Blogs from Chiriquí, Panama, Central America Caribbean - page 22

From Panama City, we flew to David (second largest city in Panama) and drove around 45 min. to Boquete. Boquete is a relatively small town (6,200 people according to Wikipedia) in the mountains near the border with Costa Rica. It is growing really quickly due to a large influx of American and Canadian retirees. We saw a lot of gringos around town and were amazed at all of the billboards in English and signs advertising land and houses for sale. We stayed at Isla Verde, a beautiful resort just a couple of blocks from town. We were almost giddy when we got there because it was so gorgeous, especially after the rough introduction to Panama we'd gotten in Panama City. We got settled and were hanging out for a little while before going to get some ... read more

Up to the Highest Height! On the 25th of Feb, the Katies, some friends and I went to the Chiriqui Province of Panama to climb Volcan Baru. The summit is at about 11,400 feet and about a 7 mile upward hike from the base of the volcano. We spent the first two days in Boquete, a tiny town nestled in the foothills of the volcano and surrounding mountains. On our journey from Panama City to Boquete, we stopped by a bus-station foodstand to get some lunch and apparently all ate something there that didn't agree with us. As soon as we reached Boquete the 5 of us had terrible cramps and spent the following day rushing to the bathroom every few hours. Of course there were lots of bathroom jokes made and it was quite ... read more

Greetings! Writing with some very soar muscles, we´re happy to tell you guys we climbed a 3480m Volcano yesterday (not active!). We arrived in Boquete on Wednesday the 7th after a boatride from Bocas and then a 6 hour bus drive through the center of Panama to the mountains of Boquete. It is very beautiful here with mountains and hill surrounding the valley town. At night it cools down a little but we´re sure it doesn´t compare to any of the winter chills you´re having now:) On the first full day the boys went on a little adventure hike checking out the country side. There are a few coffee farms around town and tons of development with the many american and candian retirees coming into this region. It´s really a nice town to end up in ... read more

SO the rain cleared up in Boquete and the weather here is really nice. Its been about 75 during the day and 55 at night. I keep hearing about all of the freezing temps and snow in Montana, Colorado and Mass and it makes me feel a little guilty - but just a little. So I took a spanish class on Monday afternoon for 3 hours. I got some helpful info out of it, but something just isn´t right about sitting in a classroom while on vacation - 3 hours was more than enough for me. Monday evening I got call from a friend that I met when I first arrived in Santa Fe about 10 days ago. His name is Pascal and he is originally from France, but has been spending a lot of time ... read more

Ok, from Panama City we took a bus to San Carlos, an hour and a half north and stayed at Hostel Costazul, which was nice but coompletely desserted. It was also AGAIN ANOTHER holiday (apparently they have a lot here) and there were little things open in the small town and they don´t sell alcohol on holidays so we high tailed it outta there and the next day caught the only bus that woulnd stop for us and went to Santiago and got out there and were offered a ride from a guy in a van to David for cheap with no stops, so against our better judgement we took it and found out he was a nice guy named Joel trying to make a quick buck while delivering pamphlets for Budget car rental and we ... read more