Coconut Soccer on the Beach

Reaching the Wounaan village of Maje in the Darién isn’t simple. Sometimes we travel by pickup truck, but when the roads are too washed out, we take to the water.

We meet Captain Jacobo in the fishing village of Puerto Coquira, a few hours from Panama City. From there, it’s a six-hour boat ride upriver. The boat from Maje meets us there with just enough fuel to make the round trip—carried in plastic jugs, because there’s no gas station waiting on the other end.

Timing is everything. If we reach the river mouth too late, the tide is too low to pass, and we’ll wait up to 12 hours for it to rise again. So we plan ahead. If we’re early, we wait anyway.

That waiting becomes its own kind of rhythm. Jacobo’s kids kick off a game of coconut soccer on the beach, while others climb trees or dig their feet into the warm sand. The forest hums behind us. There’s always something to do, even while doing nothing.

By the time the tide turns, the boat is quiet again. We move upriver, the current softening around us as we near the village.