The
mountain valleys of Panama are popular places for well to do Americans and
South Americans to buy property and build retirement or second homes. The large
stucco homes with tile roofs we saw in El
Valle de Anton were large on big manicured fenced lots. From what we were
told that is quite typical for this segment of the population. The stucco of the
few smaller homes were painted with pastel colors.
It is the world's largest inhabited
volcanic crater! Once a crater lake, this quiet village became home to Indians
from the surrounding mountains who have been there for thousands of years. The
flora and fauna of two continents converge along this unique land bridge. It has a special micro-climate with its cloud
forest and exotic animals and plants.
The rich volcanic soil and year-round
spring-like climate allows almost every species of plant and animal to thrive in
the environment. There are countless species of flowers and trees, and hundreds
of species of mammals and reptiles, as well as an incredible 500 species of birds that
live in Anton's Valley.
My
perception of this valley was totally blown away. I pictured a caldera where
one could see the edges and a small village in the center. Wrong! The caldera
is so huge that all one can see are mountains and if one did not know he would
just think he was in a valley. The ride up 2000-feet to the valley was a pretty
one with many fruit trees close to the road and scattered houses that did not
appear to be part of any village. I saw many banana, papaya, mango, persimmon,
and palm trees.
When we stopped at a zoo we found the
temperature delightful. The rustic zoo was fun and lovely. We had no bug or
mosquito problem. Paths were well packed dirt and dry. The roots of many of the
trees appear to be rather shallow as there were visible small roots everywhere.
It is probably because of the frequent rain and the avoidance of deep
watering. The tropical landscape and flowers
everywhere was a delight. Impatiens in all colors abounded as did hibiscus,
torch ginger, anthuriums, jasmine, bougainvillea, croton and many more I could
not identify. It seemed strange to see a
grove of pine trees and another of eucalyptus among all the flowering and
tropical landscape. I saw hedges made out of any flower and some you’d never
think about training as a hedge! And I
can’t forget the many kinds of cacti growing about. There was some good
signage, especially in the frog house, and there was some very primitive hand
painted signage and then there was also none. There was a wonderful frog house
with 21 different frogs in large glassed enclosures and it was a thrill to
actually see Panama’s icon: the tiny golden frog.
El Valle’s one main road is called Avenida
Central or Calle Central and runs east-west across the town. A main landmark is
the town's public market, open 7 days a week.
The Legend of The
Sleeping Indian Girl
Luba was the youngest daughter of the Chief Urraca, leader
of one of the Guaymi Tribes, of the sun-kissed mountains surrounding the
crater.
They
called her air flower, and they knew her as a simple but rebellious young
Indian girl: an inheritance of her
strong race, that fought against the Spanish conquerors for years. What Luba
least expected was that she would fall madly in love with one of the Spanish
officials who occupied her town. It was thus that Luba
Luba, not wanting to betray her town,
renounces her love for the foreigner and, crying desperately, mourning her
misfortune, loses herself among the bushes, extends herself on the savanna and dies.
It was then that the hills and the valleys, in
a melancholic embrace, covered her and decided to perpetuate her figure,
sculpting it in a majestic mountain to remember her always.
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