Deep
In Veraguas
Traveling Down Backroads
In Panama ~ Page One
By Matthew Atlee
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you ask people in Panama about the central province of Veraguas, you normally
get a quizzical look somewhere between disbelief and pain. It’s like asking
an American about Akron, Ohio, or an Englishman about Hull. In short, Veraguas
is a place people have heard of but have either never been to or have driven
through on the way to somewhere else. But Veraguas is in many ways the
most important Province in all of the Americas, for it was in Veraguas
that the European civilization of Columbus met the indigenous civilization
of Quibian at Rio Belen in 1502. It wasn’t until Columbus’ fourth journey
that he actually touched the mainland of the Americas. Of course the purpose
of the trip was to find gold. And in Veraguas they met Indians who wore
large breastplates of gold. But they also found lots of rain. Veraguas
was named by Columbus’ brother, Bartholomew, and literally means to see
water. Ver is the Spanish verb to see, and agua, of course, stands for
water. And its been the rain and the mosquitoes it breeds that have kept
people from Rio Belen ever since.
Rio Belen today
is as it was the day Columbus landed there. Located on the Caribbean Coast
of Veraguas and isolated from the mountains by thick jungle it is only
reachable by boat. You can get close to Rio Belen by walking from Santa
Fe, Veraguas to Calovebra’, a walk that takes three days and which can
only be done from late January to March. And the gold fever that drew Columbus
to Veraguas is still alive and well. On summer nights in the dry season
- January-April – you can still see pre-Columbian treasure-hunters (Huayqueros)
walking across the Veraguas countryside and down river valleys looking
for lost treasure; most find pre-Columbian gold artifacts that are sold
outside Panama for money.
The gold fever
is still very strong among locals and only made more acute by the number
of foreign mining companies that come in and talk about all the gold there
is and how it will benefit everyone. After all the convincing and cajolery
what you normally end up with is a giant hole in the ground, a bankrupt
mining company and some of the wrong people richer - gold is all speculation.
I remember a mining engineer who once ran over a villager's house because
he needed to clear things out for the new find or a cyanide heap-leaching
pad. The Mine did do a very good job with reforestation and they did give
money for a basketball court and a new roof off the side of the church.
And they kept a number of restaurants and small shops alive.
Somebody told
me that in the end the Mine would be terrible because it will have made
people give up their old ways of survival. The Mine did close down 1 or
2 years after I left the area. |
| The Spanish
were very paranoid when they arrived at Rio Belen in mid-January 1503,
the dry season. The leader of the Ameridians was Quibian and he proved
to be a match for the Spanish. But Quibian was not worried by the Spaniards,
not in the same way he was by the warring sects in his immediate region.
One of the Spaniards, Diego Mendez, who was a notary, convinced Columbus
that the Ameridians were going to attack them. Columbus allowed Mendez
to travel with a single companion up the coast some miles to see what might
be in store for them. Mendez landed on shore and found men talking very
excitedly about a past battle with another sect. They did nothing to him,
and Mendez huddled in his small boat offshore and watched.
Mendez went
on a second scouting mission and this time he came across severed heads
of the enemy and a Quibian with an arrow wound to the leg. Quibian refused
to leave his dwelling because of the pain: he never spoke to Mendez.
In the end
the Spanish decided to take control and arrest Quibian, his family and
occupy their village, which Columbus' brother would now lead. Quibian was
captured and put on a boat at the top of the river; it's a short river.
On the way down the river with hands tied, Quibian convinced someone to
loosen the ropes on his wrists and then he back-flipped, at night, into
the river and escaped without being caught. The Spanish thought he had
died and took his family with them. Columbus left his brother and Mendez
at the settlement with men and went offshore to try to catch the breezes
for Jamaica. But the breezes of Panama at that time of year won't take
you offshore and the ship needed water. Columbus sent a ship for water
and when they arrived at the settlement Quibian was attacking and killing.
The ship sent for water would not land on shore or help their Spanish name.
They hurried up river to get fresh water and get out. They were massacred
about 3/4 way up the river and the bodies drifted downstream. One Spaniard
survived and made it off the coast along with a few other men. The
Spaniards abandoned one ship on the sand-bar you see in the photo. They
briefly returned six years later, but they never settled the area. |
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The Interior:
The interior
of Panama might be one the least known places in the world. Most people
think only of the Panama Canal and the movement of people from the Caribbean
to the pacific coasts. But it should be remembered that the movement of
people from continent to continent has matched the movement through Panama
from coast to coast – the population of South America at one time had to
pass through tiny Panama. And the interior is the part of Panama that people
have traditionally missed when visiting the country.
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The
waterfall at Las Palmas.
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Probably
the least known area of Panama, even to friends who are Panamanian, is
the Veraguas section of the Azuero Peninsula. This outcrop on the Panamanian
Isthmus is known as cowboy country and a surfer haven to Panamanians, but
the Veraguas side of the Peninsula which lies on the other side of Cerro
Hoya National Park is unknown. The best way to get there is to rent a 4
X 4 vehicle and drive from Panama City to Santiago, the provincial capital
of Veraguas. From Santiago you take the road to Mariato, Las Arenas, which
begins just outside the small town of Attalya. The trip from Panama City
to Santiago takes 3 hours and the trip from Santiago to Las Arenas takes
another 3 hours.
The drive from
Mariato to Las Arenas is one of the most beautiful I’ve had in Panama.
The road is just being finished but the views of the Pacific Ocean, Isla
Cebago and the shoreline are pristine. As you drive the other view, is
of the mountains that rise up very quickly from the pasturelands that lead
to the sea. The mountains are green, the pastures golden and the sea deep
blue. Dotted on this landscape are grass-huts and cattle. Along the new
road I saw only one or two small surfer cabins, and one or two restaurants
that served local food. The area reminded me of what I hope Guanacaste,
Costa Rica must have looked like before it was developed. Most of the beaches
were deserted and spotless and the waves were excellent for surfing. The
new road winds down secret valleys to mountain peaks and back into golden
pastureland and would be a great road for biking as there is almost no
automobile traffic. You need to spend time in Cerro Hoya National Park
in order to understand the beauty and history of the area. Camping and
trails are part of the Park and are little used, so no worrying about unwanted
distractions. Go when things are dry: December to March.
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On the opposite
side of Veraguas lies Agua de Salud. Located in the northwestern corner
of the Cañazas district of Veraguas, Agua de Salud is remote. The
area - and there is no town to speak of – got its name because of the healthy
spring waters that flow from two rivers: one river flows with hot water,
the other with cold water, though both seem to originate from the same
source. The entrance to Agua de Salud is located at Cerro De
Plata – about 25 miles from Santiago, Veraguas, heading in the direction
of David. The road is terrible but could be used in the middle of the Panamanian
Summer – January to April. Ask locals about the condition of the
road. The walk is 10-14 hours maybe more and can only be done during
the summer. There is little in way of accommodations so you need to bring
your own, but the landscape leading up to the two rivers is remarkable
as you can see for miles in every direction as you approach the Continental
Divide. The section on the road that is named Agua de Salud is about four
hours walk below the springs.
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you are headed towards Agua de Salud or decide that you don’t want to walk
the long distance to the springs, I recommend you take a short cut to Rio
Cobre. If you are on the road to Agua de Salud, Rio Cobre will be on your
left. The walk from the road to the river is about an hour and you will
find it exciting. I did it at dusk and the walk is one I will never forget:
we headed out from the small-village Cerro de Plata. The walk is on flat
land and high thick-brush surrounds the path that leads to the river. As
you make your way along the path you can hear over the brush the sounds
of farmers talking around their houses, speaking of the days events, but
you will never actually see anyone as they are hidden behind all the growth.
There is a kind of excitement and fear when you hear this cacophony of
voices over head every so often. The tension arises because you can’t see
where the voices are coming from – but you wish you could. Be careful on
the path, as large coral snakes like to make their way to the river during
the day to cool off. The river itself is very isolated and surrounded by
flowers, green pastures and I saw the most wonderful multi-colored butterflies
that descended to blue-green grasses. The river is dark at dusk and the
low tree-limbs get darker and more ominous as sunlight disappears. Get
out and away from the river before nightfall: you could lose the trail
back to Cerrro de Plata.
If you decide
that you want to walk the entire way to Agua de Salud, then after about
4 hours walking from the Pan-American Highway the landscape opens up and
you can see 30 miles in every direction. This area of Panama had at one
time active volcanoes and you can see this in the dimple-studded landscape.
This area was also once jungle, but slash and burn agriculture has turned
it into open grasslands, so much so that you can see someone walking towards
you an hour before you meet.
Why the burning?
It makes clearing land easier, but there is another very important psychological
reason: The more clearing and burning the larger one's world. And for people
who never leave their immediate surroundings - like the indigenous community
in Panama - increasing one's world means reducing danger. The jungle is
a jack-in-the-box world filled with danger. |
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This
shot is from right above the waterfall.
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Be careful
walking in open fields, stick to the road, as large cattle ranchers own
much of the land in this area of Panama and they don’t like foreigners
wandering off the road onto their land. When I worked in rural development,
I used to walk to remote communities in the deep countryside, and I remember
a time when I was walking over a hillside covered with only low-grass,
a few dozen pine trees and the nearest house miles away (though I could
see the house in the distance), two cattle ranchers approached me on horseback
with guns, and asked what I was doing walking across their land. Luckily
for me they only wanted to scare me. Others have not been so lucky: an
American friend of mine was shot at from a distant grove of pine trees
as he was playing soccer with some locals.
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