Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
mats with exquisite embroidery. To visit the workshop, take the turnoff (the sign says
'Los Llanos') on the left side of the road as you head north of Ocú toward the Interamer-
icana. The turnoff is about 1km from the central plaza. From there it's a 15-minute drive
along a dirt road until you reach the community. If it's closed, ask around for Ana Marin
or Guillermina Montilla. You can also catch an 'Ocú-Los Llanos'
chiva
(rural bus;
US$0.65) in front of the main plaza in Ocú.
From Chitré, frequent buses visit Pesé (US$1.10, 20 minutes) and Ocú (US$2.50, one
hour).
INSIDE AZUERO'S INTRIGUING PAST
Spanish settlements were so effective in wiping out the indigenous populations of
Azuero that little is known about these communities. During the 1940s a major
tomb excavation just 10km outside Parita yielded some of the finest pre-Columbi-
an artifacts ever discovered in Panama.
Discoveries included painted pots in the form of bird effigies and exquisitely
carved batons shaped like stylized alligators, made from manatee ribs. Perhaps the
most amazing find was an urn with the remains of a man wearing a necklace made
of more than 800 human teeth.
In the colonial era, the now-parched Azuero was covered by dry tropical rain-
forest and thick mangroves. Early communities subsisted on hunting and fishing,
with small-scale agriculture which included rice, beans and manioc. Several tribes
shared the peninsula, though the region was controlled by a powerful Ngöbe-Buglé
chief named Parita.
For decades Parita and his fierce warriors held off Spanish settlement. Yet when
Gaspar de Espinosa raided in the early 16th century, Parita was found lying dead,
surrounded by his slaughtered wives, attendants and 161kg of gold ornaments.
They were presumably killed by another tribe on the peninsula. Also found were 20
native captives lashed to house posts by cords around their necks - about to be
buried alive with the great chieftain.
Following this episode, the Spanish rapidly colonized the Península de Azuero
and exterminated its residents. A few Ngöbe-Buglé communities safely fled to the
rainforested mountains in present-day Chiriquí Province. These same communities
were so fearful of intervention that they placed deadly traps along trails until only a
few decades ago.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Villa de Los Santos
