Oh how nice is Panama...

After spending over 2 months in Costa Rica, it was time to move on to another country. During my time in Costa Rica I had no idea where to go next. I had heard quite a few things from different people on my trip. Mexico is beautiful, Nicaragua too and Colombia first. Somehow not that many people raved about Panama. But there were several reasons why I finally decided on Panama as my next travel destination. On the one hand, I had previously learned that the political situation in Nicaragua is currently getting worse. (Although Nicaragua is officially a presidential republic, it has strong dictatorial traits. The democracy index is below 3 out of 10 and in a global comparison there are only 27 countries that do worse. Anyone who expresses criticism is currently being persecuted, imprisoned or expelled land.Since I received a lot of the information and also personal stories from a primary source, a trip to Nicaragua was no longer an option for me for moral reasons.) On the other hand, I was already in the south of Costa Rica in Drake Bay anyway and therefore close the Panamanian border. And thirdly, I wanted to meet up with Wenke, a friend from Rostock's days, who wanted to travel for a few more months after her semester abroad in Costa Rica. She was also traveling on the Pacific coast with her boyfriend Fux and their own car, so it was perfect that we meet in front of the Panamanian border and start the Panama adventure together.

But before that, some planning was needed, because meeting up spontaneously in a country wasn't as easy as expected. Because when you're as flexible and quite spontaneous as we are, you often don't know where you'll be in a week. Luckily our plans fitted together pretty well and so I moved on March 17th. from Drake Bay to take a boat to Sierpe and then a taxi to Palmar Norte, which is just off the Panamericana the two took from Uvita. However, my arrival was a bit adventurous, because I stood around aimlessly at the jetty in Sierpe for too long and then almost all taxis and ride-sharing opportunities were gone. I asked the last remaining cars and at first they said they were all full. Then I found someone who first said something in Spanish and then loaded my luggage into the back of his car. When I asked where to get in, he pointed to a taxi that was being loaded with luggage and people. I went to the driver, who also said something in Spanish and then loaded me into the taxi. Meanwhile, I saw my luggage drive away out of the corner of my eye. But then he explained to me that they would bring my luggage to the bus station in Palmar Norte, to which we are now going. I felt very queasy about it, but all I could do at that moment was trust people. The half hour drive was pretty stressful despite the nice people in the car. Arrived at the bus station, there were 2 people standing next to my luggage and waiting. phew Everything went well again. In other countries, my luggage would probably have been lying on some junk table in a backyard long ago. A man who was just sweeping the street kindly carried my luggage over to the bus station or the toilet, where you can supposedly store your luggage for a short time. It's all a bit weird, but it worked. So I was able to do the few errands that I had planned to do in peace. So I trudged through Palmar Norte in the blazing sun with at least 35 degrees in the shade, looking for an ATM, a tobacconist and a cell phone card dealer. After an hour I had everything together. Gave another homeless man food at a baker's who modestly chose just a sandwich and a coffee, gave me a coffee and then back to the bus station. My luggage was still there, we went to the toilet again and then Wenke and Fux drove up. A cool moment I thought. Somewhere in Costa Rica to be picked up by 2 lovely people by car to start a road trip to Panama...mega 🙂 We were so happy that it worked out, that we can meet and travel a bit together. So off we went towards the border. On the way we stopped briefly at a restaurant that seriously sold turtle eggs. Supposedly legal. Naaaja. It then got bureaucratic at the border. First we had to get the exit stamp. pay fee. Then over to arrange the exit for the car. Fux did all that while Wenke and I had time to chat. After about 30 minutes down to the actual border, park the car, photo with the Panama lettering, behind the border to a counter to take out insurance for the car (in Panama you need additional insurance), back again and arrange the entry for the car , pick up entry stamps for us, short and confusing check of the car and then drive the car again to a checkpoint. The border guy then talked to both of them for a while and at first I thought there were problems, but no, he seemed to like me somehow and tried to flirt in a rather strange way. It was funny at the moment, because I only understood the station, in retrospect it was rather silly and unprofessional. And then we went to Panama 🙂 By the way, I would have been lost on my own, because the whole system at the border was super opaque.

On the way we listened to the radio play of the children's story "Oh, how beautiful is Panama" by Janosch 🙂

We made a quick stop at a river and then drove to our overnight accommodation halfway to Boquete, our planned destination. After the nice evening with the 2 men in whose Airbnb we stayed and some puzzles and amazement about the Thermomix of the two, we continued towards Boquete in the morning. On the way we stopped at a river with a canyon and pretty natural pools for swimming. While Wenke and I cooled off in the river, Fux climbed into the canyon. Or rather slid, because there was a kind of natural slide down and we wondered how he's ever going to get up there again. Luckily there were people from a canyon climbing tour who had professional equipment with them. The water looked beautiful there and crystal clear. But Wenke and I found the whole thing too adventurous. Even as we watched a few locals, obviously quite drunk, make their way back upstairs. The man then had to support the woman as they scrambled the rest of the way through the river over the slippery rocks. Oh well. On the further route towards Boquete we stopped at a few nice places to explore them and mopped oranges and tangerines on a freely accessible plantation.

Wenke and Fux had rented an entire house for us near Boquete that belonged to a woman whose husband had died a few years ago. Since the house was too big for her alone, she mostly lived in nearby David and rented it out through Airbnb in the meantime. With the house we also rented her 4 cats and all the private facilities. A little strange, since personal belongings, including family photos, were everywhere and I apparently slept in her bedroom. The facility also took some getting used to. Different styles and epochs were thrown together wildly, there was kitsch everywhere and there were definitely 6 sofas in the whole house. But there were 2 floors, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a big garden. Enough space to get out of the way if you feel like it. Because I hadn't seen Wenke for years, I had only met Fux briefly a few weeks earlier and so we didn't know what it would be like when we travel together and spend several days together. We read up on what to do in Boquete and most things had to do with hiking. But you could also climb the Barú volcano, the highest point in Panama at around 3500 meters. We had read about the hike up the volcano on the internet and it sounded so adventurous that we immediately opted out. 6 hours steep uphill, on a rather boring gravel road, and 6 hours down again. Luckily there was the alternative of taking a jeep up and down and then seeing either the sunrise or the sunset. That's what we wanted to do. But until that happened, it cost us and especially Fux a lot of time and nerves. Because in Panama there were holidays and all tours were already fully booked or you just couldn't reach anyone. So we thought about what we can do in the meantime. But since we first needed time to arrive and settle down, we spent the first day at home. I wrote a blog and Wenke and Fux did some organizational stuff. In between we cooked and ate together and chatted with each other. A nice relaxing day.

The next morning we somehow still felt quite unmotivated and didn't really have a plan. But at some point we pulled ourselves together and drove to the Pipeline Trail, a hiking trail near Boquete where you can see birds and probably even the quetzal. There is also a hiking trail called Sendero Quetzal, but it has been closed for 4 years, as we found out after a long research. Later I got to know another woman who was involved in the creation of the hiking trail in the 70s and told me some interesting things about it. But about that in another blog. The Pipeline Trail costs $5 to enter and, as the name suggests, leads along a pipeline for water, the meaning of which I didn't quite understand. The trail was beautiful, we saw some birds right at the beginning and met several people who told us they saw quetzals. We passed an impressive thousand-year-old tree, discovered small waterfalls and saw more birds. The trail ended at a large waterfall that was so beautiful to me that I had tears in my eyes. We stayed there for a while and then started on our way back, as it was late afternoon by now. On the way back we stopped in town again because the two of them had read about a market that was supposed to sell handmade things. In addition, there was a lot going on during the holidays and there was a kind of fairground. However, the market wasn't that spectacular, although there were some really nice things that I didn't want to carry with me on my further journey.

In the evening we cooked delicious food and let the day end.

The next day was lazy and organizing day again.

Since being lazy was nice, but not a permanent condition, the next day after breakfast we made another trip to Finca Lérida, a coffee farm, where you can probably also go hiking. Wenke had discovered this hike on the internet and in retrospect it was absolutely the right decision to go there. We stopped at a taco restaurant and got a burrito for provisions.

Admission to the finca was $12 and you got a bottle of water and a map with the hiking trails. We passed several tree tomato trees and picked up the still good fruit from the ground. Wenke didn't know this fruit yet, but loves tomatoes and so tree tomato, which is also called tamarillo and really tastes a bit like tomato, became her new favorite fruit. Shortly thereafter we heard bird calls that sounded like those of a bellbird. My bird song app confirmed this assumption. I had no idea that Bellbirds live in this region. I was immediately hooked and really wanted to find the birds. The group of trees from which the calls of the bellbirds came was quickly identified. After searching, listening, and staring for a while, I spotted a Bellbird in the trees. When I explained the position to Wenke, he flew away and she could only see him from behind. We walked to a vantage point from which we had a good view of the finca and also of the said group of trees. We sat there for a while and tried to locate the calls again. And then we saw him: a male Bellbird 😍 I was totally blown away. And although it was super far away, you could observe and photograph it well with binoculars. He sat very exposed on a branch high up in the treetop, called and performed his courtship dances. Unbelievable and indescribable. After I had already looked for the birds in the Bosque Eterna de los Niños in Monteverde but found none, this was an absolute moment of happiness. We sat there for quite a while watching and photographing the Bellbird. Unfortunately he was too far away for good photos, but at least you can see him in the pictures. And I made some videos. I stayed there alone for a while and Wenke and Fux walked the trail to the waterfall again, which I skipped due to lack of time. In between I heard several more Bellbirds, but couldn't see them. I saw a trogon instead. Meanwhile, Wenke discovered a quetzal at the waterfall. Back down at the finca we drank another coffee directly from the plantation and ate delicious cake. And I took pictures again of hummingbirds drinking nectar from the flowers of the bushes next to the cafe. A beautiful day that ended with a stop at a viewpoint and dinner together and a movie night at our house.

Check out was announced the next day. Wenke and I had decided to stay in Boquete for a few more days, but in a different place to stay. Fux wanted to go down to the sea and so we separated for a few days. But before that, we went on a trip to the Barú volcano together the next day. Fux had organized the jeep tour for us for a good price and so we went from the new hostel at 4 a.m. to the volcano by jeep. I was a little worried beforehand because it was supposed to go from 1200 meters in Boquete to 3500 meters. Altitude sickness cannot be ruled out there and I didn't know how my body would react. 'Cause I've never been that high before. I think so. But not doing it, just out of concern, wasn't an option. At first the road was still pleasant, but from the entrance to the Barú National Park the path became a gravel road. It was dark, we were tired and shaken up quite a bit. I tried to suppress my fears. The trip lasted 2 hours and was extremely exciting despite the concerns that kept flaring up. Our driver maneuvered us safely upstairs and clearly had fun with her co-driver (her assistant and second guide). A tough woman. At the top the air and the feeling was better than expected. But when we then had to walk a bit to the highest point, Wenke and I got weak in the knees. Literally. We skipped the last steep and rocky meters to the top. Luckily Fux went upstairs and was able to take some nice photos from there. We made ourselves comfortable a little further down and watched the sunrise. It was pretty cold and we had everything we owned on. We got gloves from our two guides. After sunrise we had breakfast with a beautiful view and then, this time in daylight, we went down the mountain again for 2 hours on the gravel road. On the way we saw some of the hikers who had walked the way up the volcano and were on their way back. We had read a lot about the hike beforehand and when we saw some of the brave but completely exhausted hikers, we were glad that we had decided against the strenuous variant. By 10 a.m. we were back at the hotel. Fux set off in his car and Wenke and I recovered from the rather strenuous tour. We didn't do much for the rest of the day. Lying in bed and watching videos, cooking and eating, chatting, writing a blog and planning the next few days.

We had booked a bird watching tour for the next day. Since Wenke is studying biology and also loves birds, we really wanted to go on a birdwatching tour together. But this time with a guide. We took a shuttle bus to Tree Trek Adventure Park where we met our guide. However, we were very unlucky with the weather, because it was raining cats and dogs and it was cool. And I had stupidly forgotten to put on my rubber boots. After a short time I had wet feet and was extremely cold. This made the tour a bit of a torture towards the end and I went back to the starting point a little earlier to warm up. But before that we saw some birds like toucans and 5 quetzals sitting quite relaxed in the trees. We were able to observe two of them very well and take many photos, while in the background other people were flying through the jungle hanging on a wire rope. Ziplining was also offered in the park. A funny picture. Frozen but happy, we took the shuttle back to Boquete. I probably got the rest from there, because the next day I caught a cold again. Wenke and I ended the day with a meal in the sushi restaurant, because she was supposed to take the bus to David the next day to meet Fux there again and drive back to Costa Rica and to another hotel in Costa Rica for me Boquete that I had discovered and really wanted to spend a few days there.

The one and a half weeks with the two were really nice and we experienced a lot of great things. Now it was time for me to explore Panama on my own and go on my own adventures again. And although I had a cold and accidentally arrived at the new hotel a day early, the next few days in Panama were very nice and eventful.

Until then and thanks for reading. Muchas gracias.