The Essence of Azuero

DAY 1
Individual arrival to Azuero.

After checking in and freshening up, enjoy a short guided tour through the hotel’s own museum with permanent exhibitions of pre-Columbian and Colonial pieces from the Azuero Peninsula to get a better understanding of the area and its treasures.

The rest of the afternoon and evening is free at leisure.

DAY 2
After breakfast, your bilingual tour guide will pick you up and take you on a full day tour to explore the local area, its cultural heritage and folkloric traditions.

In the morning, discover the manufacturing process of the traditional products of the Herrera Province: sugarcane, salt, clay and bread. Experience the many uses of sugarcane – from refreshing sugarcane juice called “Guarapo”, traditional cooking of sugarcane honey to the production of artisanal sugarcane liquor; see the extraction of salt from the Pacific Ocean; visit the production of handmade clay pottery; and learn how the famous La Arena bread is baked.

Lunch will be served at a “Fonda”, a local restaurant where you will be able to taste traditional snacks and dishes from the Azuero Peninsula such as Lechona (Panamanian style suckling pig), Torrejitas de Maíz (fresh corn fritter), Carimañolas (yucca roll stuffed with beef) or Tamales (corn dough with pork or chicken, wrapped in banana leaves and cooked for hours).

Considered by many “the cultural heart of Panama”, the inhabitants of the Azuero Peninsula live their traditions and their folklore proudly and display it throughout the year in many festivities. In the afternoon you will see in detail the handcrafting of the pollera, one of the most beautiful costumes in the world, by visiting a group of artisans that have dedicated their lives to the traditional dress of the Panamanian women. You will also visit small studios of local artisans who produce the colorful devil’s masks, the drums used in local music and the gold ornaments that are part of the traditional Panamanian culture.

After returning to the hotel, enjoy the evening at leisure.

DAY 3
Today explore the Herrera Highlands, another area profusely inhabited by indigenous groups in the pre-Columbian era, and which contains the most important wildlife refuge in the province.

Together with your guide you will enjoy a short hike in the Montuoso Forest Reserve, known as “The Lung of Azuero”, to discover mysterious petroglyphs as well as the origin of the La Villa River, once known as Cubitá River.

You will then be taken to Finca Guazán for an adventure full of adrenaline. In Guazán, you saddle your horses arrive to the Guazán Falls on a half-hour’s horseback ride. At 800 meters above sea level, on the ride you enjoy amazing views of the surrounding hills and even the Pacific Ocean, overlooking the Montijo Gulf. Prepared for the adventure, you start your descent by rappel down the steep walls of the Guazan Falls. You will descend approximately 25 meters to reach the bottom of the waterfall where you will take a refreshing swim in the creek.

A traditional lunch prepared on the Finca is included in the tour.

After returning to the hotel, enjoy the evening at leisure.

DAY 4
Today you visit Pesé in the heart of the Herrera Province and home of Hacienda San Isidro, where the famous Ron Abuelo and Seco Herrerano are produced. On traditional oxcarts you are taken to the distillery at Hacienda San Isidro. At the distillery you learn the different steps that are necessary to produce Rum and Seco from sugarcane – grinding, fermenting and distilling. We will then continue to the bodega where the rum is being aged in barrels in two different processes. A traditional Panamanian lunch, rum tasting of the Ron Abuelos aged 5, 7, 12 and 30 years (Ron Abuelo Centuria) and an open bar with rum and seco based cocktails round off this authentic Panamanian rum tour.

After your return to the hotel, individual departure from Azuero.