Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
party most likely to attract outsiders occurs in Macaracas. The
Fiesta de los Reyes Magos
(Three Wise Men) features a two-hour dramatization of the Adoration of the Magi, which has
taken place in the church plaza every January 6 for almost two hundred years.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE: LAS MINAS, LOS POZOS AND
MACARACAS
By bus
Buses leave Chitré for Las Minas every 30min (6am-6pm; 1hr); for Los Pozos every
25min (6am-7.25pm; 45min); for Macaracas every 2hr (6am-6pm; 40min).
Reserva Forestal El Montuoso
The park entrance is located at Tres Puntas, 4km before the village of Chepo • Daily 8am-4pm • $5
Up the valley from Las Minas, the seriously denuded peaks of the optimistically named
RESERVA FORESTAL EL MONTUOSO
pale in comparison with the richly forested
mountain ranges in Chiriquí, Bocas or the Darién, so if you're heading for one of those loc-
ations, El Montuoso can easily be skipped. But if you're lingering in the Azuero and aching
to get into the hills, this is the best place to come, until the rugged wilderness of
Parque Na-
cional Cerro Hoya
becomes more accessible.
The 120-square-kilometre reserve, dubbed the “
pulmón
” (“lung”) of Herrera, was created in
1977 to safeguard the five rivers that rise in the mountainous region - some of the Azuero's
major water sources - and to protect the rapidly vanishing tracts of forest being eaten away
by illegal farming and timber extraction. In response, several reforestation projects have been
initiated. Though only twenty percent of the reserve is now forested, what remains is con-
centrated around the reserve's highest point, Cerro Alto Higo (953m). Steep-sided mountains
cleaved by river-eroded ravines harbour plenty of wildlife to interest the visitor, such as red
brocket and white-tailed deer, howler monkeys, white-faced capuchins and collared peccar-
ies. This is also one of the easiest places to spot the endemic brown-backed dove while other
specialities include violet sabrewings and blue-throated goldentails - both hummingbirds -
and the ever-acrobatic orange-collared manakin.
Exploring the reserve
The park office is set in a lovely orchard, where a short, pretty
trail
crisscrosses the nascent
Río La Villa up to a cascading pool. The main trail,
Sendero Alto Higo
, leads up the moun-
tain of the same name, heading off to the left after Chepo, at a place known as the Caras
Pintadas (Painted Faces), an imaginative reference to the petroglyph near the start of the path,
where rare sundews are in evidence in winter. A moderately strenuous hike of just over an
hour brings you out at a peak by a radio mast, which offers a tantalizing restricted view -
thanks to some unfortunately located trees - towards the Golfo de Montijo.
