On the trail of Quetzals...
We'd read and been told by travellers and locals alike that el Sendero Los Quetzales (The Quetzals Trail) is gorgeous and a good opportunity to see the elusive birds. It's supposed to be one of the most beautiful hikes in Panama. So we had to check it out.
We based ourselves in David, Panama's second largest city, for this. We happily stayed in the Purple House, a very cool hostel run by the very helpful Andrea. Highlights at the hostel included helping myself to lots of different nail polishes (including glittery ones!) and Iff making ACE mac and cheese. Brilliant!
Our second day there, we set out early for a bus to Cerro Punta, a wee town two hours away. It's famous for having lovely organic strawberries. So we stopped at a hotel in town and tried a gorgeous strawberry milkshake before heading off on our hike. We then got a taxi for the five kilometres to the end of the paved road. We walked two kilometres up a steep hill to get to the start of the trail. This is when Chris's highlight happened:
This gorgeous kitten is about six months old and loves to play. We got so many pictures of Chris playing with the kitten, that the camera batteries wore out! Luckily we had our phone as well so were able to take some pictures during the hike.
The hike itself was lovely. It goes through cloud forest habitat, full of lush vegetation and some huge trees. We went in the more downhill direction so it was never really difficult, but we took our time to enjoy the gorgeous views. There was plenty of rain and mud, which kept our shoes filled with rocks and muck. So whenever we had the opportunity to cross a stream or river, we were glad to wash it all off our feet and out of our shoes. We never managed to spot a quetzal, but we saw some other lovely birds. Iff managed to spot a gorgeous woodpecker, which was my wildlife highlight.
After just a few hours, we crossed a bridge and were surprised to emerge onto a road. We then walked about three kilometres to the end of the trail, all uphill! We encountered a group of four very clean (as opposed to us; although we had dried out a bit, we still had plenty of mud to show for our trek) tourists who grilled us about the hike. Would an hour into it allow them to see the beauty of it? Sure! Would they get all wet (looking suspiciously at our rain jackets and damp clothes)? Nah! Of course the rain had stopped by then.
We got to the traihead and saw a sign indicating that Boquete was only three kilometres away. That was a pleasant surprise; our guidebook said that Boquete was eight kilometres away! We could walk it, no worries; plenty of time. A family drove past us and offered us a lift into Boquete, but we fancied the wee bit of exercise. Surely we'd get to Boquete on our own in no time! Two hours later, our feet were killing us, and Boquete was nowhere in sight. At one point, a taxi drove past with the group of (presumably still clean) four tourists in it! They waved as the taxi drove around us.
We walked and walked and walked. It was 6pm, and we weren't sure when the last bus would leave Boquete for David, so we were getting anxious. We kept asking locals if we were headed in the right direction, and they all said we were. At last we got to the outskirts of Boquete. It was starting to get darker, and our legs felt like rubber. But then we saw some amazing rock formations, little versions of the Giant's Causeway, and we knew we might have missed them if we'd gotten a lift into town.
We walked and walked some more and finally got to the Boquete bus stop at 6:45pm. We were so happy to find a bus waiting there. We collapsed into a seat and ate the rest of the pasta we'd brought along for lunch. The bus left at 7pm, and we couldn't stop appreciating the fact that we'd made it in time. We'd already paid for our hostel room in David, and all of our stuff was there. It would have been really inconvenient if we'd been stuck in Boquete for the night. Whew!
We got back to David and to the hostel with no problems. We then intended to get up early the next day and head to El Valle, nearer to Panama City. But when the alarm went off the next morning, we weren't going anywhere. We spent the day chilling, catching up on laundry, and sampling some lovely falafel at a Lebanese restaurant in town. We also decided to change our plans a bit; next we're off to Isla Boca Brava...
We based ourselves in David, Panama's second largest city, for this. We happily stayed in the Purple House, a very cool hostel run by the very helpful Andrea. Highlights at the hostel included helping myself to lots of different nail polishes (including glittery ones!) and Iff making ACE mac and cheese. Brilliant!
Our second day there, we set out early for a bus to Cerro Punta, a wee town two hours away. It's famous for having lovely organic strawberries. So we stopped at a hotel in town and tried a gorgeous strawberry milkshake before heading off on our hike. We then got a taxi for the five kilometres to the end of the paved road. We walked two kilometres up a steep hill to get to the start of the trail. This is when Chris's highlight happened:
This gorgeous kitten is about six months old and loves to play. We got so many pictures of Chris playing with the kitten, that the camera batteries wore out! Luckily we had our phone as well so were able to take some pictures during the hike.
The hike itself was lovely. It goes through cloud forest habitat, full of lush vegetation and some huge trees. We went in the more downhill direction so it was never really difficult, but we took our time to enjoy the gorgeous views. There was plenty of rain and mud, which kept our shoes filled with rocks and muck. So whenever we had the opportunity to cross a stream or river, we were glad to wash it all off our feet and out of our shoes. We never managed to spot a quetzal, but we saw some other lovely birds. Iff managed to spot a gorgeous woodpecker, which was my wildlife highlight.
After just a few hours, we crossed a bridge and were surprised to emerge onto a road. We then walked about three kilometres to the end of the trail, all uphill! We encountered a group of four very clean (as opposed to us; although we had dried out a bit, we still had plenty of mud to show for our trek) tourists who grilled us about the hike. Would an hour into it allow them to see the beauty of it? Sure! Would they get all wet (looking suspiciously at our rain jackets and damp clothes)? Nah! Of course the rain had stopped by then.
We got to the traihead and saw a sign indicating that Boquete was only three kilometres away. That was a pleasant surprise; our guidebook said that Boquete was eight kilometres away! We could walk it, no worries; plenty of time. A family drove past us and offered us a lift into Boquete, but we fancied the wee bit of exercise. Surely we'd get to Boquete on our own in no time! Two hours later, our feet were killing us, and Boquete was nowhere in sight. At one point, a taxi drove past with the group of (presumably still clean) four tourists in it! They waved as the taxi drove around us.
We walked and walked and walked. It was 6pm, and we weren't sure when the last bus would leave Boquete for David, so we were getting anxious. We kept asking locals if we were headed in the right direction, and they all said we were. At last we got to the outskirts of Boquete. It was starting to get darker, and our legs felt like rubber. But then we saw some amazing rock formations, little versions of the Giant's Causeway, and we knew we might have missed them if we'd gotten a lift into town.
We walked and walked some more and finally got to the Boquete bus stop at 6:45pm. We were so happy to find a bus waiting there. We collapsed into a seat and ate the rest of the pasta we'd brought along for lunch. The bus left at 7pm, and we couldn't stop appreciating the fact that we'd made it in time. We'd already paid for our hostel room in David, and all of our stuff was there. It would have been really inconvenient if we'd been stuck in Boquete for the night. Whew!
We got back to David and to the hostel with no problems. We then intended to get up early the next day and head to El Valle, nearer to Panama City. But when the alarm went off the next morning, we weren't going anywhere. We spent the day chilling, catching up on laundry, and sampling some lovely falafel at a Lebanese restaurant in town. We also decided to change our plans a bit; next we're off to Isla Boca Brava...
posted by Iff at
9:34 am
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