Manabí Handicrafts

Panama hats are originally made in Ecuador even though they are referred as Panamas. Known as sombreros de paja toquilla or Jipijapas, this particular weaving technique has been attributed to one of the oldest pre-Colombian tribes in the Americas, the Valdivia culture, who were settled along the Ecuadorian coast. The raw material of these hats is a kind of straw coming from the toquilla, a palm widely grown in Manabí province. Long time ago the toquilla hat industry was mainly done in Jipijapa, however, Montecristi, a city close to Puerto Cayo, is nowadays one of the main Panama hat manufacturers, together with other small towns throughout the Ecuadorian Andean region.

In Cabalonga you will find the famous Panama hats and other items that you can take as souvenirs of Manabí culture: Palo Santo oil, Manabi coffee, etc...