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Published: January 25th 2023
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Less than an hour away from David on the bus was the hill town of Boquete. It's famous for flowers and coffee in Panama, and we arrived in the middle of the festival devoted to those two products. Sounds great, doesn't it? Unfortunately it meant music blaring out until 5am meaning most of our waking hours were spent in a bleary-eyed daze. I think visiting at another time would leave you with a very different impression, but for us it wasn't great. We enjoyed ourselves but perhaps not as much as we had expected to. We chose the Hostal Gaia (overpriced - they all are) away from the main drag but sadly for us it was in a direct line of sight to the stages with the very loud musicians.
Anyway, moaning aside, we found plenty to do. There are a lot of hikes that you can do easily from Boquete but you have to keep an eye on the weather. The valley often has its own microclimate and we saw it in all its glory. Cloud gathers at the top and gradually moves down bringing with it continuous fine drizzle and occasional heavier downpours. Not great for hiking! Still,
we managed to walk up to the
Ecoparque (not to be confused with a Spanish Ecopark which is actually a recycling centre!) but without paying the $25 entry fee there was no way up to the big white cross that overlooks the valley. We had a great walk though and descended down to the river having got some great views for free. Alongside the river we had a not-so-great coffee in plush surroundings at the Panamonte Hotel. We had a good nose around the hotel and gardens before crossing the river and walking towards the festival grounds. It was quite busy but we decided to leave going in until our final day.
We did take a tour of a coffee plantation and the weather was kind to us. We booked through
Hello Travel who also arranged our onward transportation.
Don Pepe Estate Coffee Farm has been in business for well over a hundred years now. It's only in recent years that they have turned their hand to tourism though, and thanks to their excellent guides they are already providing a product as good as their coffee! The tour included tasting six different coffees. We didn't just taste - we had to smell too and
try to identify the different aromas. We really were not very good at that! The tasting was fantastic and made up for our lack of olfactory ability. The tour of the estate was brilliant too and we got to see everything from growing and harvesting to drying and roasting.
Now back to the
flower and coffee festival, but without the loud late-night music. The Chiriqui Park grounds were amazing with fabulous sculptures surrounded by a dazzling display of flowers. There wasn't much going on coffee-wise though. It was only $2 each to go in and have a look around and that was a pretty fair price. Wandering around and sitting down for a coffee took up a couple of hours of our day. It was nice, but not spectacular, although the floral displays were without a doubt resplendent in colour.
Although we cooked for ourselves most of the time in Boquete we did get to visit the
Boquete Brewing Company whose craft ales were delicious and refreshing. We also ate at the
Butcher Chophouse where we were surprised at the quality of Panamanian beef. Having decided against the premium Argentinian steak, we feared our dinner would be as tough as old boots. How wrong
we were!
After three nights of disturbed sleep we decided not to extend our stay and headed off to Bocas del Toro and the Caribbean. It took almost five hours, and you'll have to wait just a little longer to read all about it!
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CsuitesSlidell
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Very Good
Thanks to share the Wonderful Knowledge here. Thank You.