He is a local tribal and he is going to guide us thru the hiking trail. We will hit a waterfall first.

(His real name is Jaime)

Sharmila, myself and three other tourists – getting out into Chagres river. The gentleman here in the picture is Tylan who served in the military and is now studying Supply Chain Management in FSU in Florida.

A villager showed up with his boat and shimmied it next to the land squeezing out the other three boats.

After an uneventful (and slow!) drive to Lake Alajuela, we reached the point where we can get some local boats. That is Chagres river in front of us. Dry season is ending and the river is fairly shallow at this point of time.

There were a few other tourists waiting there.

Today’s goal is to visit the Embera tribe at their village called Tusipono. The Emberas are mostly in the Darien Pass but some of them have migrated to the forests near the banks of the Chagres river. This map shows where the tribes are in Panama. Our target village is right in the center where you see the three house icons.

This would need us to first drive to Lake Alajuela, then get a local villager’s boat to take us upstream in Chagres river and then a thirty minute hike – part in the water and part on land. The last two days saw a lot of rain. The ground is going to be very slippery (black clay mostly).

But if we reach there, we can get to know the local culture, listen to their music and eat the food they cook. Apparently they do a dog and pony show for tourists if they visit them!!