Into the mountains
August 13th, 2005 at 8:56 pm
I arrived in David, Panama’s second largest city, on Thursday at 11:00am and took a taxi 30km up in to the mountains to the town of Boquete. My chosen accommodation, “Momentum Cabañas / B&B” turned out to be an ex-pat Vancouverite by the name of Ken.
Boquete was a welcome respite from the heat of the lowlands and the traffic noise of Panama City, and Ken’s property, as well as his humour and friendliness, made it all the better. Finally, a trustworthy recommendation from a “Let’s Go” guide.
The first afternoon I just laid around and read but on Friday morning up was up and out of the house at 06:00, wandering the property line, looking at birds and enjoying the scenery. Ken’s place sits on the edge of a deep river valley, on a plateau that was probably created by lava flowing from nearby Volcan Baru, a dormant but occasionally rumbling volcano.
Mornings are generally sunny in Boquete, with rain (and often dramatic thunderstorms) coming mid-afternoon, so the mornings are a great time to be outdoors, particular since it is also still cool, Boquete not having that high humidity of the lower parts of the country.
In the afternoon (after tea and a wee siesta) I hiked down into the valley, crossed the river on a rickety footbridge, and then climbed the other side where I hiked along the rim for a while, amid small farms.
On Saturday I took a taxi out to Parque National Volcan Baru to hike on the “Quetzal Trail”. This is a trail that climbs the volcano and is known for regular sightings of the Resplendant Quetzal, a particularly colourful trogon with dramatic, long tail feathers. I spotted several new birds, but the Quetzal eluded me once again (I probably didn’t get up early enough). Nonetheless, it was a beautiful hike with moderately challenging climbs, through both dense jungle and indigenous farmland. And, it was sunny the whole time.
That evening, Ken and I went into town and had dinner at “Cafe Hibiscus”, owned by a Parisian-trained chef who is married to a Panamanian woman. Together they run the restaurant. I had a cordon-bleu in a mushroom cream sauce that was delicious, though the service was typically Central American-slow, especially post-meal.
