Well the Committee for the Celebration of 161 Anniversary of Chiriqui did it again. Wow!
The theme this time was the search for the petroglyphs. People from communities within the Gualaca District such as Quebrada de Lajas, Mata Rica, Galerita, David, Concepcion, and Boquete to name just a few were all doing their part in making history on Sunday, August 23, 2009 in the small community of Galerita located in the township of Rincon.
The theme this time was the search for the petroglyphs. People from communities within the Gualaca District such as Quebrada de Lajas, Mata Rica, Galerita, David, Concepcion, and Boquete to name just a few were all doing their part in making history on Sunday, August 23, 2009 in the small community of Galerita located in the township of Rincon.
The entrance to the community of Los Angeles was our gathering and starting point, it overlooks another stunning picturesque view of flowing green grassy hills. This time I decided to take video clips as well as photos from my small Canon point and shoot camera. It seems to do a good job capturing a lot of what a photograph misses. If you 
would like to see my video clips, just click onto my You Tube site at the end of my story. I do have to add they are all in Spanish but, hey, you need the practice; see which words you can understand.
The province of Chiriqui has 80% of Panama’s petroglyphs. You can miss them easily enough even when searching for one, and anyone who has walked up a streambed or along some of the many valleys in Panama such as we were doing on this day may have seen but not recognized the petroglyphs. They are huge rocks and boulders the
Indians left as part of their permanently written history thousands of years ago. In 1898, the first petroglyph discovery was made here in Panama, and by 1953, only three were known. However, that year, the most zealous petroglyph hunter in the Republic of Panama, Neville A. Harte, began his quest. In seven years between 1953 and 1960, Harte, a retired Pan Canal employee spent all of his spare time and $12,000 of his own money in searching out the petroglyphs. He discovered and investigated 280 of them traveling by jeep, horseback, dugout and on foot through the Interior.
Joining our group on this day were the mayor of Gualaca, the President of the Cooperativa de
Gualaca, H.R. Representante of Rincon Township as well as anthropologist Dra Luz Graciela Joly Adames Ph.D, Professor of Titular de Antropología, Departamento de Historia, Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad Autónma de Chiriquí, David, Chiriquí, Rep. de Panamá, and Professor Cecelio Tejeira. Both professors became interested in the walk since they have been recording petroglyphs in Panama and this area for over 15 years. Professor Luz Adames has compiled a book titled “Conoce el Arte Rupestre en Panama” translation “Know the Rock Art in Panama.” It is an educational book for schools to utilize teaching students ages 6 – 14 years about Panama’s heritage, culture, its prized petroglyphs, and how to care for them.
Cecilio provided on the spot educational training for all of us by explaining why people should not paint these huge boulders of artwork thus disfiguring the markings. He showed how to use an old French method of tracing called “Frottage” and another method “Calcado” using plastic. The
frottage method is simply taking a large piece of transparent white paper rubbing green leaves onto the paper thus making a sketching of the rock art. The calcado method is placing a large piece of plastic against the rock using a marker to trace the rock art. During our hike, Professor Luz Adames recorded and wrote down each locality of the petroglyphs found by means of a GPS. 
would like to see my video clips, just click onto my You Tube site at the end of my story. I do have to add they are all in Spanish but, hey, you need the practice; see which words you can understand.The province of Chiriqui has 80% of Panama’s petroglyphs. You can miss them easily enough even when searching for one, and anyone who has walked up a streambed or along some of the many valleys in Panama such as we were doing on this day may have seen but not recognized the petroglyphs. They are huge rocks and boulders the
Indians left as part of their permanently written history thousands of years ago. In 1898, the first petroglyph discovery was made here in Panama, and by 1953, only three were known. However, that year, the most zealous petroglyph hunter in the Republic of Panama, Neville A. Harte, began his quest. In seven years between 1953 and 1960, Harte, a retired Pan Canal employee spent all of his spare time and $12,000 of his own money in searching out the petroglyphs. He discovered and investigated 280 of them traveling by jeep, horseback, dugout and on foot through the Interior.Joining our group on this day were the mayor of Gualaca, the President of the Cooperativa de
Gualaca, H.R. Representante of Rincon Township as well as anthropologist Dra Luz Graciela Joly Adames Ph.D, Professor of Titular de Antropología, Departamento de Historia, Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad Autónma de Chiriquí, David, Chiriquí, Rep. de Panamá, and Professor Cecelio Tejeira. Both professors became interested in the walk since they have been recording petroglyphs in Panama and this area for over 15 years. Professor Luz Adames has compiled a book titled “Conoce el Arte Rupestre en Panama” translation “Know the Rock Art in Panama.” It is an educational book for schools to utilize teaching students ages 6 – 14 years about Panama’s heritage, culture, its prized petroglyphs, and how to care for them.Cecilio provided on the spot educational training for all of us by explaining why people should not paint these huge boulders of artwork thus disfiguring the markings. He showed how to use an old French method of tracing called “Frottage” and another method “Calcado” using plastic. The
frottage method is simply taking a large piece of transparent white paper rubbing green leaves onto the paper thus making a sketching of the rock art. The calcado method is placing a large piece of plastic against the rock using a marker to trace the rock art. During our hike, Professor Luz Adames recorded and wrote down each locality of the petroglyphs found by means of a GPS. 
Our “caminata” consisted of walking along dirt roads, and through scenic green pastures. Some trails were very narrow with deep creviced cattle paths, rocky steep hills, nevertheless, the wow factor set in while viewing the landscape and the natural beauty of my surroundings.
When we came to our destination of Galerita, the women in Galerita were busy finishing the preparation for our lunch. Homemade meat empanadas and Sancocho (Panama’s a favorite chicken soup) were delicious and definitely hit the spot. Gualaca Mayor Fredy Guerra, and H.R. Representante of Rincon Township, Agustín Vega, and yours truly, afterward gave speeches. Prof. Adames mentioned to the community a variety of ways to earn money with rock art without harming the boulders and selling their art to tourists. Some of her examples; art on dry gourds, kids face painting of the rock art designs at fairs, to name just a few. 
Then a game was played about teaching us but especially the next generation how we can help in the preservation of these beautiful pieces of rock art. I have included one of the maps from the book “Conoce el Arte Rupestre en Panama” with locations of the mystic rock art in Chiriqui. I say mystic because anthropologists are still studying this art form. It is fantastic to have a group of devoted people who continually search this prehistoric art form, as well as taking the time to educate the community.
The towns we drove through for our arrival into the off the beaten path town of Galerita were Mata Rica, Quebrada de Lajas, Los Angeles but one would not know the location of the towns even with a map. They are so small one drives right past them. For example the town of Quebrada de Lajas if it were not for the recent hand painted sign we would have missed it. Fortunately, I called my friend Melva Miranda especially after passing the turn for Mata Rica and whom I knew would be joining the walk, of course, Melva knew the way so we followed her. It pays to know people and of course have their cell number.
This was truly another glorious day in Panama walking side by side with kind good-hearted people, in a beautiful countryside setting, a hike to die for and a challenge at that. It was fun being among friends on such a gorgeous sunny day walking up and down the hills of Galerita in search of prehistoric rock art and reminded the rocks and boulders were thrown about during a volcanic eruption 5,000 years ago. The indigenous people in this area many years later carved out drawings on the boulders as a method to communicate to others while they traveled. It was great to be involved in making history - a caminata to be remembered in this lifetime.
Discover - Explore - Dream
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