We arrived in Boquete on February the 20th, just at the time when the
coffee was being harvested. The city was starting to fill up with
foreign and national tourists but we still managed to bump into Brad
whom we had previously met in Las Lajas. After trying to find
accomodation in the city center, the “Gringo Loco” proposed to take us
to the place where he was staying, and after driving around the
outskirts of Boquete (Brad did not really know the way :-) we were
welcome by Carmen, the delicious landlady of the house, who offered us
a hudge glass of freshly squeezed strawberry juice!... Beginning from
that day, we were not only given a room but a whole lot of nice
attentions! Carmen cookedg for us the first evening and loved talking
to us, in Spanish of course, and since Brad had a few problems
communicating in this language, Stef and I became their translators!...
The house was not a 3 stars hotel, but it was a great privilege to feel
kind of part of a family ; the neighbour who was coming almost everyday
to have dinner with Carmen also enjoyed talking with us and 2 of her
daughters also joined us to chat, exchange ideas and teaching us even
more about the Panamean habits and culture, the political problems of
the country, the state of the society and the specific problems of the
indigenous community.
While in Boquete, we of course decided to go
and “conquer” the top of the famous “Volcan” Ibaru. 15 kms up, 15 kms
down, on the same day!... We had to wake with the rooster and started
our long trek when the sun was still down. We saw the colours of the
sky changing with the minutes and were followed by the songs of the
birds all the way. That was a really magic moment, a moment of pure joy
and beauty, which gives you the feeling that you are alive and a really
lucky person. The ascension was extremely hard on our muscles and there
were hardly any moments where the surface was a bit flat. We tried to
spot as many birds as possible on the trail and when we heard from a
couple of young scouts going down that they had seen 4 quetzals, we
almost got a whiplash looking up every tree!... A bit further up we met
the rest of the unhappy and thirsty crew who told us that they had been
obliged to spend the night on the top after spending 14 hours climbing
from the other side of the volcano : we could read on their faces that
they were exhausted and starving, and some girls were even on the edge
of crying when they passed us. Well, at that point we knew that we had
to go down the mountain the very same day, and as quick as possible! In
total we had to climb 2000 meters up in order to reach the altitude of
3476 meter – Hard, hard, hard... We took our time, all the same,
bearing in mind that going back down would take less time, and focussed
on enjoying the amazing nature around us. We saw lots of hummingbirds
and plants and flowers we had never seen before. At some point we were
walking on a path only bordered by bright flowers. Nothing else but
yellow, red, purple, pink, orange and white walls of flowers –
unbelievable!
When we eventually arrived at the top, our legs were
feeling pretty sore and the muscles of my bum were screaming for help ;-
) We took a picture next to the cross standing on the summit (it’s the
picture of the week!!!!) and took a well deserved break before
descending. The way down was much easier but this time we had the
feeling that our knees were on the edge of giving way! We arrived at
the beginning of the trail in the dark and pretty relieved that we did
not have to spend the night in high elevations! However, when we
eventually reached the crossroad where we had been dropped in the
morning, the was no sign of any taxi nor bus, and it was pitch dark L
Ohohohohho... we really thought at that point that we would have to
walk an extra 8 km to go back to civilization, but fortunately enough
the driver of a big jeep coming from the top stopped and gave us a lift
J The guy was responsible for the maintenance of the communication
antennas located up there and had to go up and down EVERY DAY in his
super sturdy and flexible 4 wheel drive!...
The next day Stef and I
both woke up feeling as if we were 30 years older... Gooooooooood!
Everything was hurting! There was no way we were going to do anything
physical –that was our first intention, but of course, things
change!...
We went to have breakfast in “El Explorador”, a place
recommended by our guide book, had a milkshake with a fruit
called “noni” which is supposedly sooooooooo healthy that it is
becoming a hype in the USA (...) but Yaaaaaaacks! that was not what I
would calle exquisite :(( even though the thingie was mixed with some
pineapple, I still got the feeling that I was drinking the soaking
water of some dirty socks... Then we went on a tour of the so
called “Alice In Wonderland Garden”. Well, “my a..”! the place was
merely awfully tacky, with elevator music coming from the bushes,
little gnomes, trees shaped in the most dreadful shapes, old shoes
being recycled as flower pots, “wise” messages and local sayings
displayed on almost every trunk... At least we could have a rest on a
swing and had a really good laugh!...
We then went on a supposedly
short walk to go back to the center of town but thanks to the map of
our Lonely Planet (NO COMMENT...) we ended up having to walk for ages –
just what we needed! Obviously the author of the book had never been
there and got the explanations from the tourist office (NO COMMENT) or
simply made up the whole thing to fill up some gaps in his bloody
book : )) But anyway, we arrived “safe and happy” and managed to have
just enough time to arrange some business with a guide : we wanted to
hike to another city the next day and hire somebody to bring our heavy
backpacks over there. Amazing what a few dollars can achieve... The guy
was going to travel by bus and simply drop our stuff in the lodge where
we would stay, go back the same way and probably take his girlfriend
for dinner with his easily earned wages and surely thinking that we
were “totalmente locos”!... or “stupidos”? J
We then went on our “in
deep exploration” of Boquete not willing to feel like we missed
something and went to the most touristic attraction: “Mi jardin es su
jardin”. Well, once again, what could I say? That was nice. Yep, that
was nice. Flowers, lots of flowers, fountains, bridges, cut outs in the
shape of a woman watering plants, mowing the lawn, painting a fence,
and EVEN the reproduction of a Dutch windmill!...
Fortunately, our
last evening in Boquete revealed to be much more interesting. We did
not have so much time to spend with Carmen, but her daughter took us,
together with Brad, on a kind of night sight-seeing tour. This way we
saw the “finca” of the Panamean President, Mireya Moscoso, disgustingly
hudge and wealthy estate compared to the poor barracks sheltering the
Indians working in its coffee fields...
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