Blatts in Panama: Homestay Happiness Deep in the Darien

We drove and drove for 3-4 hours on the road into the Darien region toward the small village of Ipeti, home to indigenous Embera-Ipeti people. We arrived at the  doorstep of a home with only a name written on a piece of paper.  Despite our sudden appearance, Senora. Gloria and Senor Lana, welcomed us into their humble (and crowded) home and cooked us Patacones and fry bread galore.  

We slept on cots without mosquito nets (yikes) among a throng of extended family who also suddenly appeared to sleep.  Beds unrolled and dividers appeared from nowhere.  Steve rushed Gloria's sister to a medical clinic about 40 minutes away and didn't return until the room was filled with the sounds of sleeping Embera people and 4 gringos.  

  

The next day, we surged deeper into the Darien with the son's wife's sister in tow, eager to make it to a Embera village deep in the jungle.  After hours of driving and a boat ride to a distant outpost called La Palma, we run out of time, patience and money.  La Palma was truly the edge of civilization-- beyond this tiny outpost there was only jungle.  But, they wanted another 100 dollars for a boat ride into the jungle, the sun was starting to get low in the horizon, and it all seemed a bit of a wild-goose chase.  So, we returned to our village, hot, dusty and tired, and jumped into the river.  

The cold, cool, clean water of the river was a highlight of the homestay.   Benji wrote: "The thing I enjoyed most was swimming with a group of local kids.  We lugged heavy rocks across the river to make a small piscina. We called the 10 year old boy in charge "Jefe" and they called me "Monkey" for the face I could make.  Toward the end, dad took out a soap so we coud wash up after smelling a lot.  They got a kick out of making bubbles by rubbing their hands together.  They taught us how to do it and I managed to make a bubble a foot and a half long, which was nothing compared to theirs.  The little girl made a bubble that bounced on the surface of the river."

Later that evening, after a dinner that included hot fried dough, corn meal totters, and fish, we asked Gloria to give us traditional Embera Jagua tattoos, made from the scorched liquid from a jungle fruit.  It paints on a light brown, but darkens over night into a deep black.  Ilana went to sleep with her tatoo pressed up against her face and woke up looking like she was in a bar fight and lost.  

In the end, we truly enjoyed a brief 2 night homestay.  Marina will miss the cachorro; I'll miss the green parrot that hung around, Ilana will miss Gloria, and Benji will miss Sr. Lana.