From the cruise ship, to a 30 min bus ride then a 30 - 40 min ride up river in a dugout or canoe (yes they do have a motor - you dont paddle!) it seems as though you travel back in time. The people are a bit shy but treat yo so nice! Take cash so you can purchase some of there items that they make (its what they live on). They made us a really nice lunch - fresh fried Talapia served in a folded palm leaf along with lost of fresh fruit. You are able to walk around the village, they lead the tour in some traditional dance and they will pose for pics. If you can remember take some candy for the small children - they love the attention. One cute little fellow managed to get my tour sticker from my shirt! They also do traditional body ink (drawn on - no needles) and they will do one for you - please though - kindly offer them a dollar or two if they do for you! Wonderful experience!

Due to the government controlling the natives and the way of life they are now forced to be a tourist attraction and sell their art work in order to survive there.........many do not live in the village and they are picked up and taken to school via bus...so sad really that they cannot live like they display they do......we saw cell phones and a found out that now the diet is more from the city( processed foods) and therefore they are getting more diseases like us...diabetes..cancers......having said all that they were lovely happy people that were full of kindness and fun.....we danced with them.....ate with them...lots of fun...but fake......sadly......

We went on a tour of an Embera village today with 2 adults and 2 kids age 14. Wonderful experience!

Garceth was ready for us at the hotel promptly at 8:00. As others have mentioned, you can save quite a bit of money by driving yourself (with him in the car) rather than hiring transportation. Also as others have mentioned, Garceth's life story as an Embera native is truly amazing.

The trip consisted of 1) ride in car for about 1 hour from Panama City, 2) brief stop at a market for snacks, 3) ride in motorized Embera tribe canoe upriver to the village (the village chief was the driver of our canoe), 4) several hours in the village, and 5) reverse course back to the hotel. We got back to Panama City around 4:00 p.m.

The village contained around 150 people, and the people were quite friendly. We learned a lot about their village and customs, and we saw (and participated) in a native dance. The villagers speak their native language as well as Spanish. However, they know only a couple words of English so Garceth did a lot of translating. Lunch of fresh-fried fish and patacones (smashed plantain) was delicious. As mentioned by many other people, the native crafts were extensive, high quality, and inexpensive, so we loaded up on souvenirs for family and friends.

We saw a variety of wildlife on the canoe ride, including lots of birds, some fish, and a two-toed sloth.

We highly recommend this trip with Garceth. It appears that a lot of groups out there offer Embera village tours, but I haven't seen any others that utilize an Embera native as a guide, which is a significant plus in getting a true feel for their culture.

P.S. We brought a bag of lollipops to give to the kids, and they were VERY popular.