Introduction

Hi! And welcome to by blog! You're about to learn all about Herrera, the beautiful province in Panama. I hope you enjoy my blog!

Location

Herrera is the smallest province in Panama. It is located in the Penninsula Of Azuero. It’s only 2,340.7 sq kilometers. Its population is only about 105,000 people. It has seven districts,

1. Chitre
2. Las Minas
3. Loz Pozos
4. Ocu
5. Parita
6. Pese
7. Santa Maria

Herrera has mountains, hills, beaches, rivers, lakes, and lots of streams, approximately 244 streams.  Herrera is humid, it usually rains, and there’s light air or breeze. The average temperature is around 23 to 27 degrees.

On Herrera’s north lies Veraguas and Coclé, in its south lies Los Santos, on its east el Golfo de Parita, on its west lies Veraguas.

The picture shows a map of Herrera.  

Places To Visit

There are lots of places to visit in Herrera. They're mostly festivals and carnivals, but you can always go to beaches, lakes and parks. There's also a museum, which you can see the beautiful past of Herrera, and it's very cheap.

• El Museo De Herrera, the museum. El Museo De Herrera, which is a museum that shows Herrera’s traditions, ethnography, archeology, and traditional peasants crafts, which are handmade. Adults and Tourists pay a dollar, children pay 25 cents, and student groups pay 5 dollars.
• You could also visit The National Park Of Sarigua, which regards the marine ecosystem.
• Or, in Chitre, there's the famous church, the Church of St. John the Baptist.

You can do so many more stuff in Herrera, like visit parks, watch a carnival go by, eat sugarcane, and so many more! But the bullet points above show things you could visit all year round. Some other places that I could add are Parque Union, where Chitre's carnivals are held, or you could go to the beach, Playa Boca Parita.

Next to the text, you can see two pictures. One is the Church of St. John the Baptist, and another one is The National Park of Sarigua.

Active Fun

In Herrera, there's a lot of things you can do, because Herrera has both city and country. You could be watching a carvical pass by your street and go hiking earlier that day. Or you could go swimming and then take a walk through the woods a few hours later. Anyhow, these are some stuff you could do:

• You could go swimming, in pools, beaches or maybe lakes or streams.
• You could also go hiking in the mountains.
• You can also visit a hot spring right outside Chitre.
• You could walk around a festival and enjoy music.

In this blog, you can see a picture of a mountain in Herrera and the materials you need to go hiking. If you want a list of materials, you can go to the blog way underneath this one, " Recommended Paking List".

Local Customs

Herrera is very famous for its carnivals. There's The Berraquera Carnivals in Chitre, capital of Herrera, the Sugar Cane Festival in Pese, and the famous Manito Festival in Ocu. As you can see, Chitre, Parita, Pese and Ocu's carnivals are one of the most famous carnivals in Panama.

Here are some famous ones.

• Parita(as mentioned earlier) is celebrated 40 days before easter, and it is celebrated with merriment and a large appetite.
• The Sugarcane festival is a very special festival in Pese, and it is celebrated on March 19th. In the festival, there's lots of people working with sugarcane to make art, queens are announced and lots of people, not only local but tourists as well, come to see this beautiful festival.
• The famous Manito Festival is celebrated with music, dances, and lots of duels, and it is celebrated in Ocu, in August 16 to the 19th. It was created a few decades ago for peasants.

There are a lot more festivals in Herrera, celebrated all year long, and you can see them in different locations in Herrera.

Warnings

In Herrera, you have to worry about numerous stuff. Not a lot, just some. And here they are.

• Plan your hike ahead of time and pack all the stuff you need!
•  Be sure to put on plenty of sunscreen before you get sun-burned!
• When you need help, the sevice of the National Police, the Fire Department and numerous hospitals are nearby.
• In Herrera, also be careful in what hotels you check in. There's lots of hotels that I've heard numerous complaints from.
• And one last thing, Herrera is sunny or cloudy sometimes, but carry water at all times, whenever you're outside or inside.

Other than that, Herrera is considered to be a very safe place.

Transportation

Chitre, the capital of the province, is one of the most developed cities in Panama, so it has many buses, taxis, a rail, and even an airport. The bus terminal goes to Las Minas, Las Tablas, Los Posos, Ocu, Panama City, Pese, Santiago and Tomas. The airport has constant flights that go to Panama City, and the taxis go wherever you ask them. So, let's say you need to get to Las Minas, to see a festival. You can take the bus terminal, the rail or even fly there, if you need there the fastest way in Herrera.

You see? Chitre is quite a developed city.

Recommended Packing List

Your packing list depends on when and how long you're going to stay. You could come for the festivals, or just for a short family get-away.
This is a recommended list to pack if you're going for a week or two, and you're staying for the carnival in Chitre.

• Clothes
• Shoes (Flats, Crocs or Sandals recommended)
• Sunscreen
• Sunglasses
• A hat
• A camera
• Beauty Utensils(toothbrush, toothpaste, hair brush, dental floss, etc.)
• Stationary
• Money(If can, dollars and quarters, which are used.)
• A book
• Others

I also have a recommendation for hotels. You could go to Hotel Rex or Pension Central, because they're on the route of the carnival, which comes to a total of  $19.80 for Pension Central (1 night) and $33 for Hotel Rex, but they're almost the same, it's just that Hotel Rex is a bit more bigger. Remember, both of these are not luxurious, if you are looking for a more fancier hotel, you could always try a hotel in the middle of the city, in this case, you could try Hotel Versalles.
:)

Herrera Fun Facts

Did you know?

1. Herrera is known for thier fine pottery, which are sold on streets and rads of the province.
2. Herrera, whom are the 3rd best producer of sugarcane in Panama, makes the famous drink called El Seco Herrerano, which is made of sugarcane.
3. Herrera's baseball team won 16 national championships, more than any other team in Panama.
4. Herrera is located in Azuero, which is also called "La Tierra De Las Polleras" because it is believed that the pollera, the national dress, was created there.
5. Although Herrera is the 3rd best sugarcane producer in the country, they also produce dairy, cattle, commercial fishing, alchohol, ceramics, clay products, mosaics and cement.
6. Herrera is also well-known for its many carnivals.

Thank you! By the way, enjoy the video underneath you. It's a wrap-up for everything you just saw.

Sources

So, there it was! Now, these are my sources. Thank you everyone for enjoying and reading until the very end!

• http://www.museoscentroamericanos.net/museos_panama/museo_herrera/museo_herrera.htm
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herrera_Province
• http://www.touristspots.org/cerro-hoya-national-park-in-herrera-panama/
• www.google.com