Embera Tribe & Reality TV
Hi there,
I saw a program called “Man vs. Wild” on the Discovery channel last night and it was filmed in Panama with several members of my family, my father-in-law, Aseroy, and two of my brothers-in-law are on it, Erito and Ruben. They take the host Bear Grylls hunting in the jungle. I am sure they will re-run it so watch for it. The family had told me about filming it and how crazy they thought he was for eating bugs and snakes raw. They did say he was very nice.
Be warned that much of what he says about Panama are extreme exaggerations when he makes statements like “Panama is one of the most inhospitable places on earth”!? huh? He also talks about how you could die at any moment in the jungle, not quite. But when he talks about the “20 foot long crocs and the great white sharks in the mangrove swamps on the Caribbean coast” I had to laugh. We do not even have salt water crocs in Panama and great whites are cold water sharks and I have never heard of them in the Caribbean at all. He makes it look very dramatic and dangerous. Guess it makes better TV, but if you have been there or consider going do not be put off by his comments, it is much safer than he makes out.
I also did not appreciate seeing him kill and eat the snake and insects while they were still moving, especially since I know the guide who was with him and where he was exactly and he did not have to eat them for survival. He could have made his point without actually eating them. Again, all about “good TV”.
It was very fun to see the family on TV here in the US.
take care,
Anne