Sarigua National Park, Desert and national park in Herrera Province, Panama
Sarigua National Park is a protected area on the Pacific coast of Herrera Province that combines dry land and marine zones. The terrain includes a wide coastal strip with desert-like ground, tidal flats, and coastal waters forming a complex natural system.
Archaeologists have found traces of a fishing camp in this area that ranks among the earliest known settlements in Panama. The park status was granted after intense deforestation in the late 1900s led to severe soil erosion.
People in nearby villages call this coastal desert albina, a name referring to the whitish color of the salt-crusted ground. Fishers from the surrounding towns still use the park's coastal waters, and their boats often pass by in the early morning.
A visitor center at the entrance offers guided tours that help understand the unusual terrain. Access is by road from the towns of Santa María and Parita, and the grounds are open during daylight hours.
Deep furrows cut through the landscape, shaped by decades of erosion and salt deposition in the bare soil. These grooves and gullies provide resting spots for migrating birds that stop here along the Pacific coastal route.
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