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Off to Panama City
We had a few odds and ends to do in Panama City, plus we had missed celebrating John’s 70th Birthday so we decided to turn the trip into a road adventure.
From Bocas we flew to Albrook where we once again stayed in the Wyndham Albrook mall hotel. This hotel is attached to the enormous mall and close to Albrook airport making it really convenient.
Casco Antiguo, also known as Casco Viejo
Our first day trip was into Panama City to Casco Antiguo, also known as Casco Viejo, this area is the fabulous old city of Panama. UNESCO has recognized the old city’s cultural and architectural importance and listed Old Town as a World Heritage Site.
A walking tour with Conrad
I was thinking we would do a self guided walking tour. We had an online map and figured we would follow along. Our first stop was where the taxi dropped us at the:
Iglesias Casco Antiguo,
a church, which was founded in 1609 and appeared interesting to look around. The relics, statues and painting were obviously incredibly old.
After the church we were trying to find our way to the next site when an older gentleman stopped us and offered a tour. We were hesitant, but he was persistent and persuasive. So that was how we hooked up with Conrad for the morning’s street tour. He really knew his history and the stories of the city and characters that it was renowned for.
We walked onto the Iglesia de san Jose with its Golden Altar,
not solid gold but carved mahogany covered with gold leaf. Again a magnificent church.
Next stop was the Iglesia de la Company de Jesus which is essentially just ruins of what was in 1641 built as Jesuit monastery, apparently in 1767 the Spanish banished the Jesuits from the Colonies and the church was abandoned.
All along the way we walked along narrow quaint alleys and streets listening to Conrad’s stories which were interesting and numerous.
Passing various museums, churches, government buildings,
the French embassy,
along Calle 5 where venders were selling Panamanian mementos, the mollas were beautiful.
From the top of the old city walls we could gaze over the Pacific Ocean,
below us a rocky beach and various seabirds rested.
There’s a magnificent vista of the sky-scraper-pocked skyline of the modern business zone across the water.
We passed the Plaza de Francia walked along to Las Bovedas. A row of nine vaulted spaces called bóvedas, or “the vaults” these originally functioned as a Spanish dungeon and later as a jail, storehouse and offices. Conrad had gruesome stories about these vaults.
Conrad took us into a Panamanian hat store where they made and sold these special hats. Again he had much to tell and explain to us.
Passing by Casa Gongora, Iglesia y Convento de San Francisco de Asis which is now the Ministry for Home Affairs,
the Plaza Bolivar and Parque Bolivar, all the time dear Conrad was explaining the history and telling stories, too numerous to tell.
In the distance we could hear the rumble of thunder, it was lunch time, we could tell Conrad was tired, he didn’t want lunch with us so was paid him well, thanked him profusely and went to the restaurant he recommended.
Museo de Canal, the Panama Canal museum
After a wonderful lunch we visited the Museo de Canal, the Panama Canal museum. It was surprisingly large and gave the full history of the area starting way before in pre Columbian times.
The history is really, horrible, the people, the workers were not treated well, especially black folks. Overall the Americans were harsh, unfair, task masters.
There was a section that was from National Geographic which dealt with the pollution of plastic which was horrific!
Off to El Valle de Anton
For our 2nd full day we had arranged to pick up a car at the Albrook airport for 10:00am and by 10:30 we were on the Pan-American Highway out of the city. This is the main artery from North America to Central America and Panama.
We were headed to El Valle de Anton where we had the Eclipse hotel booked. Using our Google navigator we easily exited the city, crossed the Panama Canal on the famous Panama Canal bridge
and before we knew it we were turning off onto a small country lane towards El Valle de Anton, but to me it didn’t make sense as according to my info we were still some many miles away from El Valle de Anton. Anyway we drove along the lane to check out our hotel as that’s where is was located.
Seeing the Eclipse Hotel as we passed it looked like a very nice place, but it was too early to check in so we decided to drive on towards where google maps indicated El Valle was to be found.
We followed our Google map driving guide into the mountains. The scenery was stunning driving down the increasingly narrow lane. We reached an “intersection” ….straight ahead, left or right? Our driving guide said straight ahead, so off we went.
This was a very steep lane that turned into an unpaved track, but with no room to turn, deep, ditches on either side we had to keep going, up and up, around and about sharp bends. Finally, reaching a dead end at the Laguna – Lake, oh and camping site. I jumped out to take a photo when a young couple climbed up the path from the lake.
We said hello and then John proceeded to turn the car around. That was when they called out to us…..we had a very flat front tyre. Probably from all the off road driving we had just done. The couple were from Venezuela, had relocated to Panama and were out looking at property.
He helped John with the tyre and then they drove slowly in front of us all the way down. I think they were perturbed to find 2 old, dears, out in the middle of nowhere….
We backtracked down the track and then tried the right turning. This too proved to be a dead end, just leading to farmlands. Back down again we went this time stopping at Eclipse, our hotel, to check in and leave our bags. The lady there told us where to go along the PanAmerican highway to get our punctured tyre fixed, so off we went.
By now it was well past lunch, too late for lunch we had a few tangerines. The tyre place was only a few miles down the PanAmerican highway. The tyre was fixed within 20 minutes and only cost $11.
Back to Eclipse we headed.
This hotel was miles away from where we had hoped to be, but it was just lovely. Out in the middle of nowhere, with excellent views of the Pacific ocean in the distance and mountains on the other side of the building. Plus they served great food for dinner and breakfast too.
The next morning we set off to find El Valle de Anton, guessing it must be down the left hand turning. (Of course we could have gone via the PanAmerican highway, but didn’t)
This left hand bend led up to wonderful countryside. It was absolutely beautiful with the farmland and the mountains, streams and rivers.
Yes, again the lane was narrow, with ditches on either side and very steep at times, with sharp bends, but again with very little traffic. We both thoroughly enjoyed the journey and found El Valle.
El Valle de Anton
The town of El Valle is beautiful! It is situated in the crater of an extinct volcano, surrounded by mountains. The feel was almost alpine.
Our first stop was the butterfly farm: Butterfly Haven.
Here we took a tour, first learning all about different species of butterflies and moths. We saw the caterpillars, then the chrysalises. After which we entered the breeding and flying zone, an enclosed garden. We both loved the Owl Eyed moths.
Their markings are so realistically like an eye it’s just incredible. The Blue Morpho butterflies are very beautiful when flying flashing their blue inner wings, but when they land their exterior wing colour is a mix of brown markings.
There were glass butterflies with clear wings, red butterflies, green ones, yellow ones, just so many different types and sizes. We both were well entertained.
I had various sites in mind for our next stops, but by sheer accident we ended up at the Piedra Pintada entrance site. This is where there is a huge rock with hieroglyphics….not knowing that this was also the trail head for the Sleeping Indian Woman hike,
La India Dormida.
La India Dormida which translates into The Sleeping Indian Girl, is a mountain ridge that’s shaped like a sleeping woman’s body. You can easily see the resemblance when looking at it from El Valle de Anton (not so much when you’re actually on top of the mountain).
Anyway, oblivious to the distance or difficulty, off we trekked with just my camera and a bottle of water….. I did wonder why the group of teens ahead of us had two bottles of water each with them. Seeing all these teens with their teacher escorts I was pleased that they headed off leaving the trail quiet and empty for us. However we came across them at the large rock, Piedra Pintada and figured we would go a bit further and see the famous rock when we returned.
Up and up we hiked and climbed, the pathway was very slippery at times as small streams crossed it. We passed many lovely waterfalls, everything was millions of tones of green. The group of teens and their teachers passed us hurrying up the trail. …
Still the trail continued, steeper with boulders to climb over and slippery mud. Up and up we followed, we caught up with one of the teachers and a few of the slower students, so we ended up chatting and hiking together for aways.
The few folks coming down kept telling us how much further we had, 45 minutes at least, oh half an hour. Finally we came to a vista where we could see just how high we had climbed. Like WOW! The view was wonderful,
John asked me if I wanted to head down, “hell no!” Not after investing all that energy I wanted to reach the top. So on I slogged, John found it easier, my thighs were in pain with all the steep climbing. Plus I was wondering how the heck I was gonna get down??
Finally, we broke out of the trees and onto the ridge line, what a wonderful feeling of accomplishment.
The path then followed the ridge line, it was still a bit steep with sheer drop offs, but we could see ahead and around us.
We followed the rocky ridge line path all the way to the top of the Sleeping Indian Woman. And what a magnificent view! It was magic!
We enjoyed the top peak.
Admiring the views, looking across the valley.
Seeing all the mountains around us, cooling off in the breeze.
It was then time we headed down as we could see the clouds heading in across the valley.
The downward trek was tough! I had to be very careful not to slip and fall, but again the scenery was magical. The rain did arrive, but this just made the greens greener.
The school group bombed ahead so John and I had the pathway to ourselves. It was one of the best hikes ever!
And when we came across the large rock, Piedra Pintada nobody was there so we enjoyed it by ourselves.
Piedra Pintada is a giant rock, the largest of the petroglyphs and sculptures found in the Anton Valley dating back to pre-Columbian times, possibly about 8,000 years ago.
So…2 and 1/2 hours after we started we emerged from the starting point, 2:30pm.
Here is a local myth told about the Sleeping Indian Girl:
Flor del Aire was the daughter of Urraca, the most successful Chief in Panama fighting against the Conquistadores. It was her misfortune to fall in love with one of the Spanish soldiers. Yavari, one of the strongest fighters of her tribe, vied for her affection. When she did not return his love, in despair, he jumped to his death from a mountain top before the Princess’ eyes. In sorrow Princess Flor del Aire left her home and never saw the Spaniard again.
She crossed mountains and valleys bitterly weeping over her fate. Above the beaches of the Caribbean she fell dead looking back at the beloved mountains where she had been born. The mountains were so touched by this sad love story they decided to form the shape of the Princess, and that is how the India Dormida arose.
Based on Presbitero José Noto, De Historia
We drove into the town parked up and enjoyed our picnic lunch. Then off we went to visit the local market. Which we enjoyed walking around, seeing and buying fruits, and a few local crafts.
Next stop Boca Chica
Having spent 2 nights in Eclipse Hotel near El Valle we were set to drive to a hotel I had booked in Boca Chica. The main objective that day was to cover some road miles and perhaps see a Pacific beach. We drove the Pan American highway and except for turn offs for large resorts we never saw any turn offs suggesting a beach.
Plus, we realized we had many miles to cover. After the turn off towards Bocca Chica we encountered miles and miles of roadworks, plus delays.
At Bocca Chica, I was quite surprised to find that I had booked us into a home stay…..after previous experiences we normally avoid home stays.
We met the owner who was very nice, she explained that they fostered dogs and cats. At present they had 5 dogs and 5 cats living in the home. They started fostering during covid. We were given a bedroom and offered breakfast for the next morning.
So off we went to stretch our legs and look around Bocca Chica. It’s really just a very small, rural, fishing village set in an inlet behind an island. We saw the fishing boats, and walked the village’s 2 lanes, went to the local “grocery store” which was very tiny, had a lobster dinner in a nice, little restaurant, and that was Bocca Chica.
Boquete
Our next destination was the famous Boquete, we set out after a very nice breakfast that the lady of the house cooked us. The day was bright but as we drove the clouds began to set in and the drizzle began to fall. This was the beginning of the side effect from hurricane Julia that was nearing and then passing Central America.
Boquete is a small town on the Caldera River, in western Panama. The surrounding Chiriquí Highlands are home to coffee plantations and the Barú Volcano National Park, to the west. Highlights in the park include the towering Barú Volcano and Los Quetzales Trail, which offers sightings of the elusive quetzal bird. North of town, the Bajo Mono Loop drive has expansive views of the forest. All of which we hoped to see, but…..
Arriving in Boquete in the rain we found a parking spot and went for lunch and a warm drink, yes it was cold! I was freezing, the temperature was now 66 degrees Fahrenheit, all I had on were shorts and a sleelessT shirt. We pulled out the fleeces, in fact I wore a sweater and a fleece, and set out to enjoy a very nice lunch.
Our hotel in Boquette was lovely, set in the highlands around the town, with a river running right through the gardens. Our room was wonderful so we really didn’t mind spending the rest of the day hanging out in the room, keeping warm and dry. Later going for dinner at the hotel’s restaurant and having an excellent meal.
In the morning the rain was unrelenting, it was just pouring down in torrents. Oviously our plans changed, we did the best we could to see what we could in the pouring rain.
First we bought umbrellas. We took a drive around the town, drove into the mountains for a few miles, stopped at a few bridges to watch the flooding rivers.
We walked through Boquete looking at shop windows, had lunch, got quite wet and returned to our hotel room.
We awoke to a wonderful blue sky the next morning.
The drive to Changuinola
It was time to drive to Changuinola to return the car to Avis. We needed to arrive by 1:00pm and we had 208 kilometers to drive. We really didn’t have time to stop for pictures so I clicked out the window trying to get a few good shots as the passing countryside was beautiful.
The road was narrow and windy, up into the mountains, passing farmland, rivers and gorges. As we climbed the clouds were gathering in the highlands.
As we descended the farms changed from cattle to banana plantations and we could see the Caribbean sea between the tops of the mountains. In fact the whole flavor of the country side change from mountain to Caribbean shoreline.
Once at Changuinola we returned the car, got a taxi to Almirante and then a water taxi to Isla Colon followed by another back to Red Frog Marina. It was a wonderful trip, which we intend to repeat sometime in the future.
