And into the jungle

Mundo and Paolo had already come up with a pretty full plan for the next day. They both thought I should hike towards the waterfall at the foothills of the mountains that was the source for the pueblos drinking water.

I looked at them in my typical clueless gringo face and asked if my sandals, shorts and sleeveless shirt were appropriate attire. They returned my question with a gaze I've come to recognize..."Ah, silly clueless gringo." No the trail was easy they said, but I probably wanted something more than shorts and sandals. But not to worry they had some boots I could borrow. What can I say, I came here prepared for a couple leisurely days of lounging around at the beach.

I knew things were going to be a little different than lounging at the beach when I started asking everyone else if they were coming to see the waterful with us? No unlike the trip to the beach, this was just going to be Paolo and myself.

Well we started our little trek by crossing the bridge into the mainland. The waterfall I was told was just a little jaunt through the forest to the foothills at the base of the mountains. After about 5 minutes I was keenly aware that it was a good idea to have changed out of the shorts and sandals I was wearing.

We crossed the first of many muddy trails through the jungle. Paolo took special pride in pointing out the various types of birds and fruit bearing trees. Every description was accompanied by his own little bit of commentary, "these coconuts are much more delicious than the cocounuts you can buy in Panama, our coconuts are the best!"

Every tree we passed had a similar story. How all of these fruits were delicious and essentially free here, and then he would ask me what they cost in the US and just shake his head. "Here everything is gratis!" As we ventured further into the forest Paolo told me we were going to the families farm.

The Kuna have an interesting set of laws around property rights. There is no concept of owning land in the Kuna culture, but one can own trees and the fruits that these trees bear. Unfortunately these traditions are being disrespected more frequently, so I hear.

The farm was really just a group of trees in one area of the jungle. But no one would bother to venture all the way out here without gathering some fruits to bring home, so we took some time and picked some randomly delicious fruits, who's name I still don't comprehend. They were nothing I've ever eaten before but they were delicious and really really juicy. I thought so and so aparently did all the mosquitos.

We continued on the meandering trail, it was really easy to follow, we just used the 1/2 buried pipe leading to the village as our guide. But of course we made a stop for fresh coconut. It was kinda cool to see Paolo's machete in action. I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of a pissed off Kuna.

After a while our conversation trailed off as well. We were seeing the same trees and animals, and we were both hot, sweaty and thoroughly bitten from hiking through the rain forest. But I could hear that waterfall just off in the distance, and soon enough we came to our destination. It was indeed a very nice waterfall, which opened up in a nice wading pool. But sometimes I think the journey is far more important than the destination.