Tucuti: Gateway to the Perilous Darien Gap

Continued from Xplorer Journal: Navigating the Impenetrable Darien Gap...

As our expedition team finished breakfast, Vidal, a leader in the Tucuti community invited us to visit the town's school and observe the children at study in its classrooms. I was an English teacher in South Korea for a term, and Tucuti reminded me very much of the small town where I was located. I jumped at the offer and stepped in with his brisk pace.

We arrived at a building with architecture that I recognized: simple cinder block construction painted white, with the bottom half and roof edge, blue. I knew we were at a Panamanian School. The C.E.B.G. Inocencio Quintanar Blanco, is the main primary school for Tucuti. According to Vidal, the youngest students use the classrooms in the morning, and then the older students come in the afternoon as there are not enough classrooms to accommodate both at the same time. The other problem is the desks; only the small children fit on the seats, so the older must push them out of the way and have class while sitting on the floor. Do they complain? No. They are happy to have their books and a school with teachers to explain the subjects.

I toured each of the classrooms, surprising the students with my unexpected entrance. They responded similarly to the Korean children I taught, fascinated to see a tall white blond-haired girl. Their stares varying from excited to scared, made me smile. I speak some Spanish, so was able to introduce myself and communicate enough to put them all at ease. And, they were able to respond in English with a few phrases such as "hello, how are you?", "I'm fine" and "goodbye, nice to see you." They also eagerly gathered around their teachers for me to photograph them. What a wonderful experience... I believe they thought so too.

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Navigating the Impenetrable Darien Gap

Continuing from Xplorer Journal: Darien Gap Trek to the Monkey Stone, aka Yarre Mongara...

Leaving Puerto Quimba, Darien Province, Panama our expedition team traveled by motor boat from Puerto Quimba along the Rio Turia passed Isla Mangle, and onto its southern fork, Rio Balsas, or "River of Rafts". Rio Balsas journeys through the heart of Darien Gap all the way to the Colombian border. Most settlements and villages lie along the rivers as these are the main arteries and highways for travel, communication, medical attention, and to transport goods and livestock. The only other means to reach these remote locations is by foot, though some primitive dirt roads are in place for motorbikes and even off-road vehicles. However, where our expedition trekked, there were usually no trails, and the only means to venture forward were by bushwhacking and wading rivers.

Rio Balsas, or in English "River of Rafts"

The water level of the rivers was much lower than expected, and our boat was marooned many times along the snaking, switch backs of Rio Balsas. As a consequence, our voyage took hours longer than expected and forced our first night's stay at Camoganti, a small village nestled between the Chepigana Forest Reserve and the river's edge. To get our gear to dry land we had to form a human chain, passing each piece of luggage from one to another off the boat and up onto the riverbank.

Human chain on the banks of Rio Balsas at Camoganti, Darien Gap

The Camoganti townspeople were very accommodating to our unexpected arrival...

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Darien Gap: Trek to the Monkey Stone, aka Yarre Mongara

First entry in the XplorMor Team journal on our trek to the mysterious Monkey Stone, aka Yarre Mongara, in the Darien Gap of eastern Panama.

Destination: Darien Gap

Mission: To cross the Darien from Puerto Quimba to Playa Muerto in order to locate lost petroglyphs (ancient stone engravings or carvings) and mark a new route through the jungle

End of the road at Puerto Quimba, Darien Gap, Panama

Our expedition members ventured from the United States and the United Kingdom to Panama City, to meet our Panamanian guides for trekking the Darien jungle.  I was on board to photograph and document the expedition and its findings.

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Carrying our Gear to the Dock at Puerto Quimba, Darien Gap, Panama

National Parks Week is Here!

Get out there and take advantage of free admission to our National Parks and lands this weekend: April 19th and 20th!  In honor of National Park Week, our park lands will waive entrance fees this Saturday and Sunday.

North Fork Trail, Inyo National Forest, California

National Park Week celebrates all 401 amazing national park sites around the United States. This year's theme is "Go Wild!".  Events from Hawaiian sailing to mountain biking to wildlife talks and wildflower walks will be held at many of the national parks; to find events near you, check the event calendar.

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Glacier Trekking, Tongass National Forest, Alaska

Exploring Colonial America

XplorMor Team has explored the historic Virginian towns of Colonial America on several occasions, experiencing lovely sunny days featuring reenactments of colonial events and sipping hot cider by small bonfires on wintry nights.  No matter the time of year, visiting Colonial America is a memorable experience into the history and founding of the United States.

Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia

The area is compromised of three main sites known as the Colonial Triangle: Colonial Williamsburg, Historic Jamestowne and its recreated Settlement, and Yorktown.  I asked one of our team members, Bryan Davis, about his experience with Colonial America as he was raised in the area and has seen its transformation over the years first hand.  His reply, "The Colonial Triangle has gotten better and better. The committees and foundations responsible continuously make improvements in order to offer the colonial experience as close as possible to reality from the architecture to the role players use of 18th century colloquialisms."

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Replicas of the Colonial Ships, Jamestown Settlement, Virginia

Joshua Tree: A Land of Subtle, Stark Wonder

I’d never been to Joshua Tree National Park before. I’d heard about it from friends, and often said to myself I should go there, but I never got around to it. Like a lot of things in California, it was so close that it was easy to forget it was there. California is like that, so full of things to see and experience your choices become as congested and difficult to maneuver as the freeways of Los Angeles.  A friend of mine, back from teaching kids in Korea for the winter, asked me to join him on a day long excursion to this special place, and not having seen him in almost two years I could not refuse. Besides, it would be good to get away after a truly awful divorce from someone I thought I could trust. This is also a common thing in California.

Joshua Tree National Park, California

Like most people, in my youth I thought of a desert as a barren, boiling wasteland choked with sand. I thought of Lawrence of Arabia leading a charging army of fierce desert nomads. Deserts were places for the lost and the damned, filled with shallow graves just off the road and swarmed by nefarious hitchhikers and shady characters. Giant worms ridden by noble Fremen charged across endless dunes. It was easy to believe the Hollywood vision. And nothing could be further from the truth (except when it is). Deserts (yes there are different kinds), as varied as any other environment you’ll pass through, team with survivors, creatures so well adapted they thrive in places that can suck the life out of a person in a few hours.

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National Parks: Free Entrance This Weekend!

All 401 U.S. National Parks are providing free admission today through Monday to honor Presidents Day.  Visit the U.S. National Park Service website to view a list of Free Entrance Days, and see the list of Participating Parks.  Get out there, explore more, and enjoy some of our national treasures!

Rainbow Falls in Inyo National Forest by XplorMor

A bit of history...  On March 1, 1872, Congress passed an act that officially established Yellowstone National Park "as a public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people."  This event started a worldwide movement. And, today our planet houses more than 1200 national parks or equivalent preserves.

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Shutout but not Shutdown

The planned XplorMor photo-expedition to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks was thwarted by the U.S. government shutdown.  We had to think quickly as we were already enroute to the parks.  Thanks to Starbucks and WiFi, we soon discovered another option: Mono Lake and other California State and Local Parks.

South Tufa Trail, Mono Lake, California

We re-routed our journey, and set course a little disoriented, yet optimistic.  Apparently we were not alone, encountering locals and travelers from Californians to Englishmen to Eastern Europeans to a Japanese couple who were also adrift and uncertain how to reorient themselves.  As the days unfold, Good Fortune seems to have followed along for the duration with one lovely adventure leading into the next.  Even the weather has behaved beautifully. And instead of another trip to Sequoia, though beautiful and worthy of numerous visits, the new destinations are exactly that: new.  Finding places and trails and scenic views not previously experienced adds to the excitement.

Lundy Canyon Trail

There has been exceptional photo opportunities and memory-making moments to share.  So with life's lemons, we made tasty lemonade and despite the shutout, we were not shutdown.

View slideshows and read more about Inyo National Forest.

The Only Everglades

The only everglades in the world are Florida's Everglades.  Knowing this point puts a different perspective on realizing the effects metropolitan man has had on them over the last century. Much has been bulldozed and built upon.  The ecosystem is also effected by the man-made segregation of its waterways for highway builds and water usage.

Why should this be a problem?  It is for many reasons, in particular as it is home to some of the rarest endangered species in the U.S., including the West Indian Manatee, American Crocodile, Eastern Indigo Snake and about 20 others.  The Everglades are also a main stopover for the world's migrating birds, and it is home to the largest mangrove ecosystem in the Western hemisphere.

XplorMor Expedition into the Florida Everglades

XplorMor Team recently ventured to Everglades National Park.  We were excited to visit this subtropical land in our backyard, to paddle its waterways and spy its unique wildlife.  There are many ways to explore the park from paddling canoes or kayaks, to eco-boat tours to walking trails and boardwalks, to wildlife viewing stations just off the road.  There's something for every type of enthusiast.

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XplorMor Expedition into the Florida Everglades

On the Edge, Literally

Have you ever stood somewhere and wondered “how did I get here?” I mean literally, not metaphysically or spiritually.  I do on a much too regular basis: find myself saying, “Geez. How did you get yourself here?”  Well, this just happened again on the Lakes Trail in Sequoia National Park.  Let me first describe the trail…

Picture standing on a trail no more than two feet wide that has been created by blasting a granite face, then consider the wall on one side is fairly smooth with nothing to hold on to, and the other side leads to a 2000 foot drop into a desolate rocky valley below.  Add an unexpected layer of snow which has spent several days melting and compacting, and melting a little more and compacting a little more… forming a wonderfully slippery surface.  Now include further factors such as no ropes, walking stick or crampons, and there you will find yourself in the situation in which I stood only a week ago, saying “Geez…”

And, did I mention that I decided to do this by myself?  Yep, I had the brilliant idea of hiking the 12+ mile Lakes Trail by myself in the chilly, early morn.  This wasn’t one of my smartest moves.  Yet, if the Visitor Center staff had informed me with better knowledge and understanding of the trail, including the 2500 foot vertical climb within the first 3 miles, and that I would reach snow, perhaps I could have prepared myself or found a buddy to go with rather than do it alone and ill-equipped.  Of course, I lived to tell about it so no harm, no foul… but is that really the point?

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