At the beginning of the 20th Century, Belisario Porras and Colombian general, Luis Alberto Tovar were owners of vast extensions in this sector. Tovar established a farm named, Palmira and the name later was used to include the entire county. Palmira has 3 streams and two big rivers which are Rio Colgá and the Rio Cochea flowing down into Alto Boquete, the Volcan Baru National Park is in this area and of course Palmira is known for it's gorgeous panoramic views.
Our first site are people greeting us from their homes and as we continue to walk enjoying a lovely sunny morning with a great company of people, I notice something. As, I continued to look further into towards the side of someones property, I notice a horse pulling something which to me looked familiar. To my good fortune it is a small Trapiche, which in Spanish is sugar mill! Many Panamanians make raspadura or rapadura from the sugar cane they grow. It is a long process extracting the liquid from surgar cane stalks. I had seen this done back in 2008 and had not come across another Trapiche until that day. We stop and ask if, the señor will be making raspadura and yes he will be cooking some up later in the day. Here are a few photos about the process of making raspadura. This was many of the delightful sites, we saw along this quiet country lane. I have mentioned before on other articles it is good to stop and talk to locals, one just will never know what you may learn.
I hope you enjoy the photos below about the process of making a natural sweetener made everywhere in Panama on small or large fincas. Explore - Dream - Discover!