Cerro Punta / Hot Springs

The highlands of Cerro Punta are incredible. In the pic below, the camera is actually held at horizontal, which gives a clear indication we're in the shadow of Volcán Baru. This is Panama´s breadbasket, and the area that hires many ngäby people. This whole area is worked by only two people. Wife and I are now making trips up to join the couple, Edil and Exilena.
Another view... Little houses dot the hills, making this territory fascinating - and heart-stopping.

One of the well maintained bridges, haha.
Our friend Antonio speaking to a Ngäby family.

In this area, our group hiked over to the hotsprings, which can be found in the highlands 8 kms off the main road. They were waiting their turn to cross the 'bridge'.



I didn't even try this one. Better to just take your shoes off, roll up your pants and cross.
The group at the end of the hike listened carefully, and once again we emphasized proper hygiene, as four children in this area recently died. They usually blame demons, but the culprit ends up almost always being either contaminated water or malnourishment.

Our society has been working with several ngäbere issues when it comes to writing. Because there never was a ngäby written language, the Panamanian government provided one for future use in their schools. However, not all organizations follow their guidelines (we do). On top of this, the lack of written language has caused variations in Ngäbere which make things even more difficult.
We have literature in the Ngäbere language which we use, and fortunately we have a partial ngäbere bible which was helped us learn the language. Because the bible doesn't follow the Panamanian government´s guideline on the Ngäby written language, some ngäbere have trouble reading it. However, the writing is consistent and with a simple explanation they quickly adapt.
'Pajaro de paraiso.'
This little meter long iguana was crossing the road and we couldn't resist snapping a shot.

Information means life...

Five hours away from where we live, a tropical paradise with crystal clear waters await. You can literally peer down a few meters to see manta rays glide by.
On these beaches, turtles lay their eggs, and coral and starfish abound. Not too far from here, a coral reef is active with marine life. Huge conches litter the beach in a kaleidoscope of color.
On our way to visit a Ngäby community up in the hills, you can see many dwellings like this one here. Though this is at sea level, little communities exist pretty much everywhere, either fishing, caring for cattle or cultivating on higher altitudes.

Our goal was to reach a community straddling the Costa Rica border, a few hours hike inwards. Fortunately, the sky was clear.

Pictures are hazed because of the intense sunlight here in the tropics.

This group of kids appear healthy, something not quite common in these communities. They all have superstitions and usually blame demons for the constant cholera coming from polluted waters.
Infant deaths are common. We spend considerable time educating the natives on how to purify their water. Fortunately, they respect white people as knowledgeable and accept our info, at least for a few days.
Those that accept our bible studies quickly change though, taking more in depth measures to become a 'clean people' to Jehovah God. It's not long before the words of Isaiah are spiritually and physically applied:
"Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean... Learn to do good; search for justice; set right the oppressor; render judgment for the fatherless boy; plead the cause of the widow." Isaiah 1:16,17

One of thousands of perfect heliconias in these parts. These gorgeous plants can only reproduce through hummingbird fertilization.
Bird nests cover this tree. Why this tree? Who knows...
This family resides deep in the interior and can only be reached after a significant climb. The thinner person in the picture has just been invited to Gilead, with his wife Amber. They have been climbing these hills for 6 years now and speak Ngäbere very well.
A town!!! Yay!
The suburbs, haha. The river at the bottom is filthy dirty. Its where most wash and where some get their water. The baby in this little house was crying in pain and running a fever, likely because of Cholera. Educating them is a difficult process, as many lean back towards their 'Mamatata' (Mother breast) religion - one loosely based on christian beliefs but mixed in with spiritism and the worship of their mow dead prophetess. She has recently died.

Although the religion is relatively new, having been formed in the mid 60s, many Ngäberes have accepted the faith, primarily because Mamatata taught that all ngäbys go to heaven, but not the white men, who are an inferior class.
Those sewing machines are hand cranked.
My friend Mario has a week heart. He nearly gave me a heart attack as he grabbed his chest.




Mud, mud everywhere...Tons of red clay, pure enough to make pottery here.



9 hours later, we're returning back to our vehicle. Although tired, we hope that the interested people we found will take hold of the message while they wait for our return.

QUEBRADAS LLANAS Cont...

This picture should have been last, as Indiana Jane cooked us up a serious reward here.
Seeing as I messed up, it's first. And yeah, her cake was good. Wifey was counting the calories on every climb just so she could eat some cake, as you can tell from her happy smile.
One of those things again. These four legged things keep creeping up. This one was free roaming as far as we could tell. Lots of them around, and although shy, they usually get over it and come nosying around.
This guy was chucking beans when the ladies came calling. He was busy though, what with the beans and all...
So Nadia decided to help out.
Friend thought that the switch was amusing.

It looks as if my saying that Ngäbere smiles being few and far between is a lie. It's not. This Ngäby smile is again very rare, as is their telling you their names.
It wasn't too long ago that sharing a name was common, as it is in our community. However, some malicious latinos found out that they could claim land as their own by simply claiming to be the landowner and knowing the proper name. A flood of latinos quickly took advantage, becoming instant friends of these shy people so they could get their proper first and last names. Once they got that, they went to the claims office and claimed the land had been sold to them, leaving the natives with nothing.
Today, it's very rare that a native will tell you their real name.
We're arguing logistics here, and dividing up the houses between us.
Alfonso is a great friend. Both him and his wife sacrificed a great career, and against all odds, came to volunteer here in Panama. As many know, he is of course unpaid and has used his own meager funds to be here.

We're hoping he and his wife can be here forever. Wife and I have tremendous respect and great love for the two, who always seem to have a huge smile on their face even when facing serious stress.
Who's the trapped one, the monkey or the boy?

Shy, and not shy...Most Ngäbere boys and girls start working early and never make it to school.
This bridge is actually pretty good. And the people in the back (out of view) are very happy to see us.
Although it looks as if they're waiting for me to lay an egg, it's not. But, I have no idea what we were all talking about. I'd like to say that it was something incredibly spiritual. Yeah, that's it.
Around Volcán Baru, we can actually see how clouds form.

This is a traditional ngäby home, likely owned by the woman in the picture. Note the cooking area in the back and the baby wrapped up and hanging in the hammock.Now, which way is the horizon? We made a trip back to Quebradas Llanas ("Broken Rims") a difficult to reach place. The trip itself is beautiful, and I had gone there twice before - once by mountain bike with friends and a second time on a borrowed ATV. This time we drove part way and hiked in the rest. About 30 kms were walked that day, but it was very rewarding.

The black circle marks the area we left our car in. We would still be walking 5 hours later before turning around.
This ngäby woman just works in this 'finca,' or farm. She would never be able to afford the equipment seen in the pic, and is living rent free in the house as long as her man works for the owner.
If you look VERY carefully, you'll be able to see two small shacks in the center of the photo roughly in the middle. Each house sits on its own little hill. That's part of our territory.
Here, the girls had a great time witnessing to the lonely man who lived there. Not sure he was paying much attention to what was being said :)
Lunch time.

All in all, a great day. We had a number of great conversations with very interested people who kept asking us to come back. We will, in two weeks.

It's all about the people (well, mostly...), cont...

Well, there are the flowers too, which are seen in the most unlikely of places.
Three little cuties vying for attention.
Sara is doing a return visit. She's been in the Ngäbere field for about six months and is doing very well with the language. To understand its complexity, it's good to keep in mind that the English language has 500 words. Spanish has about 550. Ngäbere has 900, 200 of which are verbs which can have completely different words depending on tense, somewhat similar to "I will go...am going...went," except much worse, :)

They came back with family for more pics...
These two girls were found after a 300 meter climb, where we both had studies.
Wife is studying with a few kids, whose mother is interested but very slow in comprehension. The kids were absolutely mesmerized as they followed her along for half an hour, but completely ignored me. Chris is a natural with kids.
The stunned look on my face is my shock at seeing those massive red flowers from yesterday's blog pic. Never saw anything like it, and I've been here two years. Neither did the owner, who says this is a first in panama. Sounds very other-worldly.
More pics of our hike. I could be here forever walking these hills...
...Except for this part.