Panama - Day 3

October 4

This is the resort where we will spend 3 nights. It is located in Chitre, one of Panama's oldest settlements in the Azuero Peninsula. 

There is a little chapel at the resort with open wall design.

Today our focus is on the individual entrepreneurs of the community. We visited families that make specialized items based on old traditional craftsmanship that has been handed down over the generations.

Our first visit was to a pottery shop. They use clay from a local river to make various sizes of vases and some decorative pieces.

The vases are made by hand using a pottery wheel operated by the foot. They can average 80 vases per day. The large ones are sold for $1.50 each. 

Jorge tried his hand at making a vase. He needs a lot of practice.

Making a sculpture of a tree trunk and birds. They are then hand painted.

The matriarch of the family was making a chicken and rice dish for a funeral.

From the pottery shop we went to a family owned panaderia (bakery). They use wood fired ovens to bake their breads which gives it a special flavor.

The bread is made by hand.

Next stop was a visit to the Varela Hermanos distillery where the Ron Abuelo brand of rum and Seco Herrerano (a 70 proof alcohol beverage considered the national beverage of Panama) is produced from sugar cane. Over 50,000 tons of sugar cane is used each year for the production. They still use ox drawn carts to carry about 20% of the cane to the distillery. We had a fun ride on the carts along one of the sugar cane fields.

We then had lunch at the distillery and learned about the process of making rum from molasses. 

The rum is stored and aged in used bourbon barrels. There are 18 storage house which each hold 8,000 barrels of rum.

We then had a lesson on the aromas, color, body, and taste of the different ages of rum. It was an experience to try the different rums as I am not a rum drinker. Upon taking a sip of the first 5 year old rum I nearly choked. Found out I probably will not be able to get a job as a taster at the new distilleries in Shelbyville.

I did enjoy the cocktail made with the Seco.

I did receive a certificate that I survived the tasting experience.