The Portobelo National Park (PNP) was created on December 22, 1977, a protected area that surrounds one of the richest, most mysterious and cultural natural reserves in the country, immersed in approximately 35,929 hectares. Within the park are tropical forests, coral reefs, mangroves, a population with a rich cultural base, historic ruins, and much history dating back to the days of pirates and buccaneers.
A Bridge Between North and South American Species
In 1980 the United Nations Organization for Science, Education and Culture (UNESCO) declared it a World Cultural Heritage Site. The Portobelo National Park covers territories within the Cacique, Garrote or Puerto Lindo, Isla Grande and Portobelo.
This park is part of the neotropical region and includes the extreme and lowest territorial portion of the Central American isthmus and, being a bridge between North and South America, it has played an important role as a transition area for the movement of various fauna and flora species, from one extreme to another.
Human Groups with Great Cultural Heritage
Two human groups inhabit the Portobelo National Park, the coastal or Afro-Hispanic and the settler or farmers (campesinos) who have emigrated from central provinces. The marked ways of life identify the environment where they live: the first ones are more attached to marine activities, the second ones adhered to their traditional agricultural and livestock activity.
The area is characterized by its cultural wealth, since it has a great tradition dominated by its folklore (games and congo drums), dances (the mirror devils, cumbia and hookah), as well as artisan, gastronomic and religious manifestations. The latter represented in the festivities that take place on October 21 with the procession of the Black Christ that every year attracts thousands of devotees from different parts of the country.
