Soberania National Park Gamboa Panama
Click on the short clip above to see Ross, our steady handed tour guide catch my drone on a pontoon boat.
While staying in Panama city we enjoyed an excellent jungle boat tour with "Barefoot Panama Tours" on Lake Gatun near Gamboa, Panama. Click on the video below to see more of this adventurous day.
This is part of the Panama Canal water complex. The Panama Canal is only 30 minutes north of Panama City. The canal requires a vast rainforest watershed to feed water to its lock system which uses millions of gallons each day. For this reason the canal has to preserve its watersheds, making for plentiful pristine rainforests. Our guide Ross was a knowledgeable and engaging gentleman. He has a love of nature, culture and the history of the country of which he shares in a very enthusiastic and entertaining manner. He picked us up early in the morning from our apartment in Panama City and before long we were in the rainforest amongst the sights and sounds of the jungle. A Capuchin monkey tribe were all around us in the trees, some carrying their clinging babies on their backs or bellies. On prominent display in the foreground, amongst the constant chattering and shrieks from his family, as they leaped and climbed the vine-covered jungle forest, was a large dominant male. Each group is usually between 15-30 monkeys.
Capuchin Monkey
Geoffrey’s Tamarin Monkeys
Continuing our peaceful boat trip, we wound our way through grassy reeds, the strong sun rays seeping through the many layers of jungle foliage. We stopped again to marvel at a large troop of tiny Geoffrey’s Tamarin Monkey’s found in Panama and Columbia. They are black and white with a red, brownish nape with a white triangle shape patch on their forehead. They excitedly chattered and danced in an enormous tree next to our boat on the water, some coming for a brief visit on board. We saw many beautiful multicoloured iguanas both large and small while Howler monkeys made their low base tones close by. We stopped at a small island where I did aerial drone photography for Barefoot Panama Tours. I took off from the front of a pontoon boat with a compact space cleared out at the front. Our guide Ross proved to have very steady nerves and hands as he agreed to hand catch the drone on its return. This was the first time I had flown from a boat and done a hand catch. You can see how nervous I was as Ross was about to catch it!
We then made our way through the Panama Canal for several miles to reach the Gamboa Rainforest Resort. We then transferred to a narrow, flat-bottomed boat for the quick trip to visit a Wounaan Indigenous tribe’s nearby village.
Kim and Glenn on the way to the Wounaan Village. Our excellent guide Ross is seated directly behind us.
An adolescent boy from the tribe was our lookout on the bow of the boat. We could really feel the heat and humidity as we experienced a brief shower on the way to the village. There were many tropical bird calls from the nearby jungle and a toucan flew by with its long beak as we made our passage. Once we arrived at the village, we enjoyed a very educational experience hosted by tribe members.
We went for a hike through the jungle and learned about the local flora and fauna from the chief of the tribe. He showed us several examples of traditional medicinal plants and herbs as Ross translated.
According to “intercontinentalcry. org”, the Wounaan are a Panamanian group originally from the Darien region. They are also known as the Wounana, Wound Meu, Noenama and by the homogenizing name Choco, which is used to group together many Indigenous groups. They are a subgroup of the Embera-Wounaan people and have a population of approximately 6,800. They speak Wounaan dialects originating from the languages of the Chocoan family. Most Wounaan specifically inhabit villages within or just outside two Embera-Wounaan Comarcas. A Comarcas is an administrative region for an area with a substantial Indian population. Some still live outside of these Comarcas along the Darien rivers. Traditionally the Wounaan are/were semi-nomadic people that live by hunting, gathering and practicing swidden agriculture. They grow bananas, corn and roots amongst other crops. Wounaan people are well known for their bowl haircuts and elaborate body painting, which is achieved using woodblocks. The Wounaan are also famed crafts people, creating intricate basket works and carvings.
Kim bought a beautifully coloured hand dyed sarong and a nice basket. The goods produced by these talented artisans provide an important source of economic income for their tribe. There was also a fascinating talk from a tribe member about their traditional way of life which was translated to us by Ross.
Afterwards, the Chief of the village agreed to allow me film the village and tribe with my 3DR Solo Drone. I felt very privileged to be allowed to have this wonderful opportunity. The drone flight fascinated and amused the young children of the village.
