Boca de Cupe, Panama
After traveling through the Darien Gap yesteryear piragua canoe to see a remote jungle village, I was forced to go out when safety forces kicked me out.
The Darien is a swath of roadless wilderness betwixt Panama & Republic of Colombia that’s total of mystery & intrigue. For years it’s been known equally a haven for criminals, drug smugglers, too anti-government guerrilla groups.
Understandably most travelers create upward one's heed to avoid the area, sailing roughly or flying over it instead.
But after speaking amongst a few individuals who had lately made the journeying inside, I determined that it was rubber plenty to seek a trip. Panama’s elite edge safety forcefulness Senafront has built upward a potent presence inwards much of the region.
While the Darien Gap is yesteryear no agency danger-free, it’s safer than it was only a few years ago.
My morn started inwards the hamlet of El Real. I said goodbye to my Brazilian friend Gabriel equally he hitched a ride to Yaviza via canoe to grab a local coach dorsum to Panama City.
Unfortunately he did non conduct keep the proper permissions to proceed farther amongst me.
From hither on it would only survive myself too Isaac — a local guide from the Kuna indigenous tribe.
Traveling Through the Darien Jungle
We began loading our skinny 25-foot long wooden piragua canoe amongst gas & supplies for the 5 hr trip upward the Turia River to the hamlet of Boca de Cupe. The unproblematic arts and crafts used a small-scale outboard motor to ability us through the river’s current.
Of course of pedagogy it was raining when nosotros finally pulled out onto the water. Oct is the see of the rainy flavour here.
Rain had been a constant companion piece trekking through the wilderness of Darien National Park for the yesteryear 3 days. We were good accustomed to it at this point.
Our piragua cutting through the moisture & humid air making it’s way deeper into the jungle over a highway of silty brownish water.
Traditional thatched-roof homes built yesteryear the Emberá people were perched on stilts along the riverbank.
Local indigenous families floated yesteryear us inwards their ain piraguas loaded total of plantain bananas, the master copy cash crop inwards this remote portion of the world.
Police Checkpoints
We were forced to halt at Vista Alegre, a small-scale Wounaan tribal hamlet amongst a riverside safety checkpoint. It was a unproblematic armed services bunker made from sandbags too camouflage netting.
Hard looking men amongst automatic weapons took my passport too missive of the alphabet of permission, trying to create upward one's heed what to produce amongst me.
A posse of local Wounaan children came out to inspect me along amongst the soldiers — gringos are a rarity inwards these parts.
It was too then that some children noticed my piragua canoe had broken loose from the dock, too was chop-chop floating downwards the swollen Turia river without us! 8O
We raced through the mud piece i man child truly jumped into the swift moving river too saved the boat (and all my gear) earlier it was lost.
After pulling it dorsum upstream too securing it to a dock, the soldiers finally told me that we’d been approved too would survive allowed to proceed on our journey.
Town of Boca de Cupe
For 5 long hours nosotros slow pushed our way upward the winding Rio Turia inwards the pouring pelting — passing yesteryear the villages of Unión de Chocó, Yape, too Capeti. But my discomfort was lessened equally I listened to the songs of exotic birds & searched along the river’s soiled banks for Caimans (part of the alligator/crocodile family).
Eventually our destination came into view.
The town of Boca de Cupe is located on the Turia River, nearly 20 miles from the Colombian border. Some 30% of it’s inhabitants are Colombian refugees.
In the 1900’s Boca de Cupe was an integral business office of the British-owned Cana gilt mines, where ore was transported through the jungle via single-gage railway earlier getting shipped downriver to the coast.
But prior to British control, the Cana mines were owned yesteryear the Castilian inwards the 1700’s. British & French pirates often ransacked the real lucrative gilt producing area.
A History of Violence
In to a greater extent than recent times, the surface area roughly Boca de Cupe has been a hotbed of Colombian guerrilla activity. There are goodness reasons why travelers conduct keep avoided the Darien Gap portion over the in conclusion 20 years.
- In 1993 iii American missionaries were abducted from a nearby hamlet too afterward murdered.
- In 1996 20 armed men & women attacked Boca de Cupe, stole supplies from the wellness clinic, too kidnapped a local shop owner.
- In 1997 the woman mortal commander of a M56 Colombian guerrilla forcefulness led an onslaught on the town. They took supplies, money, too weapons after burning the constabulary station to the ground.
- In 2000 the British travelers Tom Hart Dyke & Paul Winder were kidnaped yesteryear Colombian FARC guerrillas piece searching the Darien jungle for rare orchids. After beingness held for ix months deep inwards the wilderness, they were laid free.
- In 2003 National Geographic author Robert Young Pelton too 2 others were taken after iv local indigenous men were murdered inwards the nearby hamlet of Paya yesteryear the AUC paramilitary group. The Americans were eventually released inwards Republic of Colombia a calendar week later.
All these incidents too to a greater extent than began to humiliate the Panamanian government, who eventually stepped upward efforts to command their lawless & wild backyard.
These days Boca de Cupe is total of Senafront edge soldiers dressed inwards armed services fatigues, patrolling the town’s concrete pathways armed amongst onslaught rifles.
Meeting amongst the Comandante
We pulled our piragua upward to an embankment too began unloading gear equally a soldier quietly looked on. When finished, he escorted us through town yesteryear dozens of curious onlookers. Time to banking concern check inwards amongst the Comandante of the Senafront base.
Inside the fortified edifice I spied a giant .50 caliber machine gun leaning against a wall..
Technically Senafront isn’t a armed services organization, equally Panama’s standing terra firma forces was dissolved after the 1989 the United States of America invasion. Officially they are tasked amongst protecting the country’s border, too are truly considered police.
But Senafront’s safety forces all habiliment camouflage uniforms, often alive deep within the jungle, carry large automatic weapons, too behave military-style offensives against Colombia’s guerrilla groups.
Sure, perchance they don’t conduct keep the ability to invade some other country, but they are definitely dissimilar whatever other constabulary forcefulness I’ve ever seen…
The commander spoke some English, which upward to this betoken had been real rare hither within the Darien. I explained that my innovation was to pass the nighttime inwards Boca de Cupe, too I had all the proper paperwork.
He would brand some radio calls to headquarters dorsum inwards Panama City to confirm.
Kicked Out of Town!
Isaac too I checked ourselves into a inexpensive dormitory where I changed too cleaned up. As presently equally nosotros went looking for a identify to eat, some local “women of the night” chop-chop establish us too wanted to know if nosotros needed whatever company.
They were manifestly amused to conduct keep a white guy inwards town.
We brushed them off too establish a cantina that served food. This identify was filled amongst sketchy looking characters. Younger guys amongst fancy clothes & jewelry that didn’t quite gibe this misfortunate & remote jungle town.
Drug smuggling from Republic of Colombia to Panama is notwithstanding real rampant within the Darien… but I couldn’t survive sure, too didn’t experience comfortable quest them what they did for work.
After a few $0.60 beers too a $2 meal, it was fourth dimension to caput dorsum to the base. It was at that topographic point I learned that I would non survive allowed to pass the eventide inwards Boca de Cupe. :(
Reason: They were afraid I’d acquire robbed inwards the see of the night.
Unfortunately this meant nosotros must go out town immediately, earlier the eventide river curfew took effect.
A curfew is inwards identify to go into to a greater extent than hard for drug smugglers & paramilitary groups to operate on the river at night.
There was no talking my way out of this one. After a long & uncomfortable five-hour river journeying through the jungle inwards the pouring pelting only to acquire here, I’d at nowadays conduct keep to plow roughly too produce it all over i time again to acquire back!
We reluctantly loaded our gear into the piragua, fired upward the outboard motor, too left the village. The town of Boca de Cupe would ultimately survive the furthest I could acquire within the notorious Darien Gap.
But I’m happy I went, equally it was quite an experience. :D
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