Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
and-cane
cabañas
facing the water. Palm trees are sprinkled over a grassy area with a central
bohío
and a pleasant and breezy restaurant, where you can tuck into delicious seafo
od w
hile
gazing out to sea. Also offers satellite internet access. Community tax ($14) extra.
$124
/per-
son
Ogobsukum and Ustupu
Beyond Mamitupu, completing the remaining 75km to Puerto Obaldía, you pass the densely
matted thatch rooftops of the
comarca
's most populous communities: the four-thousand-
strong twin settlements of
Ogobsukum
and
Ustupu
, renowned for their gold craftwork. The
next notable community is the pine-clad
Isla Pino (Dupak)
, which unlike any other island
in the
comarca
has a large hill; though only just over a square kilometre in size, it boasts a
couple of forest trails and a picturesque waterside thatched village.
Travellers rarely venture this far east to these more traditional communities, where you will
need to check in with the police and ask
permission
of the
saila
to visit or stay on an island
(make sure you are appropriately clad). It is usually possible to negotiate with a family for a
hammock or bed and engage the services of someone to explore some of the rivers and rain-
forest on the mainland. The seas along this stretch of coastline are particularly rough here
and should only be navigated in a decent boat - not the shallow leaking dugout favoured by
many.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE: OGOBSUKUM AND USTUPU
By air
Air Panama
flights
three times a week (Tues, Thurs & Sun) to Ogobsukum ($85) from
Albrook airport in Panama City.
Puerto Obaldía
Puerto Obaldía
is the last major “town” before the Colombian border. Despite a tidy park, a
decent playing field, clean streets and a scenic seaside location, it is an unendearing encamp-
ment, where the frontier police in combat gear guard against drug runners, Colombian guer-
rillas and smugglers. Though technically within the
comarca
, the community has a mixed
population of Guna, Colombian refugees and non-Guna Panamanians. You could end up with
a more intimate knowledge of the town than you would like unless you've booked an air tick-
et to Panama City in advance, since seats are often oversubscribed.
ARRIVAL AND INFORMATION: PUERTO OBALDÍA
BY PLANE
Air Panama ( 316 9000,
airpanama.com
)
operates mid-morning flights to Puerto Obaldía
from Panama City every day except Saturday, with almost immediate return flights to the
capital (1hr; $78). The airstrip is a two-minute walk from the “town centre”.
