Welcome to the Comarca/Hike #1

Samuel and I chatting atop Cerro Cacicon

Kate with Samuel (back-right) and others posing with ancient rock carvings

My wonderful girlfriend visited Panama (well actually, me) for two weeks in early March. Her stay included one week in the Comarca at my site, one day of which was filled with ten hours of hiking in the blistering Panamanian sun. The decision to hike for ten hours in the Comarca with my visiting girlfriend may seem like a peculiar decision, and indeed it was. Understanding what sort of hiking the Comarca offers (and it only offers one kind) one realizes just how peculiar this decision was.

Quick history lesson transition: Indigenous groups in the Americas have fought European outsiders for the right to live since the 1500's. The destruction of Native Americans is perhaps the most tragic legacy of European expansion, and Panama's indigenous groups have not been spared from this legacy. Traditionally located in the fertile coastal lands of the Azuero Peninsula, the Ngäbe's were removed to the highlands of the Comarca through a combination of war, disease, lies, manipulation, and "economic expansion" for five hundred years. Sound familiar?

The Comarca is a mountainous area with deep valleys of flowing rivers and steep slopes bursting with greenery (except the parts burned for agricultural use). It features stunning views and hikes that get you in shape. Fast. When I first arrived in site I was not ready for the Comarca's endless up-and-down hiking. Kate was similarly unprepared for ten hours of hiking in this unforgiving terrain.  I realized this about eight hours in when we approached an incline and she said "Are you s-e-r-i-o-u-s? ANOTHER hill?". I chuckled and translated for my counterpart, Samuel, who also laughed and replied "Beinvenidos a la Comarca" ("welcome to the Comarca"). 

Kate is tough and she made it just fine (actually the next day we hiked three more hours) and a great memory it was. We summited two peaks for fantastic panoramic views, examined ancient rock carvings, and leaped off a waterfall in the midday heat. My Ngäbe friends wouldn't jump in for fear of an evildoer living behind the waterfall. I found this out afterward and when I asked why they didn't warn me they said I was safe because I am white -apparently the evildoer only haunts them.