Santa Fe and Boquete

Santa Fe

With a transfer in Las Uvaz on the Panamericana and Santiago, I reached the incredibly beautiful and rural Santa Fe in the afternoon. One thing is clear upon arrival, as my small simple hotel is located 200 m before the gates of Santa Fe. I had to walk uphill for a good km for all activities in the next two days, whether it was for food, the supermarket, or excursions.

Since Santa Fe is located high up at the end of the main road from Santiago, the first exploration makes it clear that one should not miss this mountain village on the Panama tour. Here, life is still calm and leisurely, almost as the Spaniards built it a few hundred years ago. Horses and chickens characterize the scene here. Life up here has its own rustic pace. Only the constantly annoying, roaring cars, tuning seems to be in fashion here at the moment, disturb the idyll a little.

Nick, whom I met in El Valle, had also arrived here and had met two Belgians. The two of them were traveling by rental car, and it turned out that the next day we took a little trip to some super beautiful waterfalls.

At the first stop, 10 km behind Santa Fe, on the road that was completed in 2020 down to the Caribbean Sea, it started to rain, which is normal if you look around here. You quickly realize that, apart from the road, there is still wild rainforest. And since it had been raining all night, you can imagine the condition of the path through the forest to the first waterfalls.

Mud, mud, and more mud. In the first 50 meters, I tried to hop from rock to rock, which was a difficult task due to the wetness. So I just ran downhill, knee-deep in mud. The first waterfall already improved the situation. And I could wash myself while passing through with my trekking sandals. The further way to the second and third falls always followed the course of the river. And at the third one, I jumped in directly to cool off. Then we went back to the road on a circular path.

We now followed the road for another 15 km through breathtaking scenery and discovered the 'Las Golondrinas' waterfall 2 km before the village of Guabal directly from the road on the right side. Even the first waterfall at the entrance was very beautiful. We gradually followed the path and kept coming across a larger waterfall each time. Level four was the most fantastic, with water crashing down from high above. You stood in a constant downpour of water, so you only noticed later that it had started raining again.

Cerro Tute

The next day, I started hiking up Cerro Tute with Nick and Tommy. This mountain rises just behind Santa Fe. And since you go uphill for about three hours again, you only really start laughing again when you have climbed the last part up to the stony summit, and you're standing there in extremely strong wind that almost sweeps you off your feet. The panoramic view compensates for all the hardships.

Boquete

The next day, after breakfast, I took the bus back to Santiago. Santiago is a larger town on the Panamericana, which, however, has little to offer in terms of tourism. It mainly serves as a hub for buses to various directions in Panama.

I stayed here for one night before continuing to David and from there up to Boquete. Boquete is a peculiar place, largely populated by Americans in their twilight years, enjoying their retirement in the beautiful spring-like mountain climate. I took a nice and interesting tour here to a coffee farm, naturally including a tasting.

In the evening, I had a daring idea to climb the Baru Volcano with a night hike. The owner of the accommodation was not thrilled about this idea and reminded me of the jaguars and pumas that roam the forests at night. Maybe she also had the mysterious story of the two missing Dutch girls nearby in mind, a creepy story. You hear this story very often here.

So, I changed my plan and set the alarm for 5 am. I then took a taxi down to the main road and had it drive me up to the entrance. When I arrived there, I was told that I now had to make a reservation and that only 70 people per day are allowed access, and there was no chance for today. When I said that I could just start walking, he already took out his phone and gestured to call the police.

I immediately dropped the idea of the volcano. Back at my accommodation, I simply enjoyed a few hours in the hammock. In the afternoon, I took the bus up to the 'Lost three Waterfalls'. It was a nice walk to three more waterfalls here, but unfortunately, they cannot compete with the waterfalls in Santa Fe, and now the entrance fee is 8 dollars.