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Western Panama is divided into two by the rugged Cordillera Central , which begins not far west of the Panama Canal and runs some 400km to Costa Rica. North of the mountains, the undeveloped Atlantic coast is covered in dense rainforest and inhabited by isolated indigenous groups. South of the mountains, the drier and more fertile coastal plain is largely deforested and heavily settled. This agricultural heartland is known as el interior (its inhabitants are known as interioranos ), the homeland of ladino rural culture. Before the arrival of the Spanish, this Pacific coastal region was home to the most sophisticated indigenous societies in the country, and it was here that the conquistadors met the fiercest resistance, especially that led by Urraca , a chieftain whose head now decorates the one cent coin. Gradually these societies were defeated and either assimilated or driven into the infertile highlands - where their descendants, the Ngobe-Bugle , still live - while the forests were cleared for agriculture and ranching. The region's towns - Penonome, Chitre, Las Tablas, Santiago and David - are dull, provincial market centres, and the surrounding agricultural lands scarcely match the untamed wildernesses found elsewhere in the country. Even so, there are several places worth checking out as you head west towards Costa Rica or Bocas del Toro. Close to Panama City are some spectacular Pacific beaches and the cool mountain resort town of El Valle ; while slightly further west near Penonome the remnants of the pre-Columbian societies that dominated the region can be seen at Parque Arqueologico el Cano . South of the Interamericana is the Peninsula de Azuero , a fascinating agricultural region famed for its religious fiestas in which early Spanish folkloric traditions survive almost unchanged. In addition, although the peninsula is largely deforested, much of its coastal ecology remains well preserved. Surrounded by coral reefs, Isla Iguana Wildlife Reserve is one of the best places in Panama for divers and snorkellers, while at Isla Canas Wildlife Reserve , to the south, sea turtles arrive every year in their thousands. In the far west, near the Costa Rican border, the Cordillera Central rises to its highest peaks in the Chiriqui Highlands , a beautiful region of extinct volcanoes, dense cloudforests and idyllic mountain villages.
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