Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
lower than in Panama City. If you don't intend to buy anything, alert the tourist coordinator
to avoid embarrassment; otherwise, try to spread your purchases round several artisans.
La Palma
Resembling no other town in Panama,
LA PALMA
, a predominantly Afro-Darienite settle-
ment of around six thousand, is the regional administrative and commercial hub, where mo-
torized dugouts from the coastal and riverine communities jostle for position at the narrow
and non-too-salubrious main jetty. The town's one sultry street is chock-full of hole-in-the-
wall restaurants, bars and hotels, and shops selling welcome piles of fresh produce and other
goods that are regularly shipped in from Panama City. Most visitors gravitate to La Palma to
connect with transport to Emberá communities such as La Marea and Mogué, or those further
afield up the Río Sambu, and you'd be well advised to stock up with supplies while here -
the (pricier) village stores are unlikely to provide much beyond tinned fish, rice and biscuits.
If you don't have the means to purify water, make sure you pick up a flagon or two of the
bottled variety.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE: LA PALMA
By water-taxi
Water-taxis to La Palma run from Puerto Quimba (every 30min, 5am-5.30pm;
40min; $4). The last return water-taxi to Puerto Quimba leaves around 5.30pm.
ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
Hotel Biaquirú Bagará
C Principal 299 6224.
If you need to spend the night in La
Palma, this family-run hotel is the place to head for, with a dozen neat wood-panelled rooms,
some
wit
h fan and shared bathroom, others en suite with a/c, and a couple even have a bal-
cony.
$30
Hotel Tuira
C Principal 299 6316.
For the budget traveller who fancies being in the thick
of the noisy action, this friendly hotel pr
ovid
es rooms with fan or a/c ($10 extra) and com-
munal balconies overlooking the estuary.
$15
Restaurante Nayelis
C Principal. No phone.
Serves inexpensive Panamanian and Dominican
dishes, but like most places in La Palma it can close early and suffer from a lack of provisions
and desultory service.
Daily 5am-9pm.
La Marea
Forty minutes' boat ride southeast from La Palma up the sinuous tree-lined Río La Marea, the
small, welcoming community of
LA MAREA
provides a perfect introduction to the Emberá
way of life. The “
marea
” (tide) is crucial to village logistics since the place is only reach-
able at high tide, and even then, at the backend of the dry season, the
piragua
scrapes along
the riverbed. Traditional open-sided wooden-and-thatch dwellings are dotted across a sloping
expanse of neatly trimmed grass ending at the riverbank, where a small
rancho
is used for
