Embera Indian Village Tour - Zuiderdam

For those of you who are considering this tour – do it! It was truly the highlight excursion of our January cruise. The Embera people are so gracious and provided excellent hospitality to all, including freshly cooked tilapia and some wonderful fresh fruit. There was also bread, ham and cheese (from the ship, I think) so you could make a sandwich if you did not want to try the Embera food.

Just before we left the village, there was music and dancing. We were told one of the “customs” was for all visitors to join in the dancing (essentially walking around in a circle to the beat of the drums) – or, you couldn’t leave the village. I was asked to be the partner of one of the young men who, as I learned while dancing with him, had just graduated from high school and was planning on attending college to become a tour guide.

There were several tables of the woven and carved items the Embera people make to sustain their lifestyle. So, remember to bring cash (in small bills) as NO credit cards are accepted. The same holds true for the Embera tables set up at the shopping terminal at the dock.

A couple of notes regarding the Embera tour:

(1) you will be riding a bus (ours was very clean and the A/C worked well) for 1-1/2 hours; from there, you board a canoe that holds 12 visitors and 2 Embera guides. The return trip is a bit faster as the river currents are running with the canoe on the way back; again, you are then on the bus for another 1-1/2 hours.

NOTE: do not sit in the front of the canoe unless you want to get very wet! You are loaded onto the canoe (with a lifevest) in single file, one person to each bench. They fill the canoe from the back forward. Any seat in the middle to the back is much "drier" than being up front where you will get splashed as the canoe makes it way through the river. Also, in addition to the life vest you will be given, you will also be given a rain poncho; so, no need to buy one from the ship.

(2) For those of you (like me) who may be concerned about restrooms: There are bathrooms. Be sure, however, to use the bathroom before boarding the bus after getting off the tender, then wait (if you can) until you reach the village (after the canoe ride) before using the bathroom again. There is a SINGLE restroom at a home where you board the canoe, but there is only ONE. We were fortunate enough to be off in the first bus and had the advantage of using the “facility.” However, once we lined up, the line extended by over 50 people. What our bus tour guide hadn’t told us was that the village we were in actually had 2 restrooms (very basic but usable with toilet paper provided) at the village.

The weather cooperated fully, with only a 2-minute rain shower at the village. Also, we made sure we sprayed ourselves with Deet, but there didn't appear to be any bugs the day we visited.

We truly enjoyed every aspect of this tour. And as for the "cultural nudity" issue that may raise a concern -- you don't notice that the women are topless. First of all, the villagers are tattooed so it looks as though they have clothes on anyway. And most importantly, you are there to enjoy the adventure and the hospitality being extended to you. You will immediately become engaged in the experience and what someone is wearing (or not wearing) never becomes a focus.

tt

tt, thank you very much for the review.

My family will be on Zuiderdam in Dec. This is the exclusion that I was considing of. But I could not find any review on it.

May I ask you a couple questions:

1. Is a lot of hiking/stepping on this trip? Do you need to walk in the river? My parents are in their 70s. They are in good health. Will they be able to handle this trip?

2. Is any thing interesting during the bus ride? I have two kids, 7 & 9. I need to prepare something so that they won't feel bored.

3. Besides the Village, is anything else you will see during the tour?

Thanks!

J

We are thinking of doing the Indian tour in November. However we have a 2 year old with us. What do you think - can she do the canoe and village ????

1. Is a lot of hiking/stepping on this trip? Do you need to walk in the river? My parents are in their 70s. They are in good health. Will they be able to handle this trip? No, not a lot of hiking/stepping. However, the river bank is a bit steep and very slippery. The indians will assist you over that small spot though.

2. Is any thing interesting during the bus ride? I have two kids, 7 & 9. I need to prepare something so that they won't feel bored. Not really, other than watching Panama go by. Most of the drive is through towns and city environments so there isn't much in the way of scenery.

3. Besides the Village, is anything else you will see during the tour? Just the above mentioned scenery and the jungle scenery during the canoe ride.

Also, not sure when in December you are going, but I just learned that HAL is not offering any excursions in Panama during the 13 December cruise. I'm not sure about others.

tt,

Thank you for your reply. Yes. HAL cancelled the all tours at Gatun Lake, not only apply to Dec, but all the semi-transit cruise at the same port. And so far they don't have any new plan for it yet. The person I talked to aren't sure the new itinerary. He just said there isn't any change but I doubt it. We were really looking forward to visit the Indian Village. It is really disappointed.

J

tt, thank you very much for the review.

 

My family will be on Zuiderdam in Dec. This is the exclusion that I was considing of. But I could not find any review on it.

 

May I ask you a couple questions:

 

1. Is a lot of hiking/stepping on this trip? Do you need to walk in the river? My parents are in their 70s. They are in good health. Will they be able to handle this trip?

 

2. Is any thing interesting during the bus ride? I have two kids, 7 & 9. I need to prepare something so that they won't feel bored.

 

3. Besides the Village, is anything else you will see during the tour?

 

 

Thanks!

J

Janna:

it is required to do some walking over a rocky path, and yes dpm321 has given correct info, they will help you through tough parts.

depnding of the level of the river it is required to walk more or less. the walk is crossing a river so you will get water up to your knees, well, depends how tall are you !

bring dry clothing for swimimg at the water fall and sandals for the hike.

flip flops are a bit unconfortable.

the tour is great with for kids , is a matter of how the children react or take long bus rides (over 1 hour)

make sure you choose the embera tour at the chagres river, that the best one !

Hi Janna & tt.

If we do not go to the waterfall, do we need to walk on rocks across a river? I've got very poor balance, and would be the first one to fall in the river!

Thank you for the review. This is something I definitely want to do on my Panama Canal cruise in April.

Thank you for the review. This is something I definitely want to do on my Panama Canal cruise in April.

Which port is this out of? julie

Thanks for your info. How long is the canoe ride?

The ride to the village was about 25 minutes long. The return was slightly less. The scenery is very nice along the way. I took this tour a week ago (Zuiderdam) and it poured rain on the way to the village. Everyone was pretty well drenched but had a great time anyway. The Embera Indians were delightful. I really enjoyed the tour.

Thanks for your info. How long is the canoe ride?

While reading the posts, keep in mind that there will be some variation on the itinerary for this tour. There are actually several different villages that are used for this tour, selected by the indian leadership each day, as I understand it.

For example on our tour the bus ride was almost 2 hours long. This was followed by a large dugout canoe ride (two people per row) for about 20 minutes. Once at the village, the trips are very similar.

One other bit of advice....the indians sell their baskets (beautiful) and wooden ware at the village to help support themselves. There is no pressure to buy, but you will want to bring back a unique souveneir. The ship will tell you to bring some small bills (dollars) with you to purchase the baskets. Bring small bills, but bring many. While you can buy a basket for $20, the nicer ones go for as much as $200.

Without doubt the best ship's tour we have taken...don't miss it!

We will be at the village in about 2 weeks! How long do you get to stay at the village before returning? Lori

Lori, Usually I would say 1.5 hours . . . which is enough time. Getting there . . . especially if you get to go to Embera Puru which is the farthest village used . . . 45 minutes in a dug out canoe with spectacular jungle scenery is part of the fun. One village is only a 10-15 minute ride. Embera Duru is closer in, has a lot more tourists . . . unfortunately you have no choice if you go with the ship, and don't know until you get there which village you are going to visit. If you book with Anne Gordon (emberavillagetours.com) you go to Embera Puru because that is her husband's village.

Regards, Richard

Lori, Usually I would say 1.5 hours . . . which is enough time. Getting there . . . especially if you get to go to Embera Puru which is the farthest village used . . . 45 minutes in a dug out canoe with spectacular jungle scenery is part of the fun. One village is only a 10-15 minute ride. Embera Duru is closer in, has a lot more tourists . . . unfortunately you have no choice if you go with the ship, and don't know until you get there which village you are going to visit. If you book with Anne Gordon (emberavillagetours.com) you go to Embera Puru because that is her husband's village.

 

Regards, Richard

Thanks Richard! We can't get off the ship unless we are with a ship sponsored tour; one of the members of the cc roll call had spoken with Anne and I guess for the day that we are coming into port the ship's tour is scheduled to go to her husband's village - that's going to be really awesome! We are really excited about the trip - thanks for the information. Lori

Some pics from our village tour last February

http://picasaweb.google.com/pandcpayne/Panama?feat=directlink

A video of our visit

This was an awesome tour and we thoroughly enjoyed our day.

Enjoy!:)

When I was doing the 10-day Southern Caribbean and Panama Canal "turn around" cruise on Holland America it was THE MOST POPULAR TOUR in the Canal, so I can't believe it is not being offered.

http://www.hollandamerica.com/cruise-destinations/ExcursionDetails.action?excursionCode=2013&portCode=AM1&destCode=T&requestSource=shoreExcursions

Their website appears not to show any tours for "Colon" . . . and I'm not sure what the glitch is . . . I'd call and talk to their shore ex people directly.

On most ships the most current and up-to-date shore excursion information is available on board, not on the company's Internet site.

Regards, Richard

If HAL is not offering this tour, you might consider trying it through "My Friend Mario"............we did this tour with him on our recent full transit on the Veendam and it was fantastic. He offers a 100% guarantee that you will not miss your ship. (I'm not quite sure how they manage this, however. I believe they have a web site.

 

Our version also included a (voluntary) hike to a waterfall en route where you could swim..............the hike to the waterfall varies in intensity depending on the time of year you go and how high the river is. The Embera guides, in many places, virtually hauled us from rock to rock and through the stream in several places. That was another highlight that made this a great trip. I though HAL offered this variation, too??

Hi Marnie

We are booked to do this tour with My Friend Mario in January - can you let me know:

• How long was the bus ride to the village
  
• What type of footwear did you wear for the trek to the waterfall - I assume that it is wet and slippery underfoot
  

Thanks a lot.

Celeste

We are on the princess ny eve cruise and can only book an excurion to one of the villages through the ship. Does anyone know if the princess tours include the trip to the waterfall?

We did take the Princess tour and there was no waterfall, however, we came in from the Pacific side, whereas I believe your cruise is coming in from the Atlantic side, so the excursion for your cruise may be different than the one we took.