Tropical Sailing Adventures

We arrived in Bahia Pinas with hopes to visit a local Wounaan-Embera traditional village organized by the Tropic Star Lodge fishing resort. They were more than helpful organizing a tour up the river in a panga with a guide who would help us purchase some of the famous Darien Rainforest Basketry. We had to wait a couple days for the arrangements so we took advantage of the hiking trails, great food, internet service, swiming and ice cold drinks at the Tropic Star Lodge.

The Tropic Star Lodge is a destination in its own right. At first glance I thought it was a little rough around the edges, the architecture old. It was founded in the 60s by a Texas oil man who came to Panama to fish, bought a huge chunk of land and the rest is history. A few cabins have turned into one of the most respected fishing lodges in the world. In the middle of the jungle Tropic Star has the facilities to build their own vessels, machine their own parts, icecream makers, pasta makers, woodworking shop, backup generators (yes two) a tackle shop and the list goes on. The manager told us that they change out the line on the rods after an individual uses it - No fisherman will fish on someone else's stretched line! He said. After a detailed tour of the place you really got the sense that they had been at this a while as truly nothing has been overlooked. During the four days that we were there fishermen were bringing in sailfish, yellowfin, dorado and the Black Marlins start running in July. It is an almost year round sold out operation. We joined the camp for poolside dinner service and for a resort that has no roads, (only serviced by air), they really have it dialed. We enjoyed the best sashimi spread we have ever tasted! The service was laid back 5 star.

Hiking the Darien has been on our list of to dos for many years. Last time through Panama the military turned us around at a southern road checkpoint as it was dangerous to travel further. At the time there was heightened FARC activity and issues with the Columbia/Panama border disputes. The Darien Gap jungle bridges Central and South America and is not accessible by road. Since the turn of the century, (the last one - god I am getting old) pioneers, explorers, adventurers have tried to traverse this dense jungle to no avail. We got to hike a little section cleared (for the most part) through to Playa Blanca, a secluded white beach. The hike was almost straight up and straight down a couple of turns but we did make it to the beach. The water was warm & inviting, the verdant hills engaging and we enjoyed the peaceful seclusion. The steep jungle has spots of huge flowering purple trees and some red/orange variety. It is hard to describe the loud water drop sounding birds, the ringing frogs were deafening, and the gentle crash of the ocean meeting the shore. I don't ever want days like these to end.....

To coordinate with the high tide we departed at 6am for the Wounaan/Embera Village on our 20ft panga. We powered through surf at the mouth of the river and stopped into a military check point where our guide presented our passports. Once we were cleared we headed about a half hour up the river through gorgeous scenery and only bumped the river bottom on a couple of occasions! Arrival at the village was fairly exciting as all the children came to greet us. We bought them some candies from the little store and then visited their school, which they were now late for. The teachers were wonderful and had one of the classrooms sing us songs. The village was not quite 'traditional' but it was lovely just the same. They dont get any tourists up there and I can understand why. It is extremely remote and most people wouldn't make the effort. We were only able to purchase one basket directly from the village as the inventory went to Tropic Star Lodge? They did tell us this in advance so we knew that most of the baskets would be coming to the lodge later in the afternoon. The villagers hike 5 hours every Wednesday to present their baskets for the guests at the lodge. It is unbelievable how hard they work. All was well when I met with the Wounaan/Embera Indians later and bought quite a few baskets. Each basket I purchased took an average of 3 - 6 month to make. They are made from CHUNGA (The Black Palm Tree) and all the colors are natural and are extracted from fruits, leaves, wood shavings, roots, mud, ashes and other natural products found in the rainforest. White and Black are the traditional colors but over the years they have been encouraged by collectors to incorporate rainforest motives and additional colors. In each encounter with the Wounaan, (when they paddled out to our boat, in their village and at Tropic Star), they were quiet, patient, never pushy and grateful of our transactions. The Wounaan are considered the best basket weavers in the modern world today.

Enjoy the coordinating photos in the photo section.