Children Visiting Embera Village

[Been There, Planning That]

Our family excursion will be to the Embera Village.

 

• Would there be something for our grandchildren -- ages 5 to 15 to purchase with their limited spending money? What might be available in the $5 to $25 price range?
  
• Or should they be encouraged to bring along school supplies to pass on to the chief/elders?
  

Thanks experts,

 

Ruth

[Richard in Panama]

Our family excursion will be to the Embera Village.

 

• Would there be something for our grandchildren -- ages 5 to 15 to purchase with their limited spending money? What might be available in the $5 to $25 price range?
  
• Or should they be encouraged to bring along school supplies to pass on to the chief/elders?
  

Thanks experts,

 

Ruth

 

In a word . . . both.

 

There are some necklaces, some obviously made in China or somewhere, but some, just as obviously tagua carvings with animals etc. You can get the tagua carvings, maybe your grandkids favorite animal, starting around $25. To bring along school supplies is a wonderful way not just to share, but also to have kids realize that the rest of the world lives quite differently.

 

When in the village I'd let your kids go do their thing and interact with the Embera kids. You'll be surprised how quickly cultural differences get ignored. Even without a common language, kids manage to get along and have fun.

 

Enjoy! I know you will. REgards, Richard

 

 

[Been There, Planning That]

Maybe we'll stick with the school supplies and follow your advice of allowing the children to interact with the Embera children.

 

Ruth

[funkyfaces]

My father and I took the Princess Embera Indian excursion on March 22 and we visited Parara Puru. We were a little surprised to see members of the Panama Army there, but we were told that they were helping to build an addition to the school.Michael, our tour guide introduced us to the school teacher there and we gave her a bag of various school supplies. (We hope she'll find them useful.) I know that the village was set up more for us tourists because of the bathroom there, but we enjoyed learning about their food, crafts, music, and dance. I think I bought something from almost each table. I especially like the woven basket and animal mask I got there. The children there are beautiful and friendly. It was one of my favorite excursions.

[Richard in Panama]

My father and I took the Princess Embera Indian excursion on March 22 and we visited Parara Puru. We were a little surprised to see members of the Panama Army there, but we were told that they were helping to build an addition to the school.Michael, our tour guide introduced us to the school teacher there and we gave her a bag of various school supplies. (We hope she'll find them useful.) I know that the village was set up more for us tourists because of the bathroom there, but we enjoyed learning about their food, crafts, music, and dance. I think I bought something from almost each table. I especially like the woven basket and animal mask I got there. The children there are beautiful and friendly. It was one of my favorite excursions.

 

Glad you had an enjoyable visit! Just FYI, Panama does not have an army. The military was abolished after Noriega and Panama is a neutral country. The guys you saw were National Police who often wear fatigue uniforms when outside the cities. Often one of them will go along with tour groups. Usually they occupy themselves chatting with the girls since in most villages their cell phones don't work.

 

Regards, Richard

[funkyfaces]

Glad you had an enjoyable visit! Just FYI, Panama does not have an army. The military was abolished after Noriega and Panama is a neutral country. The guys you saw were National Police who often wear fatigue uniforms when outside the cities. Often one of them will go along with tour groups. Usually they occupy themselves chatting with the girls since in most villages their cell phones don't work.

 

Regards, Richard

Thanks for the correction Richard. I saw their uniforms and thought army not police uniform. There was about 5 of them in olive green fatigues that day.

[Richard in Panama]

Funky Faces, The National Police operate a little like a military in the sense that the cops are assigned to posts, live in barracks and are moved around periodically. I think the idea is that then they won't get too familiar, comfortable or be on the take. Anyhow when guys/gals get moved to a new posting they take them on familiarization trips, what in the travel agency business we called "fam trips." Five guys - expect they were new to that posting and just being allowed to get the lay of the land. Why don't you post some of your pics??

 

Regards, Richard

[funkyfaces]

I'll be happy to post some pictures as soon as I learn how to do that on these forums:). (In other words, I may have to have my daughter show me how.)

[Been There, Planning That]

You're obviously a 'youthful' cruiser -- we now rely on grandchildren for tech support!

 

Ruth

[funkyfaces]

I was attempting to attach pictures, but I failed. Where on this website does it tell you how to attach pictures?

[Richard in Panama]

Pics need to be online somewhere so you can use the URL. You click above on the icon with the mountain and the sun and it will ask you to enter the URL. There are a number of picture services online that will put your photos on the Internet, and you can post them on Facebook. All you need for CruiseCritic is a URL. Unfortunately you can't upload them directly from your hard drive. Regards, Richard

[funkyfaces]

So that was my problem.:o:o Thanks Richard. I was trying to download them directly from my computer.

[funkyfaces]

Hey Been There, Planning That, if you want to read a longer review of our Embera excursion go to the Princess forum, thread Coral Princess Panama Cruise With My Dad and look at post #11.

[Been There, Planning That]

That was a great review FunkyFace and I've pasted it into my research file. I'm sure it will be the highlight of the trip for our grandchildren.

 

Thanks for the link as I'd have missed it as our next cruises are on Celebrity and then the HAL Panama one.

 

Ruth

[GOLDENBONNY]

That was a great review FunkyFace and I've pasted it into my research file. I'm sure it will be the highlight of the trip for our grandchildren.

 

Thanks for the link as I'd have missed it as our next cruises are on Celebrity and then the HAL Panama one.

 

Ruth

They will love it :D