Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Mention the Azuero Peninsula, the box-shaped land mass that protrudes into the Pacif-
ic, and clichéd images abound of smiling women dancing in
polleras
, cowboys lassoing
cattle and quaint village squares with whitewashed colonial churches. Yet the peninsula
often delivers on such images: peasant farmers stride off to the fields at the crack of
dawn,
sombrero
on head and machete slung across shoulder; some hamlets still contain
adobe houses adorned with bougainvillea, topped with terracotta tiles; and small vil-
lages celebrate their saint day with bands of accordionists and fiddlers playing foot-tap-
ping folk melodies. That said, the pace of development is increasing: trucks rattle along
tarred rather than dirt roads; towns often now include unprepossessing cement-block
mini-supers with zinc roofs; and vast tracts of land are being gobbled up by mushroom-
ing real estate agents and mining companies, looking to force rapid and irrevocable so-
cial change on communities. For the moment, though, cattle farming and agriculture
still prevail in the interior while coastal communities continue to derive their livelihood
from fishing.
The peninsula, which covers a substantial 7616 square kilometres, is sometimes referred to as
Eastern and Western Azuero, with no connecting road across the dividing mountainous spine
that runs down the western flank. The former comprises the vast bulk of the terrain and the
small provinces of Herrera and Los Santos, clustered around their respective provincial capit-
als of
Chitré
and
Las Tablas
, which make good bases for exploring the region. The Western
Azuero, on the other hand, is an oft-forgotten sliver of Veraguas Province that trickles down
the western seaboard, dotted with small ranching and fishing communities and ending in one
of Panama's least explored wilderness areas, the
Parque Nacional Cerro Hoya
, which nour-
ishes sparkling waterfalls and is home to several endemic species of animals and plants. That
and the little-visited
Reserva Forestal El Montuouso
contrast acutely with the rest of the
peninsula, which more than anywhere else in the country has been stripped of forest due
to excessive logging and slash-and-burn agriculture. The desert-like
Parque Nacional de
Sarigua
, at the heart of the
Arco Seco
(Dry Arc) - Panama's driest, hottest region that curves
around the eastern shore of the Azuero - is a compelling reminder of the consequences of
such practices. For a visitor, this means choosing your time to visit carefully; when fed by the
rains, the verdant rolling pastures punctuated by villages ablaze with flowers and fruit trees
make up a picturesque landscape, but when the clouds dry up, they lose much of their natural
beauty, becoming parched and dusty as temperatures soar.
Panama's Spanish colonial heritage is also at its most visible and vibrant in the Azuero,
from cattle ranching and bullfighting through Baroque churches to elaborate costumes - the
best examples of which are crafted on the peninsula - and distinctive music that enliven the
numerous religious festivals. This has led to the region being fondly dubbed the
cuña
(cradle)
of national culture and traditions by many Panamanians - a statement which takes little
account of the cultural affinities or contributions of the country's non-
mestizo
populations
