Today was the most amazing day! We woke up with the sun and prepared for our long journey to the Darien. After a good long stretch and some food in our belly, we were good to go. We took a boat back to the mainland after fare welling the hospitable and generous Kuna family that hosted us on the island. Oh man, what beautiful people. We spent the night drinking and talking by a campfire they made out of coconut shells and palm branches and Carlos told us we were the first group of people to actually engage in conversation and invite them to spend time with us, can you believe that? They were sad to see us go, but they told us we were always welcome and they hoped to see us soon.
We had a drive back through the rainforest mountains along the continental divide and then several more hours of driving with checkpoints from San Blas to the Darien region. A boat took us through the river and took us to the Santa Maria Real, a community of another indigenous tribe in Panama, the Embara. The boat was made out of a hollowed log that was suprisingly sturdy!
After a 45 minute boat ride, two bouncy old trucks scooped us into the bed until we reached the entrance to Rancho Frio. We were about to begin our two hour hike, our first time hiking at night, and what an experience that was! Stevie nearly stepped on a Fer de Lance snake that was chilling in the middle of our path which is one of the most venemous vipers in Central America.
After what seemed like forever, we finally made it to our humble abode for the night. After checking our mattresses for spiders, we quickly passed out from exhaustion. I was woken up from that quick nap and was told that dinner was almost ready. I offered to help cook and was taught how to make platacones, a very popular food eaten in Panama! Ah, dinner was incredible. We ate gnami which is a large vegetable that once prepared, tastes a lot like mashed potates, and also pork marinated and cooked in such a way that it almost melted in your mouth. Wow, what a way to end such a beautiful day.
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