In the Archipelago boundaries there are several communities inhabited by ngobe indians. These communities are, in the Bastimentos Island: Salt Creek and Bahia Honda; in Cristobal: San Cristobal, Bocatorito and Valle Escondido; in Solarte: Solarte; in Popa: Popa 1, Popa 2 and Isla Tigre; in Cayo Agua: Cayo Agua; in Colon Island: Boca del Drago.
If you are interested in knowing the local ngobe indian cultures, is a good idea to visit some of the communities that are suitable for tourism like San Cristobal, Popa 2, Bahía Honda, Solarte or Quebrada Sal, where there are already contacts with tourists and some kind of offers like trails, restaurants, tours or culture expressions including handicrafts.
Indian communities are poor, depending maily from fishing, activity that it is complemented with survival agriculture. They use to sell part of the fish extracted together with lobsters, crabs and conch shells to the restaurants in different part of the Archipelago. Because their productive activities are decaying, are now starting to be prepared to receive tourists, to diversify their incomes. They allways receive any visitor with kindness.
Their typical homes are built in wood, over wood stilts, with floors made with the bark of the jira tree, and the roofs made with the leaves of the guagara, a palm tree that grows in swamps. In general, they built their huts around a central place in the community, leaved free to practice sports or as a playground for kids. Others do it out of this center, close to their farms.
In some communities women create a beautiful handicrafts like the one named chacara or mochila, that is a bag made with a vegetal fiber called pita, with geometric designs painted with vegetal tints. Are beautiful also their necklaces (called chaquiras) and their bracelets.
