Where There Are No Roads

Warning: This post will be long and all over the place. This is the last post of our trip, and I've got a bunch of stuff to talk about!

First, the Ngabe (pronounced Naw-Bay...I mispronounced it when I first wrote about this indigenous tribe from northern Panama.) There are many Ngobe communities across northern Panama and throughout the islands of Bocas del Toro. Where we stayed on Isla Bastimentos was very near the community of Salt Creek, fairly large at almost 900 residents. The Ngobe have traditionally been a Nomadic tribe and it has only been fairly recently that they have settled down. The Salt Creek community is about 70 years old. Hidden in the jungle, set back from the beach about 600 meters, you would never know the community was there if you didn't know where to look. There is a narrow river that opens to the sea that winds through mangroves that leads to the community. The water passage was opened by the founders of the community, hacking a path through the thick mangroves. We followed a couple up the inlet as they silently paddled their cayuco, the wooden, hand-carved, traditional Ngobe boat.

You come to a dock and a long cement (yes, cement) walkway that leads into the community. I can only imagine what it took to actually build the walkway that is incredibly long (perhaps 1/4 mile) - getting the supplies to this remote location and then actually building it over very swampy terrain.

I'm not exactly sure what I expected to find when I arrived in Salt Creek. I went with Lucas and some other guests from the lodge we were staying at. Dave and Suzanne, the owners of the lodge, are very involved here and also very liked, welcomed and respected here. Dave knows everyone by name, has an easy rapport  and is immediately swarmed by the local kids. It is an example of how gringos, tourism and native culture can come together positively and respectfully and quite beautifully. 

Salt Creek is beautiful - there is a fresh water creek, it is open and green, in the center is a soccer field adjacent to the school and small playground. It was washing day when we visited, so there was lots of color added to the landscape from laundry hanging out to dry.

There is no electricity or running water here...something that struck me in the juxtaposition with the many resorts in the islands with their blenders for fruity rum drinks and internet capability for their guests. There is very little byway of work in the village - fishing to sell at market in Bocas Town and perhaps hauling (building supplies or whatever) in ones cayuco. So, herein lies the challenge - tourism brings jobs but also brings with it exploitation, being undervalued and disrespected, unsatisfying work, and the impossible-to-bridge gap of have and have not. 

I spent all week really watching the Ngobe people I encountered - curious about their culture and life style and relationship to gringos. The relationship was so very different from our experience in Costa Rica. We found Costa Ricans very open and interested in connecting. This was not my experience with the Ngobe. I had all sorts of assumptions and questions - are they bitter and can't stand gringos? are they an unhappy/serious people? is the have/have not gap just too big? When we switched to Casa Cayuco (Dave and Suzanne's place) and I had daily encounters with the same people, I attempted to communicate every day respectful of boundaries. A lot of connection was made through Lucas. People are curious about him, find him funny and appealing, and cute as a total gringo kid. I had a lot of time with Jose, the main guide at Casa Cayuco. He has a very large family, many of whom also work at Casa Cayuco, and it was lovely to swap stories with him about our lives. 

What I learned from Dave is that in general the Ngobe are more timid. They also are wary of "letting down" gringos, worried about expectations and conceded that they can't communicate well due to language barriers. Plus, many are not used to foreigners taking interest in connecting with them like I am inclined to do. Dave explained who all of the staff are actually very chatty and silly when they are away from work...something we saw when we went to the village. 

Lucas, who didn't initially didn't want to visit Salt Creek, ended up at the playground with kids of 3 of the women who work at Casa Cayuco. It is a beautiful thing to behold - put kids together, let them play and it doesn't matter that there isn't a common spoken language between them. They all just laughed and had fun. 

When it was time to go, Lucas said, "No, I'm having so much fun. I want to live in Salt Creek!" I wish I had more time there. Relationships were just starting to spark. It is what travel is all about for me - meeting people, learning from each other, witnessing different ways of life. Where we were was so remote - everything about day-to-day life there was so different from what day-to-day life looks like for me. I would have liked to have gone deeper into it all. My heart felt so full our last night there when after dinner, Lizbeth and Maricena, who help prepare food at the lodge, wanted to say good-bye to Lucas and give him a bracelet their kids had made. Though there weren't many words exchanged over the week, connection was happening between us as moms, between them and Lucas and it turns out between their kids and Lucas as they were going home each day and talking about Lucas. It was extra special to go to the village today and see their house and have them call out "Lu-CAS" as we came up the walkway. I will think of them a lot...

Panama turned out to be a great addition to our trip despite the rocky start. The beauty, the water, the beach, the remoteness, the Ngobe, and Casa Cayuco. The best part about staying there is the bond that starts to form between the guests. We eat together and go on excursions together and hang out together. Over our 5 days there we met 2 women from Austria, 2 from the states, 2 couples from NYC and a family of 6 traveling with grandparents from New Hampshire. I miss them all and our delicious family-style meals swapping stories about our lives. 

One morning, Matt, Lucas, and I headed out on kayaks with Gerard, dad to 10-year old twin girls who Lucas LOVED. We went in search of a lion fish - an invasive, no-native fish that is causing problems. Gerard wanted to catch one. It is a beautiful fish with stripes and feathery-like bands that are actually stingers that pack a punch. So, off we went with snorkeling gear and hawaiian slings that are a sort of spear for fishing. Here is Matt getting ready to go on the hunt.

No Lion Fish were speared or even spotted, much to Gerard's disappointment. He was on a quest. The rest of the day found Lucas and me playing around on the stand up paddle board...endless fun. I've always wanted to try it but the water is just too cold around Seattle.

Oh, I know there is so much more to write about, and I find myself getting very sleepy. We are back at the Hotel Buena Vista outside of San Jose. It is strange to be in the very same room we were in our very first night in Costa Rica exactly 6 weeks ago today. We even had the same customs officer today coming back from Panama that we had the day we arrived in Costa Rica. It has been a long, somewhat crabby and unremarkable day to end what has been a truly remarkable and life-changing adventure. I started to feel a bit bummed about that and caught myself immediately. What has been so  lovely about this adventure was just letting things unfold naturally and being in the moment. This was never about trying to make it some perfect "trip" every minute we were here. So, Matt has a cold and Lucas did some acting out and I got impatient and the hotel went to the wrong place at the airport and couldn't find us so we waited for an hour and a half and then had to catch a cab and we couldn't go to our fantasy restaurant for patacones and strawberry milkshakes. We woke up to the sound of jungle birds and swam in the Caribbean Sea and toured an indigenous village and flew over dense jungle where there are no roads and a kind man at the airport negotiated a fair taxi price for us and we joked around with the waiters at the hotel restaurant and Lucas and Matt are now passed out snoring. No big fanfare to mark the end of our six weeks. Just a lot of gratitude. 

We will be up early in the morning to catch our flight home. It is time. I say that with sadness as I will miss it here and miss living the adventure, and I also know it is true. We miss our people and our place. We will carry Costa Rica back home with us in our hearts.