Panama, Panama – one of my most favorite ports to date. In Panama we discovered “Panama Pete Adventures” – and arranged for a canyoning adventure with the Embera Indians. What a day that was! First we were picked up at the port by Panama Pete and his crew – he was right on time (at 7:30am nonetheless), waiting for our crew of 11 in a nice, large air conditioned van. He whisked us off to pristine rain forest of Chagres National Park (about 1 hour from Colon, our docking point). We then boarded motorized wooden canoes in one of the most beautiful lakes I have seen – peaceful and only inhabited by the Embera Indians – a native tribe untouched by modern-day life. Bottom line this is a WOW for an High adventure person. Mind you my excursion has a certain amount of risk.
After about a 15 minute ride, we reached the trail head and began our hour-long trek to the river/creek head. Once we reached the creek head, our adventure truly began. We started by rappelling down a 20 meter waterfall, then we trekked through the river to rappel after rappel, each one more exciting than the last. After the final descent, our crew picked us up in a canoe and took us back to the Indian camp where we were cooked a hot meal – yum! Pete had us back to the ship just in time for a few knickknacks before boarding.
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