jungle – Snapping The Globe

Happy birthday to me…

Having a birthday in Panama…

Oh…what will I see?

Setting out early with our tour guide, we steeled ourselves for the long ride through the congested streets of Panama City. Our destination, a point on the river near the city of Chilibre, was going to be the start of our day in the rainforest and a visit with an Embrera Indian tribe.

As we made our way down the steep banks of the Chagres River, we watched as a a few boats approached the landing point. Traditionally dressed male tribe members unloaded and loaded supplies into their handcrafted canoes and readied their boats for trips back to their villages on various points of the river.

Finally, a boat docked on the banks and we were given life vests and ushered down into the waiting vessel. Motoring along the calm, shallow waters, its banks lined with the local flora and fauna, I couldn’t keep the smile off of my face. This was truly an adventure!

After what seemed like a long ride, we finally pulled into a shallow channel and pulled the canoe onto the sandy spits exposed by the low tide. Following our guide, we made our way through the rainforest…sometimes walking through the swift-moving, ankle-deep water and sometimes making our way along the muddy paths lining the river. The sound of a large amount of rushing water greeted our ears and as we made our way around a large boulder, the end of our trek was in sight.

A beautiful waterfall.

Swimming in the refreshing, cold, clear water with my son, I was elated that this was how I was able to start my day…enjoying nature at its most beautiful.

Eventually, a sound alerted us that it was time to go…thunder. A darkening sky confirmed that it was time to make our way back to our boat and as we hustled along the rain soaked paths, we realized that we were going to get really wet.

Retracing our steps along the river, we motored along in the pouring rain, hoping for a respite at the village.

As we pulled alongside the village dock, the rain continued making it difficult to make our way up the slick walkway. Even with the soggy deluge, the tribe was there to greet us as they played musical instruments and lined up, smiling and welcoming us to their home.

We were ushered to an extensive hut and invited to take a seat. As I admired the beautiful fabrics, created by the tribe, hanging throughout the interior, the members of the tribe began to enter. After a greeting and information on the tribe’s culture, lifestyle and crafts, by one of the tribe’s members, we were treated to shamanic and celebrational dances with musical accompaniments.

The villagers, dressed in their handwoven and metal, embellished cloths danced together, sometimes only the women and sometimes joined by the men.

The best was yet to come.

The tribal spokesman talked a bit more about the tribe and led into a sentence about how it was a special day. The women had prepared something special.

A special floral birthday crown for ME!

I was touched to discover that our guide had let them know that I had elected to spend my special day with them and they in turn, were so touched that they wanted to make something special for me. Words cannot express what an amazing gift that was!

After a visit to the kitchen hut, where we watched the women preparing food for the day, we were treated to a meal of locally caught, fresh, fried fish and fruit. We then browsed the vast selection of items crafted by the tribe members…baskets, fabrics, jewelry, plates and masks…while watching the younger members of the tribe play under the tables and outside in the puddles. Here, you can also have a non-permanent tattoo applied to your skin and watch some of the finest basket makers in the world as they work to create intricate all sizes of baskets with intricate patterns from palm leaves and natural pigments.

The rain was still coming down, though not as hard, and it was time to head down to the boat and back to our origination point. The beauty of the region was not lost on us, regardless of the weather, but the usual sights of sloth’s, monkeys, toucans and eagles would not be had on this day.

Still, nature is nature and sometimes in the rain forest…it rains. Though I would have loved to have had a bright, sunny day to get better photos, I still have to say, a rainy adventure on your birthday is better than no adventure on your birthday!

For more pictures, check out Instagram, Snapping the Globe and Instagram, @snappingtheglobe.

Embrera Indian Tribe Tours

There are many companies that offer Embrera day and overnight tours in Panama.
http://panamatravelunlimited.com/panama-day-tours/panama-cultural-tours/embera-indian-village-tour/
Prices: About $110-$125 per person for shared tours (minimum two persons) and $250 for private tours (minimum two persons).

“Stinging rain…big old fat rain…rain that flew in sideways and sometimes rain that seemed to come straight up from underneath.” The words of Forrest Gump were with me in the jungles of the Cu Chi tunnels.

The Cu Chi tunnels were high on my list of attractions while in Ho Chi Minh City, so when I arrived at my hotel and was told that if I unpacked quickly, I could leave on a tour in a couple of hours, I did just that.

After running down the block to the Street Food Market for a quick bite to eat, I was picked up at my hotel and on my way. Being on a tour can be advantageous in that someone else takes care of the legwork, however, it can also have many disadvantages. Our bus was extremely full and there were many more people to pick up before setting out on the highway to the Cu Chi area for the hour and a half trip. In addition, the ride is prolonged as all tour buses make a stop at a lacquer village so that passengers can use the facilities and purchase beverages.

The Cu Chi tunnel system is a network of tunnels that was used as hiding places by the Vietnamese during their fight against the French. Later, during the American War, the Viet Cong expanded the tunnel system, which extends 150 miles and contains unlit offshoots, secret trap doors connecting narrow routes to hidden shelters, local rivers and tunnels reaching the Cambodian border. At one time, the tunnels contained improvised hospitals, living quarters, kitchens and fresh water wells. Soldiers were able to live for great lengths of time below ground, exiting to launch surprise attacks on their enemies.

Arriving at the Ben Dinh tunnels, we were escorted by our tour guide through the hot, dense jungle to the areas where there are many displays of entryways to the tunnels. The first and most popular area is the small square hole in the ground which is uncovered by removing a square top covered in leaves. Here, a guard demonstrated how a person would fit into the hole and then hide himself under the ground. Visitors are invited to try their hand at fitting into the small opening.

Other displays show the different types of traps that the Vietnamese had hidden throughout the jungles that would surprise and kill their enemies.

Finally, tourists are allowed to venture into the enlarged “tourist” tunnel to see what it was like for those who spent time there. Very dark and cramped, I could only imagine what it was like before it was expanded for the tourists and as quickly as we descended, we we were climbing up the metal stairway.

Making our way, in the slight drizzle that had begun to fall, to the souvenir pavilion, we discovered that it also provides a shooting range that visitors can pay an additional fee to shoot AK47s and M30s. The pavilion was hot, crowded and extremely noisy due to the gunfire. To top it off, a thunderstorm settled into the area providing more noise in the form of thunder.

The rain, now pouring heavily, made it difficult for us to traverse the jungle. So hot, wet and miserable, I was not enjoying the experience and could only think of the poor soldiers that were here during the war. Instead of my focus being on the things around me, I found myself wishing to be back on the dry bus and in Ho Chi Minh City. In addition, everyone had now donned rain slickers and with the amount of tourists in the area, it was impossible to recognize who was in our group, causing a handful of us to become separated from our guide.

Leaving the area, I was frustrated. Frustrated for the weather that could not be helped, and frustrated that I had jumped right into this tour without a bit of research. If I had the chance to visit these tunnels again on another occasion, I do think that I would make it a wholly different experience. First, I would not book a tour, instead, hiring a taxi to take me to the area or taking the local bus. The other most important thing would be to leave early in the morning to be there for the opening time when there are fewer tourists, the day is not so hot and the jungle is brighter. Besides the crowding throughout the sight, the biggest disappointment with was the lighting. Because we arrived so late in the day, the dense jungle was quite dark causing it to be difficult to get any decent pictures.

Wet and tired, we finally boarded our bus for the long trip back through afternoon traffic to Ho Chi Minh City. Although I was happy to have fit in the tour on such short notice, I think that a bit more planning might have benefited my experience. After such a long afternoon, I was happy to have had the opportunity to visit, however, trying it a different way will definitely be in the cards for me on a future visit.

For more pictures, check out Facebook, Snapping the Globe and Instagram, @snappingtheglobe.

Cu Chi Tunnels

http://diadaocuchi.com.vn/
Address: Ấp Phú Hiệp, Phú Hiệp, Phú Mỹ Hưng, Củ Chi, Hồ Chí Minh 733800, Vietnam
Admission: 110,000 Vietnamese Dong (about US $5.50)
Hours: 0730-1600, daily
Getting There: The tunnels can be visited on a half-day tour, which can be booked online or through hotels in the city. Taxis can be arranged and a bus from Ben Thanh bus station stops in Cu Chi where public transport services the site.

Tag: jungle

Rainforest Revelry

Wet Tunnel Rats