One of our favorite excursions is to go to Punta Valiente. There we visit one Ngobe Bugle village and then walk across a trail created by another to one of the longest stretches of beach in Western Panama.
The Ngobe Bugle is a combination of two separate groups which were joined together when the Ngobe Bugle Comarca was created. The villages we visit are a part of this comarca. The Ngobe Bugle are Panama's most numerous indigenous peoples with a population of about 190,000. A comarca is a protected area that governs itself comparable to a reservation in the USA.
The majority of the Ngobe Bugle live in small communities or villages like the two that visit. They live in huts raised off the ground with a penca or thatch roof. The primary handcraft of these Ngobe Bugle is the chacara. The "chacara" is a type of woven bag made by the women that displays their numerous ancestral legends, mimicking the skin and colors of their animals and the landscape of the comarca. These bags are made using fibers from the pita and cabuya plants.
When the children are in school we visit the village school and bring different items for the children. We also take photos of the different villagers. We print copies of the photos and take them back to them on the next visit. All the children gather around to find one of the photos of themselves to take home.
