Boquete, Panama

And so, all good things must come to an end .... we said farewell to our jungle house and climbed into a taxi at 7 am to drive down the 7 km teeth rattling road for the last time in order to catch the 90 min water taxi to Golfito. Here we boarded a 2 hour "chicken bus" ride to Panama's border, thankful to have secured a seat. We prepared ourselves for the forewarned, complicated process of crossing into Panama, however it turned out to be a fairly simple, if somewhat disorganized, process because before we knew it, we were bundled into a taxi (deciding it was well worth the extra cash NOT to take another local bus which would have been a 4 hr, no a/c trip to our next destination). We received one last scrutinized head to toe check from a couple of armed police who obviously lacked any form of humor as my rather timid smile was received with a piercing frown.

Oh what luxury.... we were gliding along smooth well marked roads where 2 hr later we arrived in the mountain town of Boquete, elevation about 3000 ft, with it's cool fresh climate and lush pristine natural setting and our 'home' for 6 nights. Boquete is known as 'The valley of eternal spring' and is a well known destination for outdoor lovers with plenty of hiking trails and surrounding breathtaking vistas of mist covered hills, nearby forests, and many coffee plantations, farms and gardens. There are jacaranda trees, bougainvillaea and azaela blooming everywhere in fact the ground is so fertile here I would bet that if one stuck a stick in the ground, it would start sprouting leaves in no time! The climate is perfect, no air conditioning OR heating required year round! That's not to say there is not a rainy season or that it doesn't get cool at times, but folk just throw on a sweater or blanket at night.



There is a large community of expriates from the US and Canada now living here, some are involved with the much needed voluntary work (teaching, dental and medical services) for the indigenous folks that are very prevalent in this town, they have so very little, and one can see their poverty everywhere. Generally they seemed to prefer to keep to themselves, and would rarely make eye contact. We were fortunate enough to visit and spend a little time with several Americans who relocated to this beautiful area, and patiently answered many of our questions, they don't seem to miss living in the US at all.

Observations:

- An over population of wandering, seeminly homeless dogs, malnourished and skittish. We were actually told to pretend to pick up a rock, then the dog would flee.... this is how these poor animals are treated.

- Garbage needs to be placed in elevated wire baskets outside residences in order to keep it out of reach of these dogs.

- And, like everywhere we have been, the smell of burning of trash is always in the air!

- Fine dining, $12.... Beer $1 unless bought at a groc store then it's 50cents!

- Aggressive drivers, cars/ taxies/ buses, all oblivious they have indicators but love their horns.

- Excellent roads.

- Electricity erratic, one day we were without electricity for 7 hours, not sure what would happen had this been Christmas Day and all those turkeys cooking.

- Locals holding out a parrot, for sale along the main roads.... I wanted to buy them all and then set them free again.




Two coffee pickers that agreed to a photo, but would not smile.