The Lost Waterfalls & Mi Jardin es Su Jardin

Today we drove back to Boquete to hike up to Lost Waterfalls.  It cost $3.00/person to enter the park and from there it was a 1.2 km walk up to the Lost Waterfalls.  It was a great day for hiking as is was overcast with a cool breeze.  Couldn't have asked for a better day to do this.  It was a gradual incline following a path which narrowed into a single trail.  Beautiful lush vegetation and the river running along side the path made for a wonderful walk.  We reached the falls knowing they wouldn't be that spectacular because this is the dry season but still saw the beauty of the falls and imagined what they would be like in the wet season.  The roar of the water in the wet season would be quite something.  I'm not sure I'd want to be there at that time.  Our trip out was much quicker as we were descending.  Great hike!

Rock climbing area on the road up to the park entrance.  On the way back into town there were 2 people climbing the wall.

They are trying to farm everywhere.  Looked like cabbage.

Crossing over the river in many spots on a foot bridge.

Lush vegetation.

The Lost Waterfalls...can you imagine the wall of water falling in the wet season!!!

An abandoned castle (house) overlooking the river, along the road going back into town.

The river by the abandoned house.

Another amazing waterfall along side the road heading back to Boquete.  Such beautiful scenery!

When we got back into Boquete we stopped at Mi Jardin es Su Jardin.  This is a magnificent garden surrounding a private estate.  You can not go into the residence but you are free to stroll about the garden during the daylight hours.  There is no charge and the garden is open everyday of the year.  A lot of work and money has gone into creating this spectacular garden filled with flowers and ponds.

The pictures really don't do it justice.  It was very spectacular!

Cerro Punta & Guadalupe

Bambino was our first stop today.  What a hidden gem!  Hotel Bambito is a 4-star accommodation with unbelieveable manicured grounds.

Across the road is Truchas de Bambito rainbow trout farm, where thousands of trout are raised in outdoor ponds in the cold water from the nearby river.  You can catch your own fish there and take them back to the hotel and they will prepare them for you.

Continuing on through the rich agricultural lands we saw many fields where they grow vegetables.  The views were spectacular through the valley.  In the town of Cerro Punta there were a lot of stands selling the vegetables along with huge bag fulls of carrots, potatoes, onions and cabbage.

Carrying on down the road the valley narrows and we start to see the the agriculture climbing up the steep slopes in Guadalupe.  It was very amazing to see people working on these steep slopes.  Some crops were being planted and some were being harvested.  We really need to appreciate where our vegetables come from and how hard someone has to work in order for us to enjoy them.  Guadalupe is full of flowers.  As we passed by people's yards they were filled with beautiful flowers.  The yards and fincas (farms) are very meticulously tended.

Workers picking onions.

The steep slopes being farmed.

Workers picking up potatoes so the fields can be prepared for planting again.

Workers being picked up and moved to another plot to begin there next task.  All the men carried a hoe.  And yes it was a very misty day, so rubber boots and raincoats were a must today.

Finca where they raise racehorses.

A lot of grass for the horses to eat.  Very well fed and good looking horses.

On our way home we stopped at a bridge to see the waterfall.

Great drive through this agricultural region.  Incredible how these people are able to utilize every bit of land to produce such vegetable crops.  Not a lot of machines doing the work, very intense manual labor.  We wonder how long people will want to carry on doing this?

Boquete

We had a beautiful drive through dairy and citrus country to get to Boquete.  We were very surprise to find the road following along a plateau instead of winding up and down a mountain. 

Bougainvillea in full bloom along side the road.

Citrus grove.

Orange tree

Processing plant

Arriving in Boquete, we found it to be a bustling town with many tourists out and about.  The town is nestled in a mountain valley with the Rio Caldera running through it.   It felt cooler there when we got out of the car to wonder around.  They say there is a light rainfall here everyday, so don't be without some rain gear.

Rio Caldera

Flowers, coffee, vegetables and citrus fruits are grown in and around Boquete.

Parque de las Madres is where the Boquete Flower Festival is held every January.  We walked around looking at the many different flower beds with statues and the various flowers.  

We spent the afternoon sitting in the central plaza listening to Jazz and Blues Bands.  They were quite good.  It was great sitting and enjoying the music.

Central Plaza 

Volcan

Today we started exploring to see what the area had to offer.  We started out toward Volcan and our first stop was at Arte Cruz Volcan - Artesania en Madera, to see the artist Jose de la Cruz Gonzalez, this place was recommended in the Lonely Planet book.  He does beautiful etchings on glass, signs, sculptures and furniture out of wood.  He was trained in fine arts in Italy and Honduras, and his work has been commissioned by buyers worldwide.  Jose was very happy to demonstrate how he does the glass etchings and also the wood carvings and also explain his art.  He had some amazing pieces of art work in his shop.  What a talented man!  We had him make a sign for Cash, he created in in probably less than 15 minutes as we stood there and watched him, all free hand.

Jose creating the sign for Cash.

Jose putting the final touches on Cash's sign.

The finished product.  Beautiful!

We got to Volcan and they say there isn't a lot to do there and that is correct.  We carried on, on the road toward Cerro Punta or so we thought.  This area has beautiful breathtaking views of the very fertile valley.  Along the way were many dairy farms and coffee estates.  We think we were very close to the Costa Rican border so we turned around heading back to Volcan.

Cattle we grazing in the valley.

Coffee trees on the slopes.

The road was steep and winding because of the mountains (large hills nothing like the Rockies), we overlooked the beautiful and lush valleys where coffee was grown and yes, the dairy cows grazed.  It was a very picturesque drive.

Cuesta De Piedra

We left Coronado this morning at 7:30.  Beautiful scenery and quite uneventful until we got to Santiago.  We ran into construction with speed zones of 30 - 40 kms/hr.   No one was really obeying them however we tried hard to reduce our speed when there were workers on the road which was very often.  They are redoing and making the highway from Santiago to David a double lane highway.  It was very hilly and we crossed a lot of rivers in the 170 kms we drove, so a huge job ahead of them.  They started this about a year ago and are hoping to finish this year, just not sure of that.  There was a lot of very good equipment working so maybe.  It will be a very scenic drive once the road is finished.  We got to David by 2:00 somewhat longer than we thought.  From there it wasn't long to get to our Cabana.  Now our cabana isn't quite what the pictures looked like but the view and the scenery are beautiful and we can't wait to start checking things out.

Constuction along the road.

Beautiful countryside along our way.

Our cabana.

The view from our patio.  Gotta love it.  Someone once said go for the view...we did this time!

Adios Coronado

It's been a month since we first arrived here in Coronado.  We are leaving here tomorrow and it is bittersweet.  We have really enjoyed our stay in Casita Patty and our wonderful neighbour Nathalie who supplied us with fresh mangoes daily and was extremely helpful when we went asking.  We will miss our early morning waks on the beach and our afternoon walks on the other beach near us.  We enjoyed just sitting on the rocks listening and watching the waves roll in and the pelicans do their dive into water for their meal.  It's a wonder they don't come out with broken bills because they look like they hit the water very hard.  

Fred has summed it up best by saying, "if you are looking to retire with the perfect climate and all the amenities of America Coronado is the place.  You can only buy ice cream in 2 places...McDonald's and gelato in one of the upscale grocery stores."  We did find a little Cuban bar that you could get a darn cold cerveza for .90.  We didn't go there that often and left early as we were usually the only gringos there.

The beach we walked each morning.

A beautiful sunset from up top of one of the high rises along the beach.  Friends, Ron & Marlene, we met on the beach walking each morning invited us for drinks.  This was their view on the top floor where the pool was and a very nice sitting area.

Here we are with our wonderful neighbour Nathalie in front of our Casita.  We said our goodbyes hoping to see her again.  Possibly when we are returning to Panama before we fly home or she says she might surprise us and come to Canada to visit.  Wouldn't that be great!

Adios Nathalie & Coronado!