We visited an indian village - Tucipono - today situated east of the canal. The people are called the Embera and migrated from the Darien region about 40 years ago and settled in the forest east of the canal where they continued their traditional life style of slash and burn farming. In the mid 1990s the Panamanian Government created a National Park encompassing this region and as a result the Embera people where prohibited from continuing clearing land to conduct their farming. Now they rely on tourism for their primary income and this allows them to continue a way of life that is close to their traditional existence.

A 50 minute bus ride over some of the best and worst roads we have seen so far on the trip brought us to the shores of the Chagres River, one of the primary rivers that feed water to the canal operation. From here we took an outboard powered dug-out canoe to the village of Tocipono to pick up some Mexican tourists - one of whom lives in Wenachie. Another canoe took us further up river where we walked for 15 minutes to a waterfall and swimming hole where we cooled off for a while, then back to the canoes, back down river to the village.

Back in the village we had lunch of fruit and fish - cooked traditional style - in the village meeting hut, and then a presentation from the village head telling us about the struggle with the government to be allowed to remain in the forest after the declaration of the national park.

Finally members of the village performed some traditional dances for us.

It was a great day and we left hoping that the new way of life works out for the Embera.