Embera Drua Indians, 2 hours from Panama City
Panama City is an eclectic mix of the old and new. It has some great restaurants and nightclubs. KLM now fly direct to Panama City from Amsterdam.
The 17th-century Casco Viejo or Casco Antiguo (the old quarter) of Panama City is as ravishing as any colonial cityscape in the Americas - with the same gracious, glorious shades of Old San Juan or Old Havana. There are numerous old churches, including the Iglesia San José with its gold altar and great museums full of religious art. The area was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site some ten years ago, and with its maze of streets mixing everything from neo-Moorish to French neoclassical to Art Deco, it has, like Old Havana, spent more than a couple of decades slowly decaying and is today festooned in tropical rot, which lends it a rich atmosphere. From Lover's Walk, you can see the other side of the coin: the glinting condos and modern glitz of New Panamá City.
Restaurants are thick on the ground and one draws me immediately in: Manolo Caracol. The owner, Manuel Madueño, a Spaniard, claims that New Yorkers fly down for the weekend just to dine here, and it's not difficult to see why. They serve the largest octopus I've ever seen, cooked in a vat of red wine floating with old corks. The interior is a weird and exquisite paraphenalia of religious artwork, a shrine to the Virgin de Guadalupe, burning candles, tormented effigies, a glass case full of corks, huge cooking pots and palms and dayglo pictures of Che Guevara. The menu is mouthwatering: grilled baby eggplant, seared tuna, baked dorado, spicy mushrooms, shrimp ceviche and giant prawns.
The whole neighbourhood is food-focused: a few doors down is a shop called the Gran Clement Gourmet Ice Creams and Sorbets. They serve hundreds of flavours of ice cream, made according to the traditional methods of French artisans. The walls are lined with hundreds of ice cream spoons.
At dawn the following day, I board the historic Panamá Canal Railway that runs to Colon on the Caribbean coast in about 70 minutes, following the canal for much of the way, with views of the vast Lake Gatun. Once in Colon, I take a minibus some forty minutes along a deserted coast to Portobelo.
Christopher Columbus discovered the Bay of Portobelo on 2 November 1502. When Francis Drake died of dysentery in 1596 at sea, he was buried at sea in a lead coffin at Isla Drake. In 1668, the pirate Captain Morgan captured Portobelo. Later, in 1739, British buccaneers attacked. In its heyday, the town was an important trading port for gold coming from South America. Today, Portobelo is a tiny town with a deep harbour, surrounded by tropical fecundity. Coming over the hill, I encounter the turreted ruins of Fuerte San Jeronimo, founded in 1664 and constructed of weathered grey coral with 17 ancient, rusting canons. The fort was declared a World Heritage Site in 1980 and for such a historic site, it is completely deserted. History is alive here and I can almost feel the presence of the conquistadores' ghosts. Further on is the San Jeronimo Black Christ church, with black vultures watching from the spire. Outside, locals sell noni fruit which tastes like camembert, but is good for the skin. Inside, there is a wooden figurine of the black Christ of Portobelo, cloaked in a purple dress with gold and silver on it. If people have a health problem, they buy a piece of gold or silver and put it onto the dress of the black Christ, thanking him for what they believe will make them better. A mother is here with her baby, who has a sprained ankle, and she has sewn silver paper onto the figurine. She sways silently back and forth, mesmerised, and deep in prayer.
Back in Panamá City, I take a 30 minute flight on a 20-seater plane to Contadora Island, in the aptly-named Pearl Islands, an archipelago of over 200 islands strung out in the shallow, bright green waters of the Pacific.
Contadora has the atmosphere of a tiny village that time forgot. The runway is but a tarmac strip with weeds growing in the middle and the circular road is more suited to golf buggies than cars. Its coastline is laced with swaying palms, remote white sand coves and the faded glamour of several low-key, 1960s-style 'motels' or the delightfully kitsch 1920s Casa Romantica (with bathrooms completely covered in oyster shells). A perfect island for rest and relaxation. Lured by the beauty of the island, Christian Dior owns a minimalist, design-led mansion here. In 1969, actor Richard Burton purchased the island as a birthday present to his wife, Elizabeth Taylor, for $37,000. During that time, the jet set were arriving in yachts and private jets. Locals recount tales of men in smoking jackets and ladies wearing ball gowns, demanding caviar and champagne. Nowadays, wild deer and peacocks roam the island.
One of the most enjoyable ways to see the archipelago is by boat. Many of the islands are staggeringly beautiful, either virginal islands cloaked in dense rainforest and ringed by low cliffs and pure white sand, or tiny lips of sand like Bajo Boyarena, only revealed at low tide, but from where you can see twelve other islands. On one of those islands, Sabuca, locals believe pirate Henry Morgan's treasure lies hidden beneath the church.
Finally, we sail to Casayeta, home to pearl fishermen. I meet Mr Aripe Santana, an 81 year old resident who for the past 60 years has been diving for pearls. The only difference is he dives without oxygen tanks for up to 5 minutes in waters as deep as 15 metres, to collect oyster shells from the ocean floor. For every 200 oysters he brings up, one will contain a pearl which he can sell for anything from 700 dollars upwards.
Days later, I must return to the mainland, and from Panamá City, I am on the final leg of the journey - to visit the Embera Drua Indians who live in the Rio Chagres National Park. I board a narrow boat carved from a tree called a piraqua and the boatsman is wearing a purple skirt, called an ambura, decorated with tiny white shells, with a swath of yellow fabric at the front with silver bracelets. Despite his herculean strength - he guides the boat effortlessly through fast rapids - he is only 18. We sail deep into a steamy rainforest to a village of tambos, straw thatched houses raised on poles, where we are given a fish meal and the womenfolk imitate the deer in a dance, and drums and flutes are played. The women wear the most amazing coloured fabrics wrapped around their waist and legs, dyed lemon, green and pink, with a star or flower shape, and on the upper part, braziers made of small shells, bright yellow and red in a zig zag pattern with orange necklaces.
The Embera have an altogether different religion - they believe the moon and sun are gods, they believe everything they can explain and they have a church up the hill that is evangelical.
The whole day is a dazzling, authentic cultural experience. I am honoured to be their guest. I had never imagined this quiet, often overlooked Central American nation could offer so many dazzling sights.
FACTBOX
KLM flies from London Heathrow Airport to Panamá City via Amsterdam. Fares from £548 return (www.klm.com, telephone 08705 074 074).
Pesantez Tours are an absolute must: a well-established, English-speaking tour guide company based in Panamá City can help you plan this holiday and provide transportation and guides. Visit their website, www.pesantez-tours.com.
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