Volcan, Boquete, Cerro Punta

In January 2005 I travelled with my parents and nephew to the highlands of Chiriqui. Our trip was made in two parts so that we could spend more time in the Azuero Peninsula. This article describes the part of the trip that took us from Azuero to Chiriqui. In particular we will visit nice and interesting towns such as Boquete, Volcan, Cerro Punta, the Sitio Barriles archeological site and close up with a trip through Gualaca.

On the way to the Highlands

OK, having rested well in La Villa (Los Santos) as I wrote in my previous article, we woke up early to head to our final destination: the highlands of Chiriqui. By car we backtracked on the PAN-3 road to the town of Divisa. There we took the left to head to Veraguas and Chiriqui following the Panamerican Highway (PAN-1).

Veraguas

In Veraguas we only made a short stop in Santiago to get some things to eat and drink. We did this at the Las Piramides hotel and restaurant. It was very crowded because other long-range buses make their regular stops there so count on a long queue. Sadly, the orange juice they sold there was artificial, outrageous I found! a place were fresh fruits are available and they sell artificial juice! I tried to warn the beautiful tourist girl but she was too quick to get it.

The road in Veraguas on PAN-1 starts good, then it promises to get better because they are still expanding PAN-1 there to two lanes in each direction (already some 70% of PAN-1 has been made a true highway). In other parts the state of the road is apalling! large holes on the road that is only one lane each way (as it had been when it was built in the 60's). My father worked during the construction of the highway as a beginning civil engineer. It is even more amazing that some people drive like crazy in these dangerous spots (very irresponsibly), but well, that was expected since those I saw doing such stupid things were usually from the capital.

Of course, although Veraguas isn't a terribly exciting province (IMHO), there are places to visit like Atalaya and Santa Fe as well as popular surf spots and ecotourism in Coiba Island.

Chiriqui

At first the Panamerican highway in Chiriqui is low altitude and then it begins to ascend. It is then that you get that "Chiriqui" feeling and you are offered some beautiful views of green mountains. Then up there we reached the district of Tolé which is the home of many native inhabitants (indians) of the Ngöaut;be-Guble. You will now you are in Tole because it is in the mountains and alongside the road you are very likely to see small ranches with beautiful chaquiras collars as well as some clothes worn by the local indians (colourful).

All nice things come to and end (temporarily) so the nice mountain landscape disappears as the roads winds down to almost sea level -and yet surrounded by greens- until we reach the town of David 440 kms. from Panama city. David is the provincial capital. But we won't even enter David on this trip because we are going to the highlands.

Now that we reached David we turn right, leaving PAN-1 to enter PROV-43. You cannot miss it because of the sign that announces the entrance to the road to Boquete. This is a 35 kms. road (in good condition) that takes you to Boquete. Near Boquete you will notice how there is volcanic rock everywhere. Then in Alto Boquete we reach the CEFATI (Tourist information center) which is also a Mirador from where I took this nice view of the town of (Bajo) Boquete. The center of the town is in a valley and it is split in the middle by the Caldera river you see on this picture. It is not a wide river really, it has lots of rocks and crystalline waters (very cold).

In the town of Bajo Boquete we made our way to the Hostal where we were going to stay, two streets from the river. There was a fine rain (mini-droplets) that the locals call "bajareque". The town was very crowded because they were celebrating the 10 day long "Feria de Las Flores" (Flower Fair). We deciced not to postpone things (good decision) and immediately go to visit the fair today.

The entrance to the Flower Fair just across the river (just cross the bridge near the park) costed just $1.50 per person. Although I have been to Boquete before this was my first time at the fair celebrated once a year in the first weeks of January. This was the 33rd edition of the fair and the first time it was classified as international. There were booths were you could buy local sweets, crafts, drink beer or coffee (for the cold), etc. There are a few attractions for the kids and dancing in the evening, 10 days long!. But oh, we were here for the flowers and we were not disappointed, flowers and greens everywhere. We enjoyed it under the fine "bajareque", the variety of flowers was amazing, even purple sunflowers, orchids, beautiful, just beautiful.

Apart from all the beautiful flowers, we bought several nice sweets such as plaintain jelly/jam, thin vainilla crackers from Volcan, milk sweets. Then had some nice cup of coffee from the plantations nearby (there are many coffee plantations). Also watched the folkloric dance performed by the "Asi es mi Panama" folkloric group (see picture). And in one of the rocks near the flowers and the river I saw a beautiful metamorphosis taking place, a cocoon becoming a butterfly! I took a wonderful picture of it.

We stayed two nights in Boquete and the next day, after we returned from Volcan and Cerro Punta we visited the beautiful gardens of a well-to-be family from Boquete. It is the gardens of the Gonzalez family (free admission) some 200 meters from the park in the center of the town (on the main road). You must not miss this either!. Additionally you can tour the surroundings and visit a coffee plantation, better with a car I would say (for mobility). This spot is being discovered by tourists and you can have a good lunch or dinner for about $5/person including the drink!!! of course there are other places with slightly higher prices if you want. We enjoyed the delicious panamanian cuisine. For the sports oriented, you can book river rafting and hiking trips in the area. The offices are in the vicinity of the park. It is a very small town with its own provincial atmosphere and the common sight of the Ngobe-Guble (formerly known as Guaymies) indians.

Before I finish my short account of the town of Boquete, le me show you one last picture. This is the Fair of the Flowers and the Caldera river you saw on a previous photo. Except this time the river that appeared peaceful was enraged and threatening the town. We were originally going to stay in the Hostal that was right where I took the picture from, but because of the noise of the fair the owner got us a room in his other hostal. Lucky us because it would have been unnerving to try to sleep with a raging river at your window!. During the night a large tree sucumbed to the anger of the river and fell down on the patio and balcony, it barely missed the roof! Most of the nice patio (and bench) were taken by the river... gone with the water... Lucky I didn't go to Bocas del Toro because over there they had some serious flooding (houses underwater and all!).

In our first night in Boquete it started to rain right after midnight, a rain of biblic proportions. It rained heavily the whole night and in the morning it continued non-stop. After a hearty breakfast we drove back to the Panamerican highway, then 28 kms. northwest towards the border with Costa Rica until we reached the entrance to the town of Concepcion. There we took the right into PROV-41 (look for the entrance to Concepcion, you won't see a road marked PROV-41). Then just go on for 32 kilometers of a good provincial road. It goes up and up and offers you some beautiful views of the mountains, the valleys and even the coastal area! Ah! it brings good memories... You will pass the famous (in Panama) Hara San Miguel and other places dedicated to breed pure blood horses. And you will see clouds hanging low on the valleys below. You will admire orchids on the trees, and an explosion of greeness that makes you want to stay there. Finally, the road winds down into the nice and peaceful town of Volcan (where I hope to live when I retire). It is a good place to relax and enjoy the quietness and scenery. I saw again the house that used to belong to an aunt, a place that brings back good memories of times gone by.

Here in Volcan tried to visit the old artisanal crafts of San Benito but it appears to be closed (sad, only open on request). We bought some more vainilla crackers and since we had come such a long way from Panama (and me from Europe where I live) we found a sign on the main road that said "Sitio Barriles, 6kms)". Wow! I read about this at school, a notorious archeological place. The road also had some splendid view, and oh, the smell of fresh air and coniferous trees it was like a blast from the past! olfactory memory!. Sitio Barriles is actually run by the family that owns that piece of land almost since the beginning of the republic (German-Belgian immigrants). National Geographic and others have excavated here. The large rock shown here is just one of the several petroglyphs made by the inhabitants. This one shown here depicts the various settlements of people some more than a thousand years ago as well as landmarks such as the volcano and others. Here you will also see the collection of pre-columbine artifacts such as Metates and Statues, pottery that lies underneath and a polished rock that is smooth but when wet reveals yet another petroglyph. Mrs. Landau who owns the land where it is located, offers a group tour explaining all you need to know about the site (in Spanish).

After Sitio Barriles we had lunch in a nice cozy place, also about $5.00/person. You must not miss the "tasajo" (a smoked beef). Then we drove (you won't miss the intersection at the center of the town) 22 kms. further north upwards towards Bambito and Cerro Punta. Here you have a good view of the Baru Volcano with 3474 mts. it is the highest point in the republic (you can arrange hiking trips to the sumit). Baru is a strato volcano whose last eruption was about 1550. The volcano is on the right (usually covered by clouds) on the road to Bambito. Here we went along the other big river of the province (also used for river rafting), the Chiriqui Grande river, but since it had been raining (and was still raining) since last night, the river that normally was beautiful and with crystalline waters, was now brown and swollen in anger. You can stop in Bambito (there is a hotel there as well and some cabins) for a stroll (nice to do) but we continued up to Cerro Punta.

We finally reached Cerro Punta, the highest you can get with a regular (not 4x4) car. This is farmland in the highlands, were most of the produce of Panama is produced. Normally it is a beautiful place (several accomodations possible) but unfortunately it had been raining for more than 30 hours and we could barely see some 100 metres further due to the curtain of rain. I waited many years to come back and I get rained down :(. So I can only offer you this picture of my family enjoying some fresh strawberry milkshake at El Pariente, cozy (though rather pricey) place. After the shake and with rain plus the cool temperatures you will chill up! Never forget to bring a jacket!. Just a reminder, about the year 660 AD a violent eruption of the Baru Volcano ended human ocupation in this area.

Since there was nothing but rain we decided to drive back to Concepcion. Be careful on the road, people tend to drive fast and accidents happen. We saw an overturned pickup on the road and a passenger bleeding in pain on the side of the road. There were people there watching and helping; we called the emergency number anyway to report the accident. We can only hope this person is recovering. We had a brief stop to visit a cousin of us in Dolega (the road to Boquete). Then a very short stop at a balneary called Najagua to take a picture of a nice waterfall on the river. The balneary however is in pitiful state so I don't consider it a place to have a splash.

In Boquete we had our dinner and tucked into bed early (after reading my book) because it was still raining cats and dogs. In fact, upon return to Boquete we learned that the river was so swollen they had to close the Flower Fair (for the next 3 days). Thirty years ago this not-so-wide river went over its banks and flooded the town. We went to see it. The river was showing its angry face, over its banks, bridges were closed, dirty waters, fallen trees, and the terrible noise of large stones being dragged underwater. It sounded like drums, very impressive.

OK, so the nice trip to the highlands was over, very wet I must say yet enjoyable. Rather than going back the same old way, we decided to make a variation. On the road from Boquete to Dolega (to David) which I call PROV-43, you will find a T-intersection that is marked as the road to Fortuna. We took that road, though it would have been nice to visit the hydroelectric of La Fortuna we were on our way to Gualaca. Make sure you have tanked because it is a long way before you see any petrol station!. Very interesting landscape, lots of "Churumico" trees and barriers of rocks. Then we arrived to the crossing of the dam at Esti. This was one of the projects of ex-president Mireya Moscoso. Here a photo of my Mom and my nephew. There is the Esti hydroelectric plant nearby which produces about 650GWh per year.

After a some 40 kilometers of nice and peaceful grassland used for cattle we reached this almost dry river (in summer) so only the rocks and some patches of water were visible. It was a nice place too and we stoped there to snatch some plants that my mother wanted. We continued our trip a bit longer to the small town of Gualaca (I missed taking a nice picture there) simply because we wanted to buy some delicious "BienMeSabe" which is a local artisanal product (sweet). We had to wait some 15 minutes because they were making a new batch and geez! still warm and absolutely delicious!, it was worth the trip. We even took more for my sisters.

Gualaca is also a cross-point so to say because there the road forks off (also impossible to miss it) into the road that goes to Fortuna and then on over the continental divide and into the province of Bocas del Toro. That by itself is a nice trip with beautiful scenery I hear (it is on my list). Or, like we did (we had to), we took the opposite way towards the Panamerican Highway to continue our trip back to Panama city. Only because it is more than 400 kilometers we made the first leg to our house in Los Santos, and next day on to Panama.

Article and Photographs Copyright ©2005 Didimo Grimaldo