On Monday morning, we checked out of the Panama Central Hotel and went on a walking tour of El Chorillo, a subdivision of the city often considered “off limits” to tourists. It is the neighborhood that was bombed when the U.S. invaded Panama on Dec. 20th, 1989 because dictator Noriega’s headquarters was there. Noriega escaped the bombing but finally surrendered a few weeks later. We were given a tour by Victor, a local Panamanian, who is trying to improve the neighborhood. We walked through the streets and got to talk to Mario, a man who lost his wife and other family members during the U.S. invasion.
Walking along a street in El Chorillo, a poor area of Panama City. Another picture of housing in El Chorillo
We stopped at a community pavilion. I got to play dominoes with others from our group just like the locals.
Mario, the man on the left, shared what he remembered of the Operation Just Cause when he was young. He did concede that during Noriega’s regime he feared for his life to walk the streets at night, but that he feels safe now.
After our tour of the neighborhood we boarded our bus where we were shown a documentary on Operation Just Cause done by the British Broadcasting Company. It gave the other side of Just Cause. We don’t often hear about what led up to the military strike or the number of civilian casualties. From the film, the US was definitely portrayed as the aggressor. It was thought provoking to see the Panamanian side of an issue.
On our hour and a half bus ride to Chitre, a small town on the Azuero Peninsula west of Panama City, we saw this truck. Wonder how the horse felt about his breezy ride?
Our bus driver Benny spotted something moving in the trees as we drove toward Chitre. He stopped, backed up, and this is what we saw. A whole group of howler monkeys were in the tree. It was unusual to see them in the countryside since they normally live in the rainforests and tend to stick in the higher canopies.
This howler monkey was crossing the highway using the electric lines. We saw three of them cross, two with their babies on their backs.
After checking into the Cubita Hotel, those of us who wanted to go to a local bar for a drink reboarded the bus. Of course, I couldn’t miss this opportunity to taste the local beer, called Aztec. It was a light beer and quite tasty. Frank opted to rest in our room. Our group ate dinner on the patio of our hotel. It was still light and the temperatures were in the 70’s, much more comfortable than the daytime. After our meal, we were entertained by this local dancer who performed a “devil dance”. When the Spanish conquered this area, they told stories of the devil to scare the people to convert to Catholicism. The dances are still performed today for festivals, parades and special occasions.
On Tuesday morning, we headed to a local artisan who makes elaborate masks out of painted paper-mache for the devil dancers, parades and festivals. I thought this was going to be boring, but it turned out to be quite fascinating. Two guys from our group even joined in making clay molds which make the base to apply the three layers of glued paper strips. After the paper-mache dries, the mask is then cut in half, removed from the mold, rejoined, and then painted. The masks were varied but were true works of art. A mask can cost over $400 depending on the design and details.
One of the masks on displayFrank trying on a mask. Scary, isn’t he?Kathleen, a petite gal in our group, dressed up as a devil dancer. She even clacked castanets like the performer we saw last night. Our group attracted the local police force when we were at the mask shop. Although trouble usually finds me, I was NOT in trouble this time. Frank and I are posing with the local police chief and his assistant.
Our tour company, OAT, specializes in a “Day in the Life” which means activities with the local folks. After the mask making demonstration we headed to our home hosted lunch.
First we stopped at a small town square. We were broken into groups of 4 or 5, given $5 and were instructed to go shopping at the market for the items we needed to make the food for our home hosted lunch. My group was assigned tomatoes and peppers. Luckily Aimee in our group spoke Spanish so we had our items quickly, but we were not the first group back or the ones with the most change. Maybe next time.
Frank and I were given the task of peeling and cutting plantains. Miguel from our group fried them in oil, then we smashed them into cakes and they were fried again. They were crunchy and bland. Frank was not very excited about the meal. Can you see our fried plantains? What, no meat and potatoes? After our meal, Belkis and her husband Willia showed us how they make polleras in their home. Polleras are the traditional Panamanian dresses which are white with a full two tiered skirt with hand embroidery like the women we saw at the hotel restaurant. It takes up to two years to complete and costs from hundreds to $8,000. I did not order one. In the picture Diana is trying on a traditional blouse and skirt. Next we stopped to see a local traditional dance school performance. This little guy was the dance school’s instructor. He was really good!Of course, audience participation followed their dancing. I think I could have used a few lessons!On our way back to Panama City on Wednesday, we stopped at La Pintada for a pinat’o or painted hat demonstration. This is artisan Reinaldo Quiros. He showed us how he makes his hats from five different plants and swamp mud. UNESCO has added these hats to their intangible cultural heritage list. The pinat’o is not a Panama hat; they are made in Ecuador. A lot of folks from our group purchased hats which ranged from $40-$150 . They were beautiful!Right outside the hat shop, a motorcycle pulled up with a cooler of ice cream. Frank got a two scoop ice cream cone for 75 cents. What a bargain!
Our next stop was to our hotel in Clayton, the Holiday Inn. The Miraflores locks are directly in front of the hotel. Kenny took us on an orientation walk near the hotel. We finished the day with a buffet dinner at our hotel. We spent the next three nights here as our base for more exploring. As you can see, Panama is much more than just the canal.
2 Replies to “El Chorillo and Chitre, 1. 20-22, 2020”
Awesome blog! Your pictures are excellent! What an interesting day! Glad you figured out the photo problem!
Enjoyed your description of your travels through Panama, including the historical facts. Those are some pictures of the rough parts of Panama. Wouldn’t want to be there after dark!
It’s cool that you had to shop for food and make part of the lunch.
Awesome blog! Your pictures are excellent! What an interesting day! Glad you figured out the photo problem!
Enjoyed your description of your travels through Panama, including the historical facts. Those are some pictures of the rough parts of Panama. Wouldn’t want to be there after dark!
It’s cool that you had to shop for food and make part of the lunch.