 |
| Chacara Bag worn by Ngobe Bugle (say "no bee BOO glay") Man in the Chiriqui Province of Western Panama, Near the Costa Rica Border |
The mountains of western Panama near the Costa Rica border are peppered with farms, growing coffee, onions, potatoes...just about all being harvested by hand. The town of Cerro Punta is tucked in the mountains framed by hillside farms and twisty switchback roads.
The migrant farm workers in that area are indigenous people called Ngobe Bugle (say "no bee BOO glay"). They are nomadic, following the crop-harvesting opportunity. You see the women wearing bright colored dresses, walking along the roads or waiting for the bus. The men work the fields. Or, in the case of my Chacara bag, they sell hand-made goods along the roadside. The vendor is wearing the bag I bought from him. Chacara bags are woven from fibers of wild pineapple plants. Deceptively flimsy looking, the bags are used to haul heavy loads - crops, school books, even babies. The bags ball up into a lightweight nothing and are as industrial strength as luggage.