The Heartland of Panama and The Gringa of Guararé
The Azuero Peninsula hangs off of the Panamanian underbelly like a squat appendage, jutting southwards into the Pacific. It’s been called “the heartland of Panama” and “the home of folklore and traditions” but at its heart it is the distillation of the old Castilian culture; the celebration of the vaquero – the cowboy and the landed gentry. Fittingly it is a land of voluptuous, softly rolling hills and breathtaking vistas, verdant green pastures, farmland and working cattle ranches.
For the modern world, it encompasses golden and white sand beaches, world-famous surf destinations, spectacular sport fishing, whale-watching, snorkeling, diving and sea turtle nesting areas. The eastern portion of the Peninsula, the most populous region, includes the city of Chitré, the smaller city of Las Tablas and the sleepy, seaside fishing village where we found ourselves, El Puerto de Guararé, (pronounced Gwa-RA- ray).
Although our perception of Guararé was of a town that had stepped back in time our hostess Bonnie Birker, owner of the friendly, seaside guesthouse Casa del Puerto, said it had progressed since her first arrival in 1967 as a Peace Corps volunteer. At that time La Enea de Guararé was fairly isolated with only one car in the entire area and roads of deep mud during rainy season. There was electricity but no phone service. Water was provided by a village pump and the homes had outside latrines.
Guararé was featured by Lonely Planet in 2000 and Bonnie, who prefers to be called a gringa from Guararé rather than an expat, realized that the town that had given her so many friends and memories had modernized and even had phone service. She returned to Guararé for good in 2006 after her retirement from a career as an international consultant in countries that included Honduras, Jamaica, South Korea, the Philippines and Nepal. She bought a large but unpretentious house with deep covered porches that overlook the wide expanse of the Pacific spread out in all its awesomeness.
The food in Guararé is well worth mentioning. It’s located on the coast and small fleets of boats set out twice daily in the early morning and near sunset and their catch graces the tables of many local restaurants. Most often we feasted on freshly caught corvina, or sea bass. Served with heads on – and sometimes staring eyes, too – they were easy to debone with a sumptuous, flaky, white meat. They came accompanied by the regional specialty of patacones – which we had previously called tostones in Nicaragua – or crisply fried green plantain patties. We also stuffed ourselves with fresh fish or shrimp ceviche. Late one afternoon we dined on fresh caught tuna on the southern coast of the peninsula. The bounty of the sea was never more lavishly available than in the Auzero.
During our visit Bonnie did her utmost to show us some the reasons why she had returned to the village of Guararé and the Azuero Peninsula. We visited Las Tablas for the National Festival of the Pollera held there each July. The Pollera, a descendant of the Castilian culture, is the females’ yang to the vaqueros’ yin. It is the quintessential national dress composed of a blouse and long, full skirt featuring the painstaking work of the Panamanian women with original and complicated, decorative embroidery and, many times, additional applique, crochet and lacework.
The festival included the presentation and judging of the Pollera in several categories, rodeo and equestrian events, craft and food vendors and a concluding parade. The latter displayed several dances with the men and women moving in a formal and stylized, intricate synchronicity while others featured the women – with many young girls imitating them – swirling and twirling holding the hems of their dresses up to display the gorgeous embroidery designs and a demure peek at the white-on-white lace and cutwork underskirts.
Many of the dresses involved hundreds of hours of skilled and careful needlework and the most elaborate were expensive by almost any standard. And, as if the Pollera needed any additional decoration, several long necklaces of gold were draped around graceful necks, sparkling beaded hair adornments sat atop glossy, black hair and eye-catching earrings dangled from lobes.
Towards the end of our time in the Azuero we spent a day traveling through the center of the peninsula to the southern coast, again with Bonnie. We drifted through established towns such as Tonosi in the rolling hill country, still much immersed in the cattle culture. Places such as these are the anchor of the peninsula, they are the heartland clinging to the more traditional. At the terminus of the journey we stopped at the beach town of Cambutal, with its rapidly expanding infrastructure reflecting the up-coming changes. Here, and elsewhere, are modern signature homes, boutique hotels, tony yoga retreats, funky eateries and up-scale restaurants all vying for the dollars possessed by the surfers, sun worshipers, eco-tourists, gringo retirees and wealthy Panamanians.
The Azuero Peninsula neatly encapsulates the tensions that exist as an established way of living cedes ground to the new. Surely benefits accrue in the wake of modernity but at a cultural cost. Bonnie, and her many amigos, represent those on the cusp, those who are witness to and participants in the changing of the guard. And in the Azuero, we were the fortunate ones who wandered through able to observe and appreciate the heritage and enjoy the perks offered by the latest and greatest.
By Anita and Richard
No Particular Place To Go 
Looks like a wonderful place to spend time. glad you are enjoying your travels.
Sheri
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The Azuero Peninsula is indeed a lovely place to visit, meet the wonderful people and pass the time. Someday you’ll have to join us, Sheri!
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What a lovely area, and the dresses are beautiful. Guararé looks like a great spot to visit before it’s “too discovered”
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At this time Guararé seems to be overshadowed by its larger neighbor, Las Tablas, which is well known for its rowdy Carnival and many traditional festivals. But Guararé has its own festivals, including bullfights (or bull “teasing” is how we understood it) and its laid back atmosphere will definitely attract certain people who want a slower pace.
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We have only visited the east coast of Panama. You’re lucky to have visited Guararé before it “develops” further. On the other hand, I can understand why the locals might be keen to have running water and indoor bathrooms. Hopefully, the development will be rational and planned. Those polleras are gorgeous.
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It is interesting to see small towns and hear about what amenities were lacking only 40 years ago. It reminds us of those things we take for granted that so many people still don’t have… On the other hand, we have to agree with you that certain changes such as plumbing are necessary and “luxuries” like Wi-Fi are highly desirable!
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It looks like a lovely place. I’ve seen a few articles about Panama recently – it seems as if it is becoming more of a tourist destination. I wonder what it will be like in ten years?
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We’ve read a lot about Panama over the last few years and it features high on the list of places that are being recommended for expat retirees. Panama has many incentives to lure foreign retirees to settle into the country and has made residency requirements fairly straightforward. That being said, while there are fairly large communities of expats there are still a lot of places where a gringo stands out!
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Panama is so pretty as well your friend’s home! The festival and those dresses are just beautiful. I enjoyed all of your photos especially the ones of the boats.
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Panama is, indeed spectacularly beautiful from the Caribbean to the Pacific Ocean and the interior country as well! Wish we could have seen more festivals in our time there but we’re so glad we got to experience the Pollera festival and see the handcrafted dresses as well as the dancing.
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Azuero Peninsula looks beautiful. I love your description of a place “on the cusp”. Change is inevitable and some changes are likely very welcome, but I hope the area retains it charm and essential character.
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We hope so, too as the people were so warm and welcoming. The history and traditions of this area are fascinating and hopefully will continue for many more years!
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Thx for the lovely travelogue, Anita. Panama looks like such a vibrant and flavour-filled country! I have tried pure dark chocolate from there and it was quite good. I hope I have the opportunity to see where the is grown sometime soon. Cheers and safe travels.
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Thanks, Doreen, and we’re glad you enjoyed our post on travels through the Azuero Peninsula. Panama far exceeded our expectations and we hope that your opportunity to visit (and find good Panamanian chocolate) happens soon!
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Bonnie’s home is so amazing and her garden is picture perfect. I love to sew, but could never create those gorgeous dresses. I’m so glad I went on your photo tour until I can visit too.
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And what a view with the Pacific ocean stretching out to the horizon and, because of the way it’s oriented, fabulous sunrises, too. As for the sewing – I used to sew, quilt and embroider, too, but nothing like these talented (and very patient) Panamanian women! Anita
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Lovely costumes. Your pictures really did a great job illustrating all the details in the hand stitching. I’m certainly putting Panama on my must-see list.
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Each of the Polleras was a one-of-a-kind piece of art and demonstrated the magnificent handiwork and skills of the women artisans of Panama. We were so glad that our photos were able to show some of the costume details and also are happy that they have piqued your interest in Panama as a place to visit.
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I find it interesting where the life of a Peace Corps volunteer can end up taking you. What a lovely looking place to now call home for your friend – in a country that appears to have a lot more culture than I ever imagined. Your writing is beautiful as well and really brings the trip to life.
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Thanks Leigh for your kind words! It’s interesting to note how many Peace Corps volunteers we’ve met during the last two years of our travels who are now living as expats. Travel broadens one’s world view of countries and cultures as well as making us realize that we all aren’t so different after all but, rather, connected.
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Beautiful costumes! But you had me at fresh sea bass caught twice a day! Beautiful photos!
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Food is always a big part of our travel experience and, sadly, the traditional cuisine in Latin America is less that we expected, with the exception of Mexico. However, anyplace that serves fresh fish rates high on our enjoyment radar. And, when we have the option to choose freshly caught fish such as corvina and tuna or eat shrimp ceviche we become gluttons!
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What a colourful and interesting festival. I loved the costumes and the colours. The photo of the cows and the country road looked sylvan too … a road less travelled perhaps?
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The festival and Polleras were definitely a highlight of our time in the area and it was so amazing to see the artistry and imagination that went into each dress and beaded hair adornments. As we traveled some of the roads between the small towns in the Azuero Peninsula there was a real feeling that there were very few people around and as you said, “A road less travelled”.
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The village of Guararé sounds particularly lovely. I would love to visit it some day.
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There were so many factors that went into making this area one of our favorites in Panama. The local people were warm and welcoming as was the expat community. And, as you can see from the pictures, the countryside and ocean views are spectacular. This is definitely a place to put on your travel list!
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What stunning costumes!
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The Polleras are really works of art and some of them sell for upwards of eight to nine thousand dollars each. The needlework and original designs are indeed, remarkable.
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What a lovely festival and perfect occasion for visiting this area, thanks for taking us there….hope you can share it with us today for Travel Photo Mondays
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Like so many of our visits to different cities and countries, it was just serendipity that our visit occurred during a traditional celebration like the National Festival of the Pollera. Like they say “Timing is everything”! P.S. We included our blog post link on your Travel Photo Mondays. Thanks for asking!
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Makes me wanna go back to Panama! We missed this peninsular because we were preparing to ship our vehicle to South America (and my wife had to go home briefly to celebrate her father’s birthday) – one of these times when organisational tasks take over your travels.
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It’s so hard to see everything that a country like Panama has to offer. We had several places that we had planned to see, too, and a month just wasn’t long enough! There are definitely many reasons to return to this little country!
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Loving all of your posts on Panama! It has been high on our list of places to visit for a while now so I guess we need to make it happen.
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We started our travels about the same time as you and we have a L-O-N-G list of places that we want to go to. Reading about other travel destinations only makes our list longer still and shifts the priorities. On the other hand, a lot of the fun of travel is the anticipation!
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The Azuero area looks beautiful and sure seems to have a bounty of fresh seafood and a rich culture. I hope to get to Panama one day soon.
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Panama is an amazingly beautiful country and the Azuero Peninsula is one of its stars. The multitude of cultural traditions and plentiful fresh seafood are frosting on the cake!
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Hi travelers
Each trip seems to be more exotic than the last.gorgeous scenes. Thanks
Maida
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It was hard to decide what pictures to include in this post as the Azuero peninsula has such a variety of astoundingly beautiful places to photograph. Sometimes we just have to take a deep breath and say “How lucky we are to see this”!
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Although Pedasi was on our list of places to visit and hopefully, spot the whales, we didn’t make it there this visit. Definitely something we regret but maybe a place we’ll see in the future…
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anita, great to see what you and dick are up to. my girlfriend and I are looking at going expat in panama and I would love to talk to you at some point! I proposed to her there. we are thinking alaska.in summer n panma all winter!
regards, bruce
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Congratulations, Bruce and wishing you much happiness! This has to be such an exciting time for you both as you try to decide what to do with your future. We’ve loved our new lives as wandering expats and can only add encouragement if you decide to venture forth. We’ll look forward to hearing about what you decide… Anita
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Love reading your blog, it’s the next best thing to being there. Thank you both.
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And thanks to you, Jim! We read several blogs ourselves for the vicarious thrill of traveling to new places. Hope you decide to jump ship and venture forth yourself at some point in the near future.
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Wonderful encapsulation of the Azuero! I would only add, that the people are kind and it’s a wonderful place if you’re looking for a low-stress life.
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You’re so right and I can’t believe that we neglected to mention how wonderfully friendly the people are as well as how welcoming the community felt. All-in-all, the Azuero was one of our favorite places to visit in Panama and we hope to return soon.
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Very nicely written. Gracias for painting my adopted home in such a positive light. You pointed out many of the things that make this place so special. 🙂
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Thanks! We loved the Azuero area and only wish we’d had more time to spend in your adopted country. This is truly a place that can offer something to everyone.
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Great post. Did you visit Pedasi at all? We spent a night there. Quiet village. We may go back next trip to see the “high season” difference. Hope you are well. Happy travels.
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