There's a trail in there... somewhere.
As I mentioned in my last post, boat travel can be a huge
hassle for people in the Darien. Since
gasoline to power the boats is expensive and the general population doesn’t
travel very frequently, boats generally leave only a few times per week for their
normal destinations. Since we wanted to
go from Taimati to Puerto Indio on Tuesday- a route that’s neither normal nor
on Taimati’s Saturday boat day, we had to find an alternate option.
With the help of volunteers who had done the same trip in
the past, we planned to hike from Taimati to Cemaco to La Chunga, where we
would then spend the night and take one of their cheaper, almost daily boats to
Puerto Indio. It sounded simple enough
in theory, but when you realize that the “trail” is an incredibly muddy,
non-marked path through solid jungle and we were unable to notify the people in
La Chunga that we would be arriving and needing food and a place to stay,
things get a little more complicated.
Even though Austin and I were the only ones planning on
making the whole trip to Puerto Indio, Matt came along to learn the trail, and
the three of us decided it was for the best to hire a local guide. Out in the jungles of the Darien, you really don’t want to be getting
lost.
Having known the hike was inevitable, I tried to pack as
light as I could, but was still pretty weighed down with bastante clothes, seminar supplies, food, and camping/sleeping
stuff. The guys were super sweet in
offering to carry my (way too large) pack for me, but my pride got the best of
me and I was determined to carry my own stuff…. An hour into the hike with mud
seeping into my nearly knee high boots and a rainstorm clearly approaching, I
finally relented. And oh! How much more fun jungle hikes are when you
don’t have a huge pack!
Despite being free of my extra weight, I still managed to
fall multiple times. At one point, the
hill was so slick with mud that I fell into a push-up position and was
attempting to literally claw my way up.
As any good Peace Corps volunteer, we were still able to laugh at our
soaking wet, sweaty, mud covered selves and take a moment to ponder how cool
what we were doing actually was- We got to hike through the jungles of the
Darien gap with the help of an indigenous Wounan guide. Pretty awesome, right?
When we finally arrived in La Chunga nearly three hours
later, we began the task of searching for a place to stay and people to feed
us. Since one of our friends had been
the volunteer in that village, we were able to make quick connections and
before long had house keys on hand and dinner scheduled with a local
family.
Before we could settle in for the night, we of course had to
have the obligatory river swim/bathing time with local kids, which is always a
blast. Bathing fully clothed is another
one of those uniquely Peace Corps skills that I’m thankful to have acquired
during my first few months in site J
Eager to fit in with the locals, I quickly changed into the Paruma I bought in Panama City. Parumas
are beautifully patterned wrap skirts that are unique to the indigenous people
of the Darien. New designs come out
every month and many of the women have quite the collection of parumas.
Being the newbie I was, I just couldn’t figure out why mine didn’t seem
to wrap like theirs- instead of laying flat, it awkwardly opened when I sat
down. Since I don’t have any pena (shyness) about talking to
strangers anymore, I asked a few women for their help and was quickly informed
of my mistake- the cheaper paruma
that I thought I was getting a deal on was, in fact, cheaper because it was cut
for a little girl, not for an adult.
Ever the saleswoman, my new friend Miriam easily convinced me to buy a
new, better fitting paruma from her
stock.
Now that I was better dressed, we headed to dinner with the
neighbors. Beforehand we had bought
groceries to both cover the cost of our meals and to say thank you for their
generosity. They must have been happy
with our gifts, because they eagerly showed us to a table set with food and
candles- it was so cute!
One of my favorite aspects of Peace Corps is the opportunity
it has given me to get to know new people from other cultures. Especially in a second (or third!) language,
it’s not always easy to walk up to a complete stranger and strike up a
conversation, but with patience, a smile, and an attitude of compassion and
cultural curiosity, it’s amazing the people you can meet and stories you can
hear.
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