Panama – Jungle boat ride

With all the scare of the Zika virus going around and it being that we were in Central America and all, we hesitated when we were trying to decide if we were going to take a pirogua canoe up the river in the jungle in Panama. But heck, you only live once right? So we booked the excursion and we did a double check of our bug sprays and we were set. 

The day of the trip started with an early pick up at our hotel with our bags filled with cameras, bug spray, and of course our cameras. Yup, we were ready. So we found our guide and once we were loaded on the bus we found ourselves still waiting for something. You know when you sit on a bus and not sure why you are waiting, but you just know that you have to wait? Yeah, it was one of those times. But finally our guide came back on the bus and said that he had tried to call the other 6 people joining us and couldn’t get in touch with them. And since we waited for 15 minutes of them to show up – well we were going. I’m guessing they’re going to be pretty mad when they remembered they had bought their tickets for this day! Yikes! But for us? Well we all had our own seats and  well so far the trip was looking pretty good.

First thing to do on our jungle ride? Well to get our boat. We were going upstream to a waterfall and had to make our way through the waters of the Charges River. See this river is the main water source of the Gutan Lake that feeds the Panama Canal. And if you remember that I wrote that there are crocodiles in the Panama Canal – well guess where they’re coming from? You guessed it , rivers like this. We were kinda confused when we saw a local family washing their clothes on the bank of this river and the kids were also swimming in the river. Now if there are crocodiles in the river just why in the world would you want to do this? Our guide said that with the water being so low this time of the year, the fish and wildlife move to more secluded areas and so do the crocodiles. Now seriously this is a good thing to know for this family today! 

As we made our way up the river there were a lot of birds flying overhead and every once in awhile I could see fish jump in the water. The water was kinda dirty looking, but after the first time that we got stuck going upstream, hey I was just glad that there was water! The boat that we took was called a piragua. This is a dug out tree made into a boat and it took me quite awhile to get used to it. With 9 of us in it, it did make me a little nervous. But then I realized that if one of our boat travelers was BLIND and didn’t mind it, I couldn’t be such a chicken and actually let loose of the sides after we got going for awhile. 

Our ride up the river through the rain forest jungle was around an hour and then we slowly started to mover toward the land. We were going to hike through the rain forest to visit a waterfall. But before we got to the waterfall we found ourselves going over some pretty fancy bridges (not so much!) and followed a hiking path through the woods. A couple of times we went through the water and rocks, and I was just glad that no one fell. Not here is where you should be asking yourselves “did I miss the part where they put the bug spray on?” Well we ended up never putting it on. Yup, pure confession time. But to our defense, our guide said that the mosquitoes were only out in the early morning and late afternoon, and since it was around noon and with 100% humidity and 100 + degrees – well we should be safe. So I ended up carrying this bag with not just one but TWO bottles of bug spray and never used it. And I guess he was right, we never did get a mosquito bite on our hike. Hooray! 

We finally made it to the waterfall and it was awesome! I found an old water camera before we left that I had from about 10 years ago and had taken a couple of pictures in the waterfall. I just can’t wait to develop the pictures. The reason that I say this is because when Daryl and I were sitting under the waterfall and with what should be a pretty good photo, a lady came up and was photo bombing it. No – – she wasn’t just photo bombing it, she climbed up and sat right with us. So weird. And with no signs that she was going to move, she is now part of our picture. If the pictures turn out, I’ll have to share them with you, but I’m just warning you they are going to look pretty bad I’m sure.

Well after a good swim and our photo op’s with our new friend,  we were back on the pirogua and headed to the Embera Tribe down river for a meal that the tribes made and some dancing. It was really fun going on this hike and I’m guessing the tribe visit and food is going to be another adventure!