A Day in Potrerillos Arriba / Abajo

On May 13, we went on a tour through Potrerillos, which is about 40 minutes southwest of Boquete. As part of events, celebrating the 160th Anniversary of the Chiriqui Province committee planned the tour and invited us.

I am adding a short trivia bit about Potrerillos’ name. Its name changed from Abejorral at the turn of the 20th century when a group of Costa Rican citizens came to live around the area of Dolega. The name changed to Potrerillos due to how Costa Ricans speak. They would always place an “illos” at the end of most words. Potrero translates into an enclosed pasture or field and so the Costa Ricans would use the word potrerillos in describing where they lived. Over time, residents in the area started using the word in their sentences saying for example; we “have a few potrerillos” or “we are going/coming from our potrerillos.” As time went by the residents began changing the name Abejorral to Potrerillos. Many years later with the authorities, consented to the name change and so entered the names Potrerillos Arriba and Potrerillos Abajo as well. Interesting but OK enough of the trivia.

Students from the Institute for the Professional Formation and Qualification for Human Development (INADEH) organized the tour as part of their curriculum in tourism. The objective of INADEH is implementing policies, strategies, and programs in vocational training, labor training, and business management training for both the public and the private sector. The training and skill classes are free to students participating paid for by the Panamanian government.

We were bussed around Potrerillos to four sites ending with a delicious luncheon buffet. The group mostly friends and acquaintances from Boquete attended as well as Panamanian residents and aquaintances from around the area.

One stop was to a small mill producing from sugar cane the brown sugarloaves we see in the markets named “Panela” and watched how panela is processed. Panela is an unrefined food product, typical of Central and South America, a solid piece of sucrose and fructose obtained from the boiling and evaporation of sugarcane juice. Panela also contains large amounts of proteins, calcium, iron, and ascorbic acid.

The panela making process begins at 5am each morning; the panela maker goes through this same process of making panela ten times a day. There are three stages to making panela first; the sugarcane’s liquid is pressed through a metal machine, its juice flows into a large container through a pipe that has a mesh opening into a large heated shallow container to simmer. The liquid then empties into another container in which it comes to a full boil flowing into another container where it finishes the cooking process. The last stage is mixing the liquid with a wooden paddle by hand until it thickens even more and becomes a golden caramel color and at this point, the worker fills wooden tray with over 75 molds. The disc shape panela is ready when it hardens – this process may take several or more hours. Then voila panela! Panela is a sweetener for Chicha Panama’s national drink. I do not crush the round hard cylinder when I use it but normally boil up some water pouring it over the disc and it dissolves. I use panela in lemonade or limeade. Continue reading below.

Then we met Saraj Golzer who owns Finca Montaña Basque Escondido in Potrerillos Abajo. Saraj came to Panama in 1974 from Persia and today is a real believer in organic farming and composting. He gave us a tour of the grounds, his composting method, and restaurant in the final stages, which he plans to open by the end of this year. We also sampled cherries from his property. Yummm!

Our tour ended at Sendero Gruta Charco Las Cuevas where some headed down a steep embankment to view the waterfall and cave. After seeing the brown water due to the Ruta Sur roadwork above the embankment all decided, they did not want to swim. Still we had a wonderful relaxing buffet luncheon consisting of salad, corn soup, chicken cordon bleu, and fish with rice and beans in a beautiful tranquil setting. It was dee-lish!
Now with the rainy season upon us in Panama, a day cannot end without a downpour of rain. Luckily, it did last long and we headed for our cars before it started raining again.
Just want to end by saying thank you to the students from INADEH as part of their studies in Guía de Turismo Regional. You did a wonderful job organizing the tour we truly enjoyed the day!