other game for up to a year!
Two cousins of Phyllobates terribilis also produce batrachotoxin—from batrachos, the Greek word for frog—that are among the deadliest neurotoxins in the natural world. Together the triptych comprise the Phyllobates genera, after which the entire family takes its colloquial name.
Poison-dart frogs belong to the Dendrobatidae family, of which two-thirds of the “poison-dart” frog family are non-toxic. When these frogs feel threatened or stressed, mucous glands beneath their skin produce bitter-tasting alkaloid compounds that cause predators to instantly gag. It’s no good advertising your toxicity after being eaten. Hence, these frogs, most of which are no bigger than a thumbnail, advertise their deadly nature through vivid coloration that serves as a warning. Thus they hop about the forest floor in broad daylight, secure in their Day-glo liveries, like enameled porcelain figurines. Each species is highly endemic: The frogs of Isla Cerro Brujo are dark blue. Those of neighboring Isla Bastimentos are strawberry red, but yellow with black dots on nearby Isla Bocas.
The frog’s toxins are actually a result of their diets. Much as DDT, mercury, and other chemicals become more concentrated as they move up a predatory food chain, poison-dart frogs sequester neurotoxins possessed by their prey, such as batrachotoxin-rich tiny beetles of the Choresine genus favored by the Phyllobates. Poison-dart frogs kept in captivity and fed a non-Choresine diet soon lose their toxicity.
Poison-dart frogs
Good to Know About
There’s a medical clinic (507-250-4209) on Contadora, in the commercial complex at the north end of the airstrip. Restaurante Sagitario doubles as an Internet café. La Peregrina Perhaps the most famous pearl in the world, the Pilgrim Pearl was culled from the waters around the Archipiélago de las Perlas in the 16th century. Over the centuries this huge pearl has passed through many illustrious hands. Vasco Nuñez de Balboa supposedly gave it to King Ferdinand V of Spain. Phillip II (1556–1598) gave it to his bride-to-be, the brief-reigning Queen Mary I, the loyally Catholic daughter of Henry VIII. When she died in 1585, the pearl returned to Spain, where it remained until carted off to France by Joseph Bonaparte in 1508, earning it its current moniker. Charles Louis Bonaparte (Napoleon III) later sold it to the Duke of Abercorn, in whose family it remained until actor Richard Burton bought it in 1969 for $37,000 as a gift for his wife, Elizabeth Taylor. Today the teardrop-shaped pearl is a pendant on Taylor’s exorbitant diamond, pearl, and ruby necklace, designed by Cartier.
A sizeable black population is descended from African slaves brought here in early colonial days to harvest pearls. Most live on Isla Saboga, about a 10-minute boat ride due west of Contadora.
Isla del Rey
(Isla San Miguel) The most southeasterly of the Pearl Islands is also by far the largest, measuring 93 square miles (240 sq km). San Miguel, the largest settlement in the archipelago, is also here on the north shore. Locals live off the sea: shrimping is the main industry. Although accommodations and tourists services are limited, Isla del Rey is a base for some of the best scuba diving and sportfishing to be enjoyed in Panamá. A long-touted residential resort complex, Kingfisher Bay, seems to have died a death.
Isla San José
This rugged island, the most southwesterly isle, is forest-festooned and ringed by 50-some beaches, from white to black. It’s also a setting for active adventures, based out of the Hacienda del Mar hotel. Options include ATV tours, mountain biking, kayaking and, alas, noisy Jet-Skis. There are caves to explore, with caution! The Hacienda has a Sea Turtle Conservation Program, which protects marine turtles’ nests and typically releases more than 1,000 baby turtles to the sea every year.
Isla San Telmo
This speck in the ocean, 0.6 mile (1 km) to the southeast of Isla del Rey, is a protected nesting site for boobies, cormorants, frigatebirds, and pelicans. It’s protected as a nature reserve overseen by the Asociación Nacional para la Conservación de la Naturaleza (ANCON, 507-314-0060; www.ancon.org), as is similarly uninhabited Isla Pacheca, north of Contadora. The intertidal zone of San Telmo clasps the rusting wreck of a prototype U.S. submarine from the 1870s (it was used for pearl diving).
Isla Viveros
This private island, to the northwest of Isla San José, is currently being developed to become a major residential tourist facility. At this writing, Grupo Viveros (www.islaviveros.com) had completed the first nine holes of a Jack Nicklaus-designed championship golf course, and two hotels plus a 300-slip marina with scuba center are planned. Many of the deluxe villas will be available for rent.
Water Sports
Coral Dreams (507-6536-1776; www.coral-dreams.com), a scuba operation, will take you snorkeling to Isla Mogo Mogo (setting for Survivor) and offers PADI certification, plus trips for certified divers. It has a well-stocked dive shop.
Las Perlas Sailing (507-6413-7128; www.lasperlassailing.es.tl) offers day excursions aboard a 38-foot catamaran, including whale-watching trips. Snorkeling is included in the $75 per person fare. It also offers sportfishing with 26- and 36-foot Biminis.