Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
gins just past the large 'Chino Bar' sign. At the fork, turn right and continue for another
400m until you reach the top of the hill.
Parque Nacional Sarigua
Ten kilometers north of downtown Chitré, this
national park
(admission US$5;
8am-4pm)
is arguably the most important pre-Columbian site in Panama. The Sarigua site
has been dated back 11,000 years based on shell mounds and pottery fragments, although
much of it has yet to be excavated. The main hurdle preventing wide-scale excavation is
the fact that the entire national park is a 'tropical desert.'
Created in 1984, it consists of 80 sq km of wasteland that was once dry tropical rain-
forest and coastal mangrove patches. Unfortunately, Sarigua is mostly the end product of
slash-and-burn agriculture. People moved into the area, cut down all the trees, set fire to
the debris, planted crops for a few harvests and then left. Because the forest that had held
the thin topsoil in place was removed, the heavy rain that falls here every year carried the
topsoil into creeks and then into rivers and out into the sea.
What you see in Parque Nacional Sarigua today is the nutrient-deficient rock that was
once underneath the topsoil. The park even formerly served as the waste-disposal site for
Chitré, Parita and other cities in Azuero.
A visit to Sarigua is a sober reminder of the earth's fragility, and the rapid speed with
which humans can alter the environment. From the
mirador
(lookout) behind the ranger
station, you can gaze out at the dry, cracked earth and swirling dust storms that used to
be a living, breathing ecosystem. If you have your own transportation, you can also drive
a few kilometers into the park, though much of Sarigua is off-limits to the public. The
coastal edges of the park are also home to privately owned commercial shrimp farms,
which stand as a testament to the rapid destruction of Panama's wetland habitats.
To get here from the Carretera Nacional, take the Puerto Limón turnoff, a couple of
kilometers northwest of Parita. After 1km you'll notice the foul smell of a nearby pig
farm. After another 1km you'll come to the park turnoff. Follow the signs for 2km, until
you come to a structure on the left - this is the ANAM station.
Buses do not go to the park. A round-trip taxi ride to the ANAM station from Chitré
costs about US$20.
Parita
POP 2500
