PRESENTATION Discover the pristine rainforest of the Chagres national park with the best of the jungle guides: the Emberas.
DESCRIPTION day 1 Transfer in the morning from Panama city, such as in the previous program “A day with the emberas”. On the arrival in the village, we shall set our camp for the night in one of the typical embera huts, built on stilts. During the rest of the day, the emberas will show us how they make their handicrafts, some of the plants that they still use for their traditional pharmacy, and will dance for us. At the end of the day we will enjoy a nice refreshing swim in the river (there is no shower, but there are decent latrines..). During dinner a good part of the villagers will stay around us, as eager to know about us as we are curious of their culture...Be prepared to hear a lot of hunting and fishing stories, but be aware of the fact that, like all hunters or fishermen, the emberas have a strong tendency to exagerate !!!
day 2 We shall spend the day hiking in the nearby rainforest with our embera guides, and you will be impressed by their remarquable knowledge of the ecosystem in which they leave. There will be a lot of hills to climb and a lot a little rivers to cross but don't worry, we shall do it at your pace.. The Chagres national park fauna and flora is extremely rich (including the rare and elusive harpy eagle), though occasional encounters with large animals depend on luck and your own observation skills. We shall come back to the village for the night.
day 3 We shall spend the morning with our embera friends, and you'll have time to buy a little souvenir.. Then, after lunch, we shall start our trip back to Panama City.
day ? Chagres national park is quite large, there is a lot of forest to explore and we can arrange excursions inside the park with the emberas for how long you wish... For example we can organise a superb hike from the river Chagres to the river Pequeñi...it takes two days, with bivouac in the jungle.

RATE OF DIFFICULTY

from mild to hard

HIGHLIGHT

the rainforest of Chagres national park

WHAT TO BRING ALONE

• hat
• solar cream
• good hiking shoes
• a pair of light shoes
• canteen
• poncho
• a good flashlight + spare batteries
• light cotton clothes
• 1 sweat shirt for the fresh nights
• if a bivouac is included ( more than 3 days ),a backpack
• waterproof container for your camera
• mosquito repellent