Standing at the bow of a long dugout canoe, our guide skillfully guides us through the stony fords of the San Juan River. He moves with confidence and seems familiar with the river’s curves and currents, using a long wooden pole to keep us from touching the bank. As we move upstream, kingfishers dive from steep rock embankments and glide over the water, disappearing into the forest on the other side. Long vines and leafy tendrils hang from the towering canopy sway over the bank. We approach a cluster of palm huts that overlook the river, and the sounds of flutes and drums dance across the water to greet us. We have arrived at the Embera village.

Prior to making this incredible journey, I had no idea what to expect from our Embera village visit. In the past, I’ve had the opportunity to see the tropics and even interact with local people living in rural communities. But I knew that this experience would be different. The Embera are a group of indigenous people who live along the rivers of Panama and Columbia. More than 30,000 Embera live in Panama, and while some have chosen to live in towns and urban areas, many still cling to the cultures and traditions of their ancestors. The riverbanks that they call home provide them with so many of their necessities- food, transport, and even aspects of their spiritual life. They are skilled artisans with a rich culture that refuses to be erased by increasing urbanization and mounting economic pressure. In addition to giving our group a delicious traditional meal and intrinsic tribal body tattoos (temporary, of course), they also imparted us with something that will surely last a bit longer- a new perspective.

Nature is at the center of the Embera lifestyle. Today the village shaman led our group through winding forest trails, explaining the importance of multiple native plants. Medicinal herbs are used to heal ailments ranging from impotency to hemophilia. Multi-generational homes are constructed out of sturdy palm beams and bark, and vibrantly colored crafts are dyed with the pigments of roots and leaves. Fruits and vegetables, including the best tasting pineapple I’ve ever had, are grown along the fertile riverbanks. And in all of this utilization of the natural resources that surround them, the Embera people maintain a deep-rooted respect for the natural world. So many people (including myself at times) seem to become detached from nature. When our food comes to us from refrigerated Kroger aisles and our clothes are made an ocean away, it becomes so easy to distance ourselves and the commodities we use daily from the natural world. The word ‘nature’ becomes associated with trips to state parks and National Geographic covers. Today my experience with the Embera people gave me a reminder that I desperately needed. As humans, we are not separate from nature; we are a part of nature.  And as a part of nature, it is our responsibility to maintain the natural world to the best of our ability, to accept responsibility for the consequences of our actions, and to actively seek solutions to the problems that exist today.  Perhaps if more people could take a lesson from the Embera and adopt this mindset, we could move forward in creating a healthier, more sustainable world.

Today we took our first trip to Barro Colorado Island! The island was created when the Chagres River was dammed in preparation for the Panama Canal. It then became a nature reserve and since then, the island has flourished with countless species of animals, insects and a wide variety of plant species. Work has been done on the island for nearly a decade and still continues to be done today. Researchers come from all over the world to study the immense biodiversity on Barro Colorado.

The base of a Cuipo tree is often swollen with long roots spreading across the jungle floor.

The morning began with a boat ride to the island with views straight out of Jurassic Park. Breakfast was served there followed by a brief introduction presentation. We then set out on a 3-hour hike through the jungle in search of whatever we could find. Throughout the hike, my group saw a wide range of animals that can be found all over the island. These included a poison dart frog, agoutis, a tarantula, howler monkeys and capuchins as well as a long list of different bird species. We also stopped to look at some of the various plant species that can be found on the island including various species of palm trees, the Panama tree, and the Cuipo tree.

The Cuipo tree was easily the thickest tree I had ever seen and probably will ever see in my life. Early in the hike, we saw our first Cuipo tree. Our guide told us that the tree was only a juvenile which shocked everyone due to the massive size of it. Later in the hike, we saw another one
which we were told was an adult tree. An indication of how old the tree is can be found by knocking on the trunk of the tree. If the sound is hollow, the tree is younger but if not, the tree is older in age. Our guide informed us that this was because the inside of the tree is spongy when it is young and as it gets older, the inside hardens making the tree thicker so there is no hollow sound that follows a knock. Once we returned from BCI, I was interested to learn more about this fascinating tree species.

The Cuipo tree can grow up to 200 feet in size.

Populations of the Cuipo tree have been suffering for years due to the frequent harvest of them. Most commonly, the trunks of the trees are used for canoes or sometimes rope (Biodiversity catalog, n.d). Now that the tree is being seen as threatened, it is even more illegal than it already was to be cutting them down. According to our guide, there are many issues with getting people to obey this law. The tree also has many edible components to it. It the root is cut off, the water stored in them can be consumed as well as the seeds from the tree (Cuipo tree – Wilderness Arena
Survival, 2012).

I am excited to see what else this trip has in store for us and for all the incredible tropical species we will encounter!

References:

-Biodiversity catalog. (n.d.). . http://www.ecologic.org/species/cuipo-2/.

-Cuipo tree – Wilderness Arena Survival. 2012, May 11. . http://wildernessarena.com/food-water-shelter/food-food-water-shelter/food-procurement/edible-wild-plants/cuipo-tree.

On our first outing today along the streets and through the forests of Gamboa, we saw species we predicted we’d see, others we hoped to see, and still others we didn’t know to expect. Although my brain is currently filled with newly-learned facts and recent observations, I think that it would be more appropriate for this inaugural blog post to reveal some of the sublime biodiversity we’ve already managed to encounter. A few of my fellow classmates saw toucans before our first morning lecture, perched in trees near the schoolhouse. Our TA Alex recognized Geoffrey’s tamarin (a small monkey) on the fronds of roadside palms. Agoutis, which are Central and South American tropical rodents, crossed the quiet roads and moved through nearby residential yards. Leaf-cutter ants marched dedicatedly across impressive distances, delivering plant material to their colony for their fungus-farming operations. A golden orbweaver spider rested on its delicate gossamer home on the porch of an old abandoned house. For those of us who haven’t explored the tropics in the Neotropics (i.e., the ecological region that includes Central and South America as well as parts of the Caribbean and Mexico), there are too many things to see at once and probably already too few days remaining in our visit to Panama.

Geoffrey’s tamarin balanced on the spine of a palm frond (click for full size, look closely!)

A golden orbweaver suspended on its web

The following video shows leaf-cutter ant workers moving about a plant from which they were collecting leaf material:

Perhaps even more exciting are the unidentified finds of the day, especially those that we didn’t know to look for– the ones we couldn’t have predicted from our North American home. Among them were an unusually pigmented lichen, colorful bugs, trees with elusive identification traits, and birds with discerning markings keeping their safe distance. What we don’t know, the parts of ecological stories we haven’t learned– these undiscovered details span broad gaps between our limited facts and anecdotes.

An unusual species of lichen, with red speckling the typical gray-green and outlining the lichen’s perimeter

An unrecognized species, with flowers akin to those of the Mimosaceae but leaves unlike most mimosa plant species

Unidentified bees on a short palm species

A species of true bug

A uniquely-patterned caterpillar with ridiculously lengthy ‘fuzz’

We stay refreshingly hyper-vigilant on our lookout for noteworthy species. Our meandering walk was mostly accompanied by the sounds of our voices 1) getting the attention of everyone else as we pointed out something interesting, and 2) barraging Dr. Hovick, Alex, and each other with questions about the ecosystem and its inhabitants. Nothing is commonplace for us here (at least not yet), and tomorrow I will start a list of our questions that aren’t easily answered so that we can remember to research them later and fill in the blank spaces of our knowledge, bridging the gaps with literature research and investigative observations. Later on in our course I’ll publish these questions and answers (or, at least, speculations on the blog to illustrate the benefits of first-hand experience for curiosity, inquisitiveness, and understanding.