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Robtad's Gatun Locks & Embera Village Tour


Jane2357
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Listed as Option #6 with Robtad's - I'm looking for someone who may have a recommendation on this tour.

 

I'm experienced with private tours but this would be a first for me in this part of the world - as always making it back to the ship in time is a concern.

 

Is the Embera Indian Village worth the time to get there or is it just too touristy?

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Sorry I can't help you with the Robtad question. As to whether the Embera Village are too touristy, I think you will find most visitors come away with a very positive experience. One problem in labeling or identifying the Embera Indian village visit is there are a number of villages used on this excursion. Unless you take a private tour with Ann Gordon who uses her husband's village, you really don't know which one you are headed to and your experience can be slightly different. Admittedly the villages often used by the cruise ships are closer in and certainly more geared for larger numbers of visitors with a few more amenities such as real bathrooms. These villages are also somewhat set up as demonstration villages, but some of the Emberas do live there as well. The villages are not a roadside teepee (in Panama that would be a bohio) storefront facade that leads into a casino and cheesy gift shop if that is what you were worried about;)... they do depict fairly accurately their way of life.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I went with My Friend Mario http://www.bscpma.com/mfm/index.htm

It was totally authentic. It was also an amazing day, one of my favorite shore excursions ever. The hike to the waterfall is not easy and you are given the option to wait in the village if others are doing the water fall portion.

 

Listed as Option #6 with Robtad's - I'm looking for someone who may have a recommendation on this tour.

 

I'm experienced with private tours but this would be a first for me in this part of the world - as always making it back to the ship in time is a concern.

 

Is the Embera Indian Village worth the time to get there or is it just too touristy?

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...
We were just in Colon this past February and did a FABULOUS tour with Robtad's.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g294480-d2343952-r198896682-Panama_Canal_One_Day_Tours-Panama_City_Panama_Province.html

I got his name and info from a CC post by Mike Preisman, who posts extensive picture reviews of his cruises.

http://www.thepreismans.com/pan_can_page2.htm

The owner , Roberto, also works for the Panama Canal authority and knows everything about the construction and operation. He took us to see the last new lock before it was put in place and we walked from South America to North America.

 

It was a really wonderful day.

I can't recommend him highly enough!!!!

 

 

 

Hi Jane

We did the same tour as MVP in Boynton (who is Mike Preisman who I quoted above).

Roberto is a great guy!

That said, years ago we did the Embera Village tour with Anne Gordon and it was a very special experience (and, as you'll understand, true to us, we bought a pretty expensive basket ;) See picture below of the basket with the young people who wove it)

Anne was having some emotional issues then. She showed up for our tour but others didn't have the same luck. Check out her recent reviews toi see where things stand now.

 

Roberto is a total gentleman. If you ask him about the authenticity of the village he goes to I would expect him to be totally honest!

Let me know what you decide.

062514_10121.jpg.b909038a8b3c42a0273dcd5ff4243520.jpg

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Hi Jane

We did the same tour as MVP in Boynton (who is Mike Preisman who I quoted above).

Roberto is a great guy!

That said, years ago we did the Embera Village tour with Anne Gordon and it was a very special experience (and, as you'll understand, true to us, we bought a pretty expensive basket ;) See picture below of the basket with the young people who wove it)

Anne was having some emotional issues then. She showed up for our tour but others didn't have the same luck. Check out her recent reviews toi see where things stand now.

 

Roberto is a total gentleman. If you ask him about the authenticity of the village he goes to I would expect him to be totally honest!

Let me know what you decide.

 

Hi Karen,

So glad that you also used Roberto. He does a great job. Hopefully, one of these days we will be on the same cruise again. We are in Seoul, South Korea today.

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