AZUERO: OUR PEOPLE AND CULTURE

ITINERARY

Day 1 – Panama City - Chitre

From your hotel in Panama City, you will be transferred to Albrook Airport to catch a 30-minute domestic flight to Chitre, the capital of the Herrera province. Upon arrival, you will be transferred to your hotel, Cubitá Boutique Resort & Spa, which is determined to rescue and preserve the roots, heritage, and traditions of the Azuero Peninsula. The name Cubitá is borrowed from the indigenous people who once inhabited the banks of the La Villa River on the Azuero Peninsula. This unique boutique hotel offers you a first-class experience with a lot of attention to detail in a colonial environment. The hotel’s facilities include a spiral-shaped swimming pool, a Panamanian Gourmet Restaurant, two bars, a museum, a gift shop with local handcrafts, a state-of-the-art gym, and Cubitá Spa, using local organic ingredients to ensure the guests’ wellbeing. 

During your stay you may visit 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. 

3 nights at Cubitá Boutique Resort & Spa (Standard Room)


Day 2 – The Best of Azuero

8:00 a.m. Today you will experience the local industry and Azuero’s traditions and roots on an exciting full-day tour. In the morning you will 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. 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 visit an elder lady that has dedicated all her life to handcraft the Pollera, the typical dress of the Panamanian women, considered by many ones of the most beautiful costumes in the world. Together with your guide, you will also see several workshops 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. Drop back to your hotel mid-afternoon (around 16:00 hrs).
Overnight at Cubitá Boutique Resort & Spa
(B,L)

Day 3 - The Herrera Highlands

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. On a horseback ride through Finca Guazán you will get to know the local flora and fauna while enjoying stunning views on the Gulf of Montijo and Gulf of Parita. You will then continue to El Montuoso Forest Reserve - known as “The Lung of Azuero” – to hike to a mysterious site of ancient petroglyphs. In the small community of Chepo de Las Minas, a traditional lunch will be served. In the afternoon you will hike a nature trail and cross several hanging bridges in order to get to the origin of La Villa River to take a refreshing swim in midst of the forest.
Overnight at Cubitá Boutique Resort & Spa
(B,L)

Day 4- Chitre - Panama City (or add on post extensions to Chiriqui, Playa Venao)

Today you will be transferred to the airport in Chitre to return on a 30-minute flight back to Panama City. Upon arrival, your Ancon Expeditions of Panama driver takes you back to your hotel.  

(B)

DETAILS

TRIP CLASSIFICATION

• Easy walking and hiking for all ages, flat trails with some slippery terrain
• Hotel or lodge accommodation comfortable

DEPARTURE DATES

Upon request, based on availability

WHAT TO BRING

• Binoculars (preferably 7x35 or bigger, also available for rent at Ancon Expeditions of Panama)
• Camera with extra batteries & film
• Flashlight with extra bulb & batteries
• Bathing suit, Insect repellant, Sunscreen
• Hat, Day pack/dry sack
• Water bottle
• Lightweight/quick-dry cotton clothes
• Windbreaker
• Rain gear
• Comfortable walking shoes, sneakers
• Sandals, Aqua shoes
• Money in small denominations
• Toiletries & personal medications

AIR PANAMA BAGGAGE REGULATIONS

• For domestic flights, each passenger is allowed 1 bag of up to 50 lbs (23 kg)
• Carry-on luggage is limited to 8.8 lbs passenger (4 kg).
• Passengers are responsible for excess baggage fees: US$5.00 per extra kilo (max. 3 kg extra allowed on 1st checked bag). 2nd checked bag at US$35.00 extra cost of up to 50 lbs (23 kg).
• Name or date changes on flight tickets are subject to a penalty of US$25 plus 7% tax (per change, per route.
• Ticket cancellations with more than 30 days before your trip are subject to a service fee of US$25 per ticket (taxes included). Within 30 days from your arrival, our regular cancellation policies apply.
• The penalty for no show is 100% of all applicable fares, taxes, and surcharges.
• Surcharge for transportation of a pet or a surfboard is US$30 per item per route.

TIPPING
Ancon Expeditions is Panama’s top eco-tourism operator. Our Natural & Cultural History Guides are the country's finest. Due to frequently asked questions from our clients about suggested guide & staff gratuities, we would like to provide you with the following universal tipping guidelines:

• Day tour guide: US$10.00 per person/day
• Transfer driver: US$2.00 per person
• Tour driver: US$5.00 per person/day
• Tour boat driver: US$5.00 per person/day
• Hotel bellman: US$1.00 per person per suitcase
• International airport bellmen (red caps): US$1.00 per piece of suitcase

LODGING

CUBITÁ BOUTIQUE RESORT & SPA

“Cubitá, the territory of indigenous people who inhabited the region surrounding the La Villa River, located in the Azuero peninsula, which preserves thousands of years of the history of our pre-Columbian ancestors who fought bravely during the Spanish conquest.” The region of Azuero is considered today the “cultural heart” of Panama, cradle of traditions, which offers an opportunity of getting to know the purely Panamanian lifestyle. At Cubitá Boutique Resort & Spa you are being offered quality accommodations and warm and friendly service. At approximately 250 km from Panama City, Chitre offers with this new hotel a modern accommodation with 90 elegant fully equipped rooms, 2 Junior Suites and 4 Master Suites including cable TV, safety box, telephone, hairdryer, wireless Internet, mini bar, AC and ceiling fan, coffee facilities, complimentary breakfast, and 24 hours room service. At Los Maizales restaurant you can enjoy the local cuisine and at La Jaba bar the local national drinks to end the day in a relaxing ambience. The hotel facilities include an outdoor pool, El Guarapo pool snack bar, a small gym and Spa, museum, chapel, and commercial plaza.

Address: Ave. Roberto Ramírez de Diego (Circunvalación), Chitré, Panamá
Website: http://cubitaresort.com/
Phone: (+507) 978 0200
Check in: 3:00 p.m.
Check out: 12:00 p.m.

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