Page 178 - The Rough Guide to Panama (Travel Guide)

176 The Azuero PeninsulA The WesTern Azuero
Mariato, with a broad central boulevard dotted with fondas. Its main feature is its
temple-like bank and ATM, and with a couple of small supermarkets and a petrol
station, it’s a good place to stock up with essentials if you’re travelling in your own
vehicle or self-catering. Three kilometres southwest of Mariato, the pebble-and-sand
Playa Reina stretches south to the mouth of the Río Negro, where you can find
transport to Isla Cébaco (see box, p.210).
Fifteen kilometres south of Mariato on the main road, the tiny hilltop hamlet of
Torio, and its surrounding area, is the unlikely centre of the area’s nascent tourism
scene, offering several places to stay and eat. The increasingly roller-coaster road then
bypasses Punta Duarte and the new surfing hot spot of Playa Morillo – home to one of
the country’s most isolated surf camps (Wvillaventosurfhostels.com) – before arriving in
Arenas and Flores, where the tarred road comes to a halt before the massif of Parque
Nacional Cerro Hoya.
ArriVAl AnD inForMATion The WesTern Azuero
MARIATO AND TORIO go as far as Arenas and Flores (Mon–Fri 5am; 2hr 30min–
By bus Buses run from Santiago to Mariato (Mon–Fri 3hr), and other Mariato and Torio buses from Santiago may
5.30–7am every 30min, then hourly until 7pm; 1hr go that far depending on demand; if there are no local
15min), with some buses continuing to Torio (1hr 40min). passengers, you’ll have to pay extra for the driver to take you
The last return bus from Torio to Santiago leaves at 4.45pm. the full way. On weekdays a bus leaves Flores for Santiago at
At weekends, and Sunday in particular, transport is far less 6am; other, infrequent buses tend to leave Arenas, though
frequent, and less reliable. you should be prepared to hitch a ride.
4 ARENAS AND FLORES By car The road is tarred all the way to Flores but note that
the last petrol station is in Mariato – and it is often closed,
By bus At least one bus a day from Santiago is scheduled to so fill up in Santiago or Atalaya (see p.205).
ACCoMMoDATion AnD eATinG
MARIATO Tanager Tourism: the most popular trip is a three-day tour
Hotel Heliconia Main road, Palmilla, 8km south of to Isla Coiba ($1300 for two), but outings to Isla Cébaco and
Mariato T6676 0220, Whotelheliconia.com. Modern, Cerro Hoya are also possible. $97
nicely furnished, four-room B&B with a porch offering ★ Hotel Playa Reina Playa Reina, 3km south of
comfortable seating and surrounded by a lush tropical Mariato T6461 2725, Whotelplayareina.com. A
garden. The Dutch biologist owners are engaged in relaxing place set in shady surroundings on the beach, this
reforestation projects and ecotourism under the name of newly renovated hotel has a/c rooms to suit all wallets

TURTLE CONSERVATION IN THE WESTERN AZUERO
The tranquil soft sands of the Western Azuero coastline provide prime nesting sites for turtles:
the vast majority are olive ridley, with the occasional leatherback, green or hawksbill turtles
also laying their eggs here. Two established turtle conservation groups run nightly beach
patrols during the nesting season (July–nov), monitoring and protecting turtle nest sites: on
Playa Malena in the hamlet of the same name, 11km south of Mariato, and in the small
settlement of Quebro, midway between Torio and Arenas. In the latter, the community
Asociacion de Agro-Pesca ecoturística Quebro (AAPeQ), which also works on mangrove
reforestation, collaborates with the Fundación de Agua y Tierra (WFacebook.com/www.fundat
.org) on turtle conservation on nearby Playa Mata oscura. You can accompany either
organization on a beach patrol for a small donation, or could even offer your services as a
volunteer, provided that you speak some spanish. Both offer cheap accommodation, and
some volunteers camp on Playa Mata oscura.
ACCOMMODATION
Centro AAPEQ Quebro T6389 5249. Bunks in roadside chair of the local turtle association, rents out a few
accommodation – ask for Digna Peralta for the key. $10 simple rooms with fan or a/c, as dorm beds or privates.
Hostal Iguana Malena T6865 3908. Ana González, Dorms $15, doubles $35

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