We strapped on our PFDs and hit the waters in Erik’s strappy
lil’ dugout canoe, or cayuco, for what would be a rumored 3 to 12 hour paddle
from La Ensenada to Playa Verde. People’s
guess-tamating skills had quite the range…
We were unsuccessful in finding a third paddle so we settled for 2 and a
half. As it turns out that was actually
pretty ok because those suckers are heavy and I’m a weenie. Not your standard Feather Brand canoe paddles…
For reference, on the map of Panama, the star is where I live, and the arrow is pointing at the Kusapin Peninsula where 3 people in my group, including Erik, live. You enter through the province of Bocas del Toro, but it's technically part of the Comarca Ngobe-Bugle - the reservation of the largest indigenous group in Panama.
This is a zoomed in map of the Kusapin Peninsula. We started at the star on the right, La Ensenada, and paddled to the star on the left, Playa Verde.
We filled up the boat with the PVC pipes to make the hand
pumps and an ornament tire that we ripped off of a boat dock the night
before. Don’t worry, we weren’t
stealing, we traded for a tire with a rim that a nice woman gifted us the day
before. A tire that I rolled down the streets of Chiriqui Grande a midst a sea of stares to a different boat
dock. All in the name of moving water?!
We sang for the first hour until we pretty much exhausted
our set lists, which reminded me of canoe trips down the Flambeau River in Wisconsin
with my friend Samantha. We hit up boy
bands, Christmas, patriotic, some things only Erik knew which showed his age,
and Disney songs. I sing a lot, but if
you’ve ever actually listened to the words I sing, you’ll quickly recognize
that I might know half of a chorus, at best, which makes going through the
songs I know a quick process. But thanks
to Leah Wright, I, yes me, know all of the words to “Part of that World” from
the Little Mermaid. Boom done!
Around the middle of hour 3 we had rounded the tip of the
peninsula and stopped at a gorgeous beach for lunch and a quick swim. Not in that order of course… you can get
cramps and drown.
Then it was straight on to Playa Verde where our welcoming
crew of Sean and Evan pulled that heavy bleepin’ canoe up onto shore. Thank goodness because I could barely lift my
arms much less a boat!
