La Chunga, the Darien, Panama
After crossing the Panama Canal, the impression that stays in people’s minds is that of a technological wonder, and what we, humans have been able to achieve. It is hard to believe that in the same country where you find such a technological wonder, you also find cultures as pristine as the Embera.
The Embera Indians inhabit the Darien rainforest at the eastern end of Panama. It takes at least two hours in a dugout canoe to get to La Chunga village. Although the Embera people speak Spanish and are literate, they have managed to stay quite unchanged, to the point that the older people still wear their traditional outfit, which consists of a skirt for the women and a loincloth for the men.
Life in the rainforest has its limitations. For instance, there is no access to the internet (the village only has one satellite phone). The people of La Chunga seem pleasant and happy and the children seem to have a blast running around, playing with each other, and looking at the white tourists. Many of them travel several hours to get to this village for our arrival in order to sell their beautiful handicraft. This women is showing a basket that she wove from “chunga” fibers from which the village gets its name.
After crossing the Panama Canal, the impression that stays in people’s minds is that of a technological wonder, and what we, humans have been able to achieve. It is hard to believe that in the same country where you find such a technological wonder, you also find cultures as pristine as the Embera.
The Embera Indians inhabit the Darien rainforest at the eastern end of Panama. It takes at least two hours in a dugout canoe to get to La Chunga village. Although the Embera people speak Spanish and are literate, they have managed to stay quite unchanged, to the point that the older people still wear their traditional outfit, which consists of a skirt for the women and a loincloth for the men.
Life in the rainforest has its limitations. For instance, there is no access to the internet (the village only has one satellite phone). The people of La Chunga seem pleasant and happy and the children seem to have a blast running around, playing with each other, and looking at the white tourists. Many of them travel several hours to get to this village for our arrival in order to sell their beautiful handicraft. This women is showing a basket that she wove from “chunga” fibers from which the village gets its name.
