Emberra Indian Village tour...Recently?????

[Sue L]

Hey All,

 

 

Has anyone done this tour recently? Was it good? worth the $$'s? What time did you get back? Tell me everything you can, we have this booked for March

 

Thanks in advance

 

 

Sue

[Micki Dee]

My DH and I and another CC couple did this excursion last month while on the Brilliance. I was really looking forward to this excursion too. First off, the excursion description made us think we were going to have this "National Geograghic" type experience. Boy were we wrong. Here is my review of this excursion:

 

We start off with a bus ride to this hotel on a river to get in the boat that will take us to the village. So far, so good. We're not on this small river for more than 5 minutes, and just right around the bend from this hotel, when our guide tells us that this is not the "actual" Embera Indian Village. The "real" village is about 2 hours away. This is a make-shift village that was built to show tourists how the indians live, and it also gives the indians a chance to sell some of their crafts. I was not happy with this statement, but I was still looking forward to seeing it. I had heard that we would hear the village before we would see it as the look-outs would start playing the drums that would signal our arrival. I also heard that the indians would be lined up on the shore waving and welcoming us to their village. Well, there were no drums or indians on the shore. Instead, there were 3 other boats filled with tourists lined up at the very modern pier. The only indians that welcomed us were the ones that took our life jackets for a tip of course. Still, I was trying to be optimistic that this might turn out all right. We were ushered into a big hut to have an audience with the Chief of the village. We were told that the Chief did not speak any english and our guide would interpret for us. The chief told us about his way of life, explained about the various tools they used for cooking, and the instruments they used for playing music. He called over some of the girls to show us some the way they dressed. We were then allowed to ask questions. Now the chief who supposedly couldn't speak english, was answering the questions before our guide interpreted them for him. So he really could speak english and was just pretending for the benefit of the "authentic" experience. Next they did a few dances, and we danced one dance with them. We then looked at the few buildings that were there and then were invited to purchase some of their handicrafts. I did purchase a few beaded necklaces and take quite a few pictures. We were then ushered back to the boat and back to the hotel. We actually spent more time at the hotel than we did at the village. We felt totally ripped off. We paid $80+pp for a "fake" village, a couple of dances, and about 20 minutes of interaction with the indian people. When we got back to the port, there in all their glory, were the Emberan People welcoming us. They danced for us, interacted with us for free!!! Now I don't blame the indian people for this excursion fiasco. They are a beautiful, friendly, people. I blame RCCL, and I really think they should maybe re-think this excursion. My advice: save your money, and see the indians at the port.

[DEL67]

We were on the 12/23 sailing of the Liberty and did the Emberra Indians tour with MyFriendMario. It was an all day tour that also included going to a waterfall where you could swim and a short visit to the gatun locks.

 

First we went to the village. The "canoe" (really a large canoe shaped boat with a motor) ride to the indian village was beautiful. The visit to the village was very staged, but interesting. And the Talapia they gave us for lunch was good.

 

Then we went to the waterfall. There were too many people there and we did not have long to swim, but I enjoyed it.

 

Finally we went to the Locks. We only had about 10 minutes there because we were running late, but we did see once large boat carrying cars go through.

 

We arrived back at the ship at 3:35 when we were supposed to be aboard by 3:30, but there was a Carnival bus right in front of us and several other Carnival tours were even later.

 

The tour cost us $65/per person and , yes, it was worth it.

[Sue L]

thanks for both of your opinions, I want to see some of the country so I definitely want to get off the boat, unsure what to do.

 

Any other opinions????????? Any suggestions????????

[UNCBlue4Us]

We were on the Lirica which was in Cristobal on Dec. 23. It was my third trip to Panama (the first two as a landlubber), but the first for my wife.

 

Maybe I can offer a couple of tips:

 

There is one huge difference between the Atlantic (Gulf) side of Panama and Panama City, which is on the Pacific side. If you envision Panama as a third world country, Colon is a fifth world place...and dangerous. I speak fluent Spanish, as a gringo, and I would not even think about hiking into Colon.

 

If you have at least eight hours, find your way to Panama City. It is incredible..from the old city to the colonial city to the modern city. Our tour, which I found on the net, turned out to be the highlight of the cruise.

 

As for the canal locks, Gatun is a drop in the bucket compared to Miraflores on the Pacific side, which is complete with a new 4 floor modern museum. I have seen both, and Miraflores is a far better view of the real canal and its history.

 

Enjoy Panama. It is one beautiful and unique country in Central America.

[Randy & Kathy]

My DW and I were on the cruise ship Carnival Legend and were in Colon, Panama on Nov. 19th. If there are things in that area that are unsafe, we never saw anything that indicated that. We took the CL007 tour with myfrindmario and included in the tour was the water falls, Indian village and the Gatun locks. The water falls was very interesting and great for some wonderful "nature" photos and swimming if you wished to do so. The Indian village was very interesting. We were in the dugout canoes and they pulled right up to the bank at the Indian village, I never did see any kind of a dock. The villagers were there playing music and assisting us out of the canoes. We had the chief describe, through an interpreter, what their life is like there, passed around samples of tools, clothing and partially finished craft items that they make for us to look at, and included some of the history of the area. The women of the village were busy cooking food right beside where we were which was to become our lunch, very tasty too. After that they began to play music on their various instruments and performed a dance, later inviting several of us to join them in the dance. We then went to look at the items that they make and offer for sale and we purchased some of those items. We then got back into the canoes and went back to our bus and were then transported to the Gatun locks where we observed 3 ships going through the locks while an official from the locks provided many interesting facts about the locks. We arrived back at our ship about 30 minutes prior to the ships scheduled departure. This tour took all day and the cost was $70 PP. It was very well done and we have some great memories of our time there. There are some samples of pictures that we took while there in the smugmug link below. Lori and Ricardo led us on this tour and they were fantastic, we would not have changed a thing about our visit there.

Randy

[Sue L]

Thanks Randy for the great pictures. I love the craft items and that is what I try to buy. Do you remember how much the baskets and the carvings were? I want to know how much cash to bring.

 

 

Sue

[Micki Dee]

Sue, I looked at Randy's picture's(which were great by the way), and that is not the same village that I went to. Both Randy and Del67 went on independent tours with MYfriendmario. That option is not available to anyone sailing with RCCL. The RCCL excursion is different than the one done independently. As far as the cost for some of the crafts, most of the small jewelry items were $3-5.00. The hand weaved baskets and plates were anywhere from 10-30 apiece, and the carvings ran about the same. The price is based on how much time it took to make. It costs $1.00 per hour, so if it took 1 hour to make, it cost $1.00 and so on. All of their crafts are availbale for purchase at the port.

 

I heard from alot of my fellow cruisers that the excursion to the Miraflores locks was worth the money and was a great way to see the locks up close and personal. The Gamboa Aerial Tram was another popular excursion.

[Sue L]

Hey Mickidee,

 

Thanks for the info, so if I am understanding you correctly there is more than one village? That's interesting info. I liked the look of the Aerial one and had considered it. Did you hear any reports on it if it was good? Or was it just popular?

 

 

Sue

[Randy & Kathy]

Thanks Randy for the great pictures. I love the craft items and that is what I try to buy. Do you remember how much the baskets and the carvings were? I want to know how much cash to bring.

 

 

Sue

 

Sue,

As stated previously, the size of the items determines the price. My DW stated that there were some small baskets for only $5.00, but she bought some that were about purse size for $15.00 and the larger ones were more. The same with the wood carvings. We bought one about hand size for $15.00 and one a bit larger for $25.00. Again, the larger size takes more time to make and the cost goes up proportionately. We looked many of these items over closely and they were very well done, we gave some out as gifts and they were much appreciated. Hopefully the pictures show you what a wide assortment that they have available there. You then have to make up your "shopping list" and try to determine how much each of the items will cost in order try try to bring enough money to make your purchases. Careful, you don't want to sink the canoe. :>)

Randy

[Sue L]

 

. Careful, you don't want to sink the canoe. :>)

 

 

 

Thanks for the info, I love handmade crafts as I am an artist and really appreciate the work that goes into something. Hubby always get nervous when I am faced with the selection I saw in your pictures, because he knows I will go crazy and he will be stuck carrying them.:p

 

 

Sue

[Micki Dee]

Hey Mickidee,

 

Thanks for the info, so if I am understanding you correctly there is more than one village?

 

 

Sue

 

Ya' Know Sue, That' s the million dollar question. I was originally told about the indian excursion by another CC member who had a wonderful experience much like everyone else has. The village she described and the things she saw made me really want to do this excursion. I even viewed her photos before my trip, and after seeing them, I was hooked. She had an experience alot like Randy. Her excursion was by flat bottom canoe and it took alot longer to get to. Mine was by a regular old boat, and was located not far from a hotel. Our guide told us that the one we visited was not the actual village and after seeing Randy's picture's, I'm positive we were not at the same Village. Now the CC member that did the indian excursion did it through another cruise line, so that could be the difference. It's possible that RCCL goes to a different village. I don't want to talk you out of it if you really want to do it, but it was really not worth the money. There is no lunch, and there definitely is no visit to a waterfall. Just a bus ride through the scariest parts of town.

 

The Gamboa Tram was quite popular, and people said it fun and relaxing, but it was very hot. Of course it's Panama, so whatever you do, it's going to be hot!! Some people complained that they should have seen more wildlife, but for the most part, I only heard good reviews.

 

As for shopping, there are lots of booths at the pier for you to purchase plenty of handmade craft items. The Embera Indians sell a lot of their stuff there. Don't forget to buy an "Authentic" Panama Hat. My husband bought one for his brother for Xmas only to get it home and find a "Made in China" label in it! LOL

[Sue L]

Thanks Micki Dee,

 

I am really torn, because looking at Randy's pictures it looks wonderful but since we are going with RCCL I assume our tour would be the same as yours and I probably would agree with you on the assessment. I think I might put this question on the main board and see what recent cruisers are getting, as in which village. In the description on the website it says nothing about a hotel or anything . Did you complain to the excursion desk at all about your feelings about the tour?

 

 

Sue

[Micki Dee]

I wanted to complain to the Explorations Desk, but my DH didn't wan't to let it spoil the rest of our cruise. I really should at least email C & A and tell tell about my dissatisfaction with the excursion. I think they really should re-think this excursion. I think if it came with lunch and maybe something else besides a bus tour of some very scary looking areas it might be worth the 82.00. It's just too expensive for what you get in my book.

[Sue L]

Thanks Micki,

 

I called the shore excursion desk to get some clarification and she described it just as you did with the hotel and "village recreation". She wasn't positive but thought they might have changed local tour operators.

 

I told her about your assessement and she said they have gotten a "few" similiar comments from other cruisers this year.

 

I think we are going to switch tours, not sure which one yet but we are going to look them over tonight.

 

 

Sue

[Micki Dee]

Sue, I hope you have agreat time on your cruise. My DH and I absolutely loved the Brilliance and the Panama Canal Cruise was by far our best vacation yet!! Make sure you get up bright and early to get yourself a good spot for canal viewing.

 

May you have calm seas, great weather, and an all around great cruise,

 

Michele

[Sue L]

Thanks Michele,

 

We are definitely getting up bright and early going to the heliport to watch and then back to our room on the aft to watch the gates close behind us. I actually switched sailed dates in order to get the aft cabin I wanted.

 

 

Sue

[numbersix]

Hi Sue:

 

We stopped in Colon, Panama this past Dec 21st....we did not do the Embera Indian Village, etc. tour, but did the Beach/Portobello/Gatun Locks tour with myfriendmario.com....it was great. However, my understanding of the Embera Indian Village situation is that the Embera were displaced several years ago...the land was redesignated as nature preserve...they were relocated and now make their income from tourism to their villages, and through sale of handicrafts, etc.. The "authentic " Embera village is about a one and one-half hour drive from either Colon or Panama City. This is the one, I believe, that Mario's tours go to ( with the waterfall, etc). The ships go to a much closer "re-created" village, about 20-30 mins from the pier in Colon (constructed conveniently close to hotels, the cruise-ship pier, etc.)....so everything here is re-created, re-enacted, et cetera....and I would have to think this is why the experience is found lacking. The trade-off is the drive time, but I have heard from the boards that it is an interesting drive to the "authentic" village. What about a tour through Mario....have you looked into that possibility? We were very happy with the tour, the guide and driver, and, especially, the price.

 

Whatever you do, you'll have a good time....we found Panama to be a surprisingly interesting and beautiful place (Colon and its garbage notwithstanding!)

[Sue L]

Numbersix,

 

I would love to do the tour with MyFriendMario, but we are sailing with RCCL and for whatever reason you are not allowed to disembark in Lake Gatun without being on a ship's tour, so we are stuck with the ship's tours.

 

 

 

What was Portebello like, the description they have with the ship's tour is that it is a couple of forts and lots of history, true? Hubby loves that stuff so it would be right up his alley.

 

 

Sue

[numbersix]

Sue:

 

Before we sailed, I really poured over these boards, and remember coming across severeal discussions of just that question.....whether private tours are possible from Gatun Lake...some say yes, some say no....we were docked in Colon, so I can't really answer on that....you may try doing a search on it.

 

Portobello....this was just a little add-on for us, as our tour was not really scheduled to go there...but we were glad we did.....interesting drive, great history, three forts, in various states of ruin...lots of walls, ramparts, cannon, et cetera.....beautiful spot. Also....the church is the home of the Christo Negro ("The Black Christ"), with a little local craft market outside....good prices. Portobello was a great added bonus on our days' tour, but I doubt whether I would make it the focus of my day.:)

[Sue L]

Thanks for the info numbersix,

 

 

The tour is actually portebelo and the gatun locks and since we will be getting up at the crack of dawn to watch the ship go through the locks it will probably be enough. LOL

 

 

Sue

[cruiser620]

My DW and I were on the cruise ship Carnival Legend and were in Colon, Panama on Nov. 19th. If there are things in that area that are unsafe, we never saw anything that indicated that. We took the CL007 tour with myfrindmario and included in the tour was the water falls, Indian village and the Gatun locks. The water falls was very interesting and great for some wonderful "nature" photos and swimming if you wished to do so. The Indian village was very interesting. We were in the dugout canoes and they pulled right up to the bank at the Indian village, I never did see any kind of a dock. The villagers were there playing music and assisting us out of the canoes. We had the chief describe, through an interpreter, what their life is like there, passed around samples of tools, clothing and partially finished craft items that they make for us to look at, and included some of the history of the area. The women of the village were busy cooking food right beside where we were which was to become our lunch, very tasty too. After that they began to play music on their various instruments and performed a dance, later inviting several of us to join them in the dance. We then went to look at the items that they make and offer for sale and we purchased some of those items. We then got back into the canoes and went back to our bus and were then transported to the Gatun locks where we observed 3 ships going through the locks while an official from the locks provided many interesting facts about the locks. We arrived back at our ship about 30 minutes prior to the ships scheduled departure. This tour took all day and the cost was $70 PP. It was very well done and we have some great memories of our time there. There are some samples of pictures that we took while there in the smugmug link below. Lori and Ricardo led us on this tour and they were fantastic, we would not have changed a thing about our visit there.

 

Randy

I loved looking at your photos, and I looked at the Costa Rica zipline ones too. My cruise stops at Colon and also at Limon and I was thinking of doing the zipline with Charlie there but need more info. What did you do with your "stuff" while you did the zipline? Are there lockers? Was there any problem having your camera while on the zipline? In Panama, we are still trying to decide between the Mario locks/Indian tour or the Carnival Panama city / locks tour. Any thoughts?

[Randy & Kathy]

I loved looking at your photos, and I looked at the Costa Rica zipline ones too. My cruise stops at Colon and also at Limon and I was thinking of doing the zipline with Charlie there but need more info. What did you do with your "stuff" while you did the zipline? Are there lockers? Was there any problem having your camera while on the zipline? In Panama, we are still trying to decide between the Mario locks/Indian tour or the Carnival Panama city / locks tour. Any thoughts?

 

620,

We were very pleased with the tour that Mario provided, each part was very different but also very special to us. I left the Indian village with a special feeling, even if it is a "show", I was still very satisfied that I had just been fortunate enough to see something unique and I will never forget that day. The three stops that the tour made were different but each was very worthwhile. I don't know of the ship tours as we have not done those in Panama but I have read some negative comments by people that have opted to go with them. I did not hear one negative comment from the people that were on our tour with us.

 

While on the tour with Charlie we first were taken to the place that provides the zip line activity. We always take a tote bag along with beach towels, sun screen, bug repellent, etc. and were told that we could all leave our belongings on the bus while we would be "zipping" as it would be secured. All of us did that and it worked out just fine, I do not know if there are lockers available or not. As for the cameras, my DW always takes a digital camera along and she has a fanny pack that she places it in, it is handy there and secure as well, it worked out just fine while on the zip line excursion. I carry a camcorder and decided to do some action shooting while on the zip line. I opened up the strap and slid the strap down my left forearm and then secured the Velcro strap tight (if you look at the pictures you might spot the camera on my left forearm). In this way I could touch the record button just before leaving the platform on the zip line and, by slightly rotating my wrist, I could get some footage while traveling down the cables and still keep both hands on the cable devise as we are supposed to do. It actually worked out quite well even though I could not stare at the viewfinder while flying through the air. I just gave it a "best guess" aim and hoped that it worked out. For an experiment it came out not too bad. If one is worried about losing their camera, you could make up a tether out of nylon string and secure the camera to your upper arm by the tether, sort of the same way that a surfer stays attached to their board should they fall off.

 

We followed these two tours up, while in Belize, by going snorkeling in shark ray alley on a tour provided by Coral Breeze. This was the most adventurous that we have ever been while on a cruise but we are very happy with all three of the choices that we made, each one is a very special memory to us. I hope that this has been some help to you as you make your plans.

 

Randy

[cruiser620]

Thanks for all the info. Randy!

[LouWho]

If you do the tour through My Friend Mario.com just be aware that this tour is long and always runs late. You'll feel a little panic at the end that you won't make it back to the ship. They always make it, but it's aftre the time you're suppose to be back. Mario's tour is to the actual Indian area and not a staged thing at all. It was interesting. They greeted us with music and a crowd of residents.

 

We just did the tour last week. You drive about 45 min to some "canoe" and then have a 45 min canoe ride. You visit the village for about 1 1/2 hours and then go on to the waterfalls. It is a 20 canoe ride to the falls, then a 1/2 mile rugged hike to the falls. You spend about 20 minutes at the falls.

 

After that you have to RUSH to the canal. We had about 8 minutes at the canal. You probably don't need a ton of time at the Canal, but you still don't want to be rushed.

 

We were to be back on the ship by 3:30 and we got back at 4:06!!! They do keep track of where the Carnival tour buses are and so that let them know that we had enough time to see the Canal, otherwise, we would have missed that part and been very disappointed!

 

Although the tour was good with Mario, we kept getting different stories on the timing and they just plain avoided answering questions when they knew people were getting upset. Ten minutes really means an hour on that tour!!!