Carreto

Carreto - 08°46,105’N & 77°33,470’W

Travelling now with Terry and Marjatta, an Australian/Finnish couple aboard Lioness, we arrived at the bay and village of Carreto, our first stop in Panama and our first visit to a Kuna village. We had read that Carreto was one of the most traditional villages where television is banned along with photography and filming and visitors are not permitted to stay after dark. Within moments of arriving ashore, we were approached by one of the sailas (the fourth) who spoke a little English and he confirmed that we must pay a fee for the privilege of visiting. This would allow us to stay for a while but quickly added ‘but a month is too long’. He also confirmed that we could not take any photos but ‘maybe some if we paid money’, and yes, we had to leave before dark. He took us to meet the chief Saila who seemed unhappy that we had anchored on the far side of the bay and not beside the village. We explained, thanks to our Spanish speaking Finnish friend, Marjatta, that it was a safer location for our boats should one of the infamous powerful ‘chocosana’ squalls hit. This appeared to satisfy him and we later learned that their concern was, with us being so far away, they were unable to watch should we choose to steal their coconuts.

On the issue of taking photographs, my camera is still back in the US for repair and, as Murphy would have it, Marjatta’s gave up the ghost in Sapzurro. We managed to purchase a couple of rolls of film while still there and have now dug out Paul’s 35mm which is too large to carry around casually. Hence, apart from visitors to our boat and a few excursions with a couple of the local chaps, we have followed the ‘no photo’ rule. This is causing us unbelievable frustration as the village has to be seen to be believed and the women in their traditional dress and beadwork are Kodak moments waiting to happen! I really hope we’ll get photos in some of the less strict villages further up the line.

Approaching Carreto from the sea, all one sees is a palm lined beach, a few dugout canoes (ulus) and one large grass hut. However, through the palms lie innumerable smaller grass huts housing approximately 600 Kuna Indians, half of these being children. The Kunas are a very tiny but well proportioned race of people - most don’t stand beyond my shoulders. We were permitted to wander through the exceptionally clean and well kept village and were met with multitudes of smiling faces and delightful children.

Out at our anchorage, we were visited by a few villagers in their ulus including a young man named Elacio. Elacio offered to take us hiking to see monkeys and hunt for wild pigs as well as show us where we could get lobsters and crabs. He and his friend, Alberto, took us out where they dived like proverbial fish and speared us lobster, crab and a few fish as well as collected conch and large whelk-like shells. The day progressed into a fire on the beach where their bounty was cooked and we had a feast to remember for a lifetime. These were the things we envisioned many years ago when dreaming of cruising the tropics.

The following Sunday, the village was to hold a celebration in honour of Father’s Day and, after a couple of visits, we were all invited to join in the festivities. When the day arrived, we presented the head Saila as well as the fourth Saila with some homemade brownies and, in turn, were given breadfruit and avocado. I think this indicated that we were accepted. Thanks again to Marjatta’s linguistic skills, we received permission to stay after dark to watch. The day involved sports activities for the younger generation which included the amusing but impossible task of climbing a very smooth and very greasy pole to retrieve a bag attached to the top. We came upon a group performing traditional Kuna dancing with the men dancing while playing bamboo pan pipes and the women with maracas. Quite a sight to behold. In the evening, a special table was set aside for their ‘gringo’ visitors from which we listened to songs, hymns and poems by the children to honour their fathers. We certainly felt very privileged.

The following day, Elacio took us into the rainforest to hunt for a pig to roast. We heard one which sent him tearing off into the woods but, alas, no roast pork on the menu that night. We did, however, see a few capuchin type monkeys, marching cutter leaf ants, a beautiful hummingbird and an armadillo carcass, as well as several tiny vividly spotted frogs. These are possibly the frogs used to poison spear tips in the past. Apparently, one tiny frog holds enough poison to kill 500 people. We’d also hoped to come across a pack of the howler monkeys we hear everyday but they remained elusive as well. Nevertheless, it was a wonderful outing and we were able to restock our depleted mango supplies topped off with a few limes, but don’t touch the coconuts!!