Back to some traveling

Was time to get back into some traveling and sightseeing, so headed up to boquete for a few days. Boquete is a town up in the mountains behind David, which is very popular with backpackers and also has a large population of Canadians, Europeans, and Americans (sorry, North Americans) who have retired/moved here for the climate and comparatively cheap cost of living. Hence it is very different from the rest of Panama, with good international restaurants and bars etc.

it is also cool to cold at night which is a great relief!

Plenty of touristy things to do, including hiking across the top of Volcan, Panamas largest mountain (actually a dormant volcano). To do this though you need to start on the other side at about midnight so you reach the summit at dawn. From here you can see (if not cloudy, hence the dawn arrival) both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The only place this is possible I believe (cape Horn is the southern ocean so that doesn't count).

Bec, an Australian backpacker in her eleventh month of travelling (god knows how you could do that), wanted to go but was wary of doing it solo. Hiking up a mountain is not my idea of a holiday, so I wasn't interested, and as it turns out that was maybe a wise choice. Back in David, Melvyn told me all sorts of stories of people getting lost for days, falling off the mountain, getting eaten by 'tigers' (we'd call them jaguars, and they are around in these parts), or getting eaten by the cannibal tribe "Los Indios Conejo" - the rabbit tribe. So called because of their large buck teeth. He acknowledged that the existence of this tribe is somewhat of an urban myth, but it does highlight the density and unexploredness (?) of the area... Bec chose not to go...

Other activities were well worth it though - white water rafting was great, even though due to the season it was quite tame (class 1 & 2 mostly, with one short class 3 rapid), but magnificent scenery and great to be able to swim and cool off. Disappointed though as the American (sorry, North American) family didn't want to tip the raft at any of the rapids. It was Ok though, the guide pushed me often enough...

Zip lining through the canopy also great fun, but you really don't get too much time to look at the scenery below you.

And of course the obligatory coffee tour. Boquete produces the worlds most expensive coffee, but it all pretty much tasted the same to me. Interesting to see how it all is made though.

Anyway, this page is mostly so I can upload some pics.

Hasta,



Rio Chiriqui, lunch...



Wrong side of the boat...



Great views (apparently, not much time to enjoy when flying through the air)



The longest line was about 400m, and about 200 ft up. Costa Rica though is a much better zip lining place. Cheaper, and also have one run of over 2km which you can due 'Superman' style (parallel, head first, feet also elevated). Maybe next time.



I look fat in this...

Location:Boquete, Chiriqui