National Geographic Expeditions passengers exploring mangroves, Panamá
7
CENTRAL PANAMÁ
“Birdcalls awaken you. Wisps of fog arise from Cerro Gaitán across the stream.”
—FROM THE CANOPY LODGE WEB SITE
To the west of Panamá City, a narrow coastal littoral is framed hard up to the coast by a mountain massif—the Altos de Campaña—in whose folds is tucked a sensationally beautiful alpine valley. This coast, just a one-hour drive or so from the city, is the setting for the nation’s premier beach resorts, including large-scale all-inclusives drawing the capital’s moneyed middle-classes (albeit few foreigners up to now). Westward, the mountain range merges with that of the even more rugged Cordillera Central, while the coastal plain broadens into a fertile valley cusped between the thickly forested mountains and the Azuero peninsula and spanning the two provinces, Coclé and (to the west) Veragua, that make up Central Panamá.
This region boasts some of the best hiking and mountain biking terrain in the country. The refreshingly temperate alpine settlement of El Valle de Ancón is one of my favorite destinations in the entire country, and a perfect venue for horseback rides and mountain exploratories from quaint bed-and-breakfast hotels as your base. Parque Nacional Altos de Campaña is unsung, yet a fabulous venue for hikers, as is the Parque Nacional Omar Torrijos—a crown jewel of montane rain forest biota. The highland hamlet of Santa Fe is a center of coffee production, and an acclaimed venue for birders. There are even some pre-Columbian sites near Penonomé, one of several towns (such as Natá and Santiago) that retain pockets of colonial charm. Natá claims to have the oldest Catholic church in the Western hemisphere. Panamá’s most important pre-Columbian site is at nearby El Cano. And the bustling city of Santiago has a fine colonial core that includes a museum brim-full of dusty antiques. Farther west, the Golfo de Montijo is a sportfishing base and also draws surfers seeking the next big wave.
Isla Coiba, Panamá
And all this is just a one- to three-hour drive from the capital city.
The Interamerican Highway runs east and west through the heart of the region, making access a cinch.
GETTING THERE AND AROUND
By Air
You can charter a small plane for flights into the small Ruben Cantu Airport at Santiago (SYP).
By Bus or Público
The region is easily accessible by public bus from Panamá City’s Gran Terminal, with dozens of buses daily plying the Pan-American Highway.
By Car
The well-maintained Interamerican Highway grants easy access and runs inland of the shore then slices due west through the middle of the region, linking Panamá City with the town of Santiago.
Spur roads lead north and south off the highway to all the major sights. East of Santiago, the highway is two lanes in each direction; westward, however, it’s one lane, with dangerously fast traffic (including big rigs) pressing hard up your rear as the highway snakes up over the mountain pass that’s the gateway to Chiriquí province. There’s no shortage of traffic cops, especially east of Penonomé. However, there are few settlements, gas stations, restaurants, or lodgings west of Santiago—plan accordingly.
By Taxi
Taxis await custom at bus stops along the highway, doing a brisk business ferrying passengers to and from the various beach resorts (typically about $3).
By Tours
Pesantez Tours (507-263-7577; www.pesantaz-tours.com) offers scheduled transfers between Panamá City and the beaches.
Golfo de Panamá Beaches
Panamá’s hot-spot beach resorts begin less than one hour west of Panamá City and line the coast of Panamá and Coclé provinces for about 37 miles (60 km) between Chame and Playa Juan Hombrón. The area is part of “The Dry Arc,” so-called for its comfortably dry climate most of the year. The Interamerican Highway runs parallel to the shore between 0.6 mile and 3 miles (1 and 5 km) inland, granting access via spur roads.
There is no Cancún equivalent, however. Nor even a town by the shore; they lie inland, along the highway. Most beachfront communities are really agglomerations of second homes for Panamá City’s middle classes, although you can still find simple fishing villages. Hotels concentrate at Playa Coronado and at Playas Farallon and Blanca, the westernmost (and prettiest) of the beaches. Elsewhere, self-catering rental villas are the name of the game.
The international crowd has suddenly wised up to this coast’s allure, as demonstrated by the opening in 2009 of a SuperClubs all-inclusive and the much-anticipated oh-so-chic Nikki Beach Playa Blanca resort for sexy Miami-type fashionistas. And in December 2008, the Hard Rock chain announced plans for a 500-room Hard Rock Hotel with swim-in rooms at Playa Blanca. True, Playa Blanca is named for its white(ish) sands. But this isn’t Cancún or Punta Cana. Most beaches are of varying shades of gray. If it’s gorgeous beaches you’re seeking, fly out to the Archipiélago de las Perlas or to the San Blas Islands.
LODGING AND DINING
Punta Chame has just one restaurant—a traditional thatched fisherman’s hangout serving great garlic lobster and fresh fish dishes. If you’re self-catering you can stock up on fresh shrimp at the local shrimp bar, and on groceries at the local store; being run by Chinese, it keeps late-night hours.
Seeking a self-catering villa? Try Tropical Escapes Panama (507-6550-6302; www.tropicalescapespanama.com).
BAY VIEW RESORT
507-240-9621
www.bayviewelpalmar.com
Playa El Palmar
Inexpensive to Moderate
This family-friendly budget hotel for unfussy travelers has 30 minimally furnished air-conditioned rooms set in lush grounds with redbrick pathways edging up to the narrow beach. You can even camp. It has a pool, and activities include volleyball and a surf school. The restaurant has Wi-Fi.
BREEZES PANAMA RESORT AND SPA
1-877-273-3937
www.breezes.com/resorts/breezes-panama
Playa Blanca
Expensive
The class act along this coast, this family-friendly resort opened in 2009 and is a total break for this Jamaica’s all-inclusive chain. First, it’s the company’s first property in Central America. It also breaks the mold with its super contemporary motif, which plays on a Caribbean plantation theme. It features four blocks rising six stories behind the beach and has 294 air-conditioned, tastefully furnished guest rooms and suites. Choose Panamanian, Italian, or Japanese restaurants. And it has all the water sports, activities, and nocturnal entertainment, including a nightclub, you’d expect of SuperClubs.
CASA DE LAS ORQUIDEAS
c/o 425-391-8210
www.casadelasorquideas.com
Calle O, Punta Chame
Inexpensive
Tucked behind bright blue gates near the tip of Punta Chame, is a delightful spot with five air-conditioned cabins, each painted in lively pastels, set in an orchid garden. Though simply furnished, each cabin is exquisitely maintained. Join your fellow guests in the thatched lounge-bar with TV and DVDs. It has a shaded pool.
CLUB GAVIOTA
507-224-9053
gaviota@turistaintl.com
Paseo George Smith, Playa Coronado
Inexpensive
A motel-style building with nine air-conditioned rooms, this place offers value-for-money budget accommodations at about $35–40 double, but the best deal is to take an inclusive package with meals ($65–80). Avoid the two dingy original rooms here; the seven more modern additions are far better, although none offer ocean views. All have TVs and safes.
CORONADO GOLF AND BEACH RESORT
507-264-3164
www.coronadoresort.com
Avenida Punta Prieta, Coronado
Moderate to Expensive
Most suited to families and conservative travelers, this resort commands much of the Playa Coronado beachfront and likes to promote its all-inclusive packages (although the package is far from that, so expect plenty of extra costs). It boasts a wish list of amenities, from the Olympic-sized pool and Tom and George Fazio-designed championship golf course to an equestrian club (Saturday only), tennis courts, water sports, and kids’ club, plus five restaurants and a casino. The spacious rooms are nicely furnished, without winning prizes. The Royal Suites and Residential Suites sleep six people—ideal for families. That said, it’s a lackluster property compared to the all-inclusives of, say, Jamaica or the Dominican Republic.
COROWALK INN
507-240-1516
Avenida Roberto Eisenmann, Playa
Coronado
www.hostalesdelpacifico.com
Inexpensive to Moderate
No prizes for the location: right on the Pan-Am Highway, next to El Rey shopping plaza. But this hotel is stylish and well run, with handsome enough rooms: 14 in all, furnished in upscale U.S. motel fashion with an eye to the passing business market. Check a few, as they vary, and you’d be wise to be as far from the highway as possible.
EL LITORAL
507-332-6416 or 6658-1143 (cellular)
Lot 12 Punta Prieta, Coronado
www.litoralpanama.com
Moderate
French owners Anne-Marie and René
Bergeron run this five-bedroom, non-smoking bed-and-breakfast by the beach. Three rooms have private bathrooms; two others share. All have cool tile floors, and simple but tasteful decor, including wrought-iron beds in some rooms. It has a swimming pool, plus Wi-Fi. Occasional yoga classes are hosted.
HOTEL CANADIAN
507-240-6066, in Canada 867-536-2272
www.hotelcanadianpanama.com
Off the Interamerican Highway, Chame
Inexpensive
Word of mouth brings a steady flow of mostly foreign backpacking tourists to this Canadian-run guesthouse close to Playa Gorgona. With its hilltop roost, it gets the breezes, best enjoyed by the pool. It has seven rooms, including two family-sized units. Katie and Ralph Grunow, the owners, fuss over guests in the restaurant and bar.
HOTEL PUNTA CHAME
507-264-7560
Punta Chame
Inexpensive
This simple spot is the only place in Chame to lay your head. Hence, the owners charge monopolistic prices for the six simple air-conditioned cabanas ($40–60). It also has a camping area with water and electricity, and there’s a thatched restaurant and, in dry season (November through April), the Machete Kitesurfing school is based here.
ISLA TABORCILLO JOHN WAYNE VILLAGE
507-264-2708
www.isla-taborcillo.com
Isla Taborcillo
Moderate to Expensive
If you can get beyond the ridiculous and hokey John Wayne motif, this could be actually a pleasant spot to rest your head for a few days, at least if you have bored kids in tow (there’s even a small zoo among the Wild West buildings). The 27 rooms come with free DVDs, and pleasant albeit minimal furnishings. Thatched umbrellas festoon the palm-shaded lawns, with both freshwater and saltwater pool. It has horseback riding and—yuk!—noisy Jet Skis.
LAS SIRENAS
507-993-3235 or 6747-1772
www.lasirenas.com
Playa Santa Clara
Moderate
Run by a delightful Panamanian couple, this calming place has a hillside setting over the beach. Choose spacious individual self-catering cottages with cable TV and Wi-Fi, or smaller rooms closer to the beach with downstairs and loft beds. Furnishings are a bit spare, but bougainvillea bowers add heaps of color and cottages have their own barbecue pits and patios with poured-concrete sofas. There’s a seafood restaurant a few minutes’ walk along the beach. You’re pretty much on your own here, as maids appear about once in three days.
NIKKI BEACH PLAYA BLANCA
c/o 786-515-1130
http://nikkibeachhotels.com/playablanca
Playa Blanca
Very expensive
Playa Blanca’s “wow!” factor will soar when (and if) the Nikki Beach Playa Beach opens some time in 2010–11 to serve high-energy fashionistas and an otherwise sexy young crowd. The original and now infamous Nikki Beach Miami was chosen by the Travel Channel as the World’s Sexiest Beach Bar in 2009. This copycat tropical version will feature Nikki’s signature broad-day-light disco, over-the-top parties, and king-sized Ali Baba beds laid out on platinum sands. Female waitstaff in navel-revealing tube tops and drawstring pants set the sexy tone. The 220 chic and spacious rooms and suites include 83 two-bedroom suites, 7 two-bedroom Penthouses, and 20 ultra-luxury three-bedroom Penthouses, all with floor-to-ceiling windows, 42-inch HD plasma TVs, Wi-Fi, and super chic decor.
All that said, I attended the opening party at Nikki Beach Turks and Caicos in 2008. A year later it closed due to financial problems. So don’t hold your breath for Nikki Beach Playa Blanca to actually open, although construction was well advanced in late 2009.
PLAYA BLANCA RESORT, SPA & RESIDENCES
1-888-790-5264
www.playablancaresort.com
Playa Blanca
Moderate
This mid-market all-inclusive opened in 2003 and has 219 rooms, three suites, and a penthouse, and gets mixed reviews from past guests, although I like the stylish decor and it is less impersonal than the nearby Decameron. The positives include a huge pool complex, and its dining options include a sushi restaurant and a huge thatched open-air buffet restaurant. Entertainment includes a nightly show and beach party. It has a kids’ club and kids’ entertainment. The negatives? The hotel feels a bit long in the tooth and some rooms are said to suffer from mildew.
RANCHO BONITO
507-240-6513
www.hotelranchobonito.com
Playa Gorgona
Inexpensive to Moderate
With a lovely garden setting, this hotel is popular with Panamanian families, although furnishings in the 15 rooms are a bit barebones, and the place can get noisy with kids. It has a restaurant, simple bar, a pool, and children’s playground.
XS MEMORIES
507-993-3069
www.xsmemories.com
On the north side of the Interamerican Highway, Playa Santa Clara
Inexpensive to Moderate
Now here’s a winner! RVing? Then you won’t want to miss this yanqui-owned RV park run by Dennis and Sheila Parsick. It has 22 motor home hookups, with water, electricity, and septic-tank service, all for a fair $10 daily. You can also trade your motor home for a night in one of three air-conditioned cabins with ceiling fans ($55). And it also has a campsite for tents. There’s a swimming pool, a bar with TV, and a charming stone-lined restaurant (Monday through Thursday 8–8, and Friday through Sunday 8 AM–10 PM). And Kayak Panama is here.
ATTRACTIONS, PARKS, AND RECREATION
The beaches (playas) are presented here in order, as approached southward from Panamá City.
Punta Chame
Arriving from Panamá City, the beaches begin around Chame, a nondescript town that is gateway to Punta Chame (buses run hourly from Bejuco, the turnoff on the Pan-Am Highway). This fishing village, at the tip of a 6-mile-long (10 km) sand spit whipped by constant trade winds, draws windsurfers and kiteboarders to the country’s capital of wind-sport action. It’s a beautiful drive (despite the horrendous potholes) along the roller-coaster spit, with views north across Bahía de Chame, where dolphins are often seen frolicking in the jade-colored waters. Much of the bay shore is lined with mangroves (good for birding), and with shrimp farms. A tan-colored beach unspools along the ocean side of the peninsula and is pristine enough that three species of marine turtles nest here. Swimming, however, requires caution due to riptides.
Two caring locals, Ramón and Vilma Morales, run Fundación de Amigos de las Tortugas Marinas (FATmar, 507-227-5091), with hatcheries where turtle eggs are incubated and the hatchlings released to the sea. You can bunk with the Moraleses in simple cabins with cold-water showers.
There are big plans for Punta Chame. If it is finally built, the Portones del Mar Yacht Club and Resort will host the only marina between Panamá City and Chiriquí province, along with a tennis center and condo hotel.
Floating at the entrance to the bay, boomerang-shaped Isla Taborcillo is another great birding site—in fact, one of the region’s most important nesting sites for tricolored heron and yellow-crowned night-heron. Once owned by actor John Wayne (and known colloquially as “Isla de John Wayne”), it’s also a kind of Disneyland, as the owners operate their hotel as a sort of Western theme park, with staff dressed in cowboy gear, a sheriff’s house with prison cells, etc. See the Lodging section.
Kite-boarding: This is the hot new water sport. Imagine strapping yourself onto a modified surfboard and into a harness attached to a giant kite, or wind foil, then skimming over the ocean at a helluva speed. Talk about an adrenaline rush! Experienced kiteboarders are capable of performing spectacular leaps 30 feet (9 m) above the water. Yes, the sport is potentially dangerous. But like every sport, you learn to walk before you try to run. Novices should aim to be out at midday, when winds rarely exceed 10 knots. In early morning and toward sundown the winds crank up to 30 knots. The season is November through April.
The lead operator is Machete Kiteboarding (507-674-7772; www.machetekites.com), at Hotel Punta Chame, run by veteran kite-surfing champion, Itzick Lalo. It’s usually open only in dry season.
Isla Boná, Estivá, and Otoque
These three islands, about 9 miles (15 km) southeast of Punta Chame, are important nesting sites for brown pelicans, magnificent frigatebirds, and brown and blue-footed boobies. The nutrient-rich currents that well up around the islands teem with fish and provide a ready-at-hand food source for the birds. Fishermen set out from Chame and from a hamlet on Otoque to work the waters. Snorkeling around the Otoque islands is risky due to strong currents.
You can hire a boat and fisherman to take you out, but be warned: these waters can be choppy. National Geographic Expeditions (1-888-966-8687; http://nationalgeographicexpeditions.com) includes a visit on its eight-day “Costa Rica and Panama Canal” cruise-tours.
Playa Gorgona
This beach, south of the mangrove and salinas (salt ponds) of Chame peninsula, is dark gray. Almost black. You’ll need sandals for walking the sizzling hot sands. That doesn’t stop Panamanian families (most impecunious) pouring in on weekends and holidays.
Playa Coronado
The yin to Gorgona’s yang is this middling grayish beach, 31 miles (50 km) southwest of Panamá City and which Panamá’s moneyed class has made a major second-residence zone. Those without homes here like to flash their money around at the Coronado Golf and Beach Resort. The community is gated, but if you say you are staying at the Coronado Beach Resort, you’ll usually be let in (bring ID).
National Geographic Expeditions passengers return from Isla Granito de Oro, Panamá
Arriving by bus, you alight on the Pan-Am Highway by the Texaco gas station at the turnoff for Coronado. Colectivo minivans await custom here 6 AM–7:30 PM. Hop aboard for the short trip to the beach (50 cents).
Playa San Carlos to Playa Santa Clara
About 3 miles (5 km) south of Coronado, Playa Santa Carlos still clings (barely) to its traditions as a fishing village. It merges south into Playa El Palmar, which is known as a great surfing destination, with 10-foot-tall (3 m) waves pushed ashore by the winds. Hotels here with surf schools include Bay View Resort.
Next up are Playas Río Mar, Playa Corona, and then one of my favorite beaches hereabouts, Playa Santa Clara: Pretty, and well served with hotels and restaurants.
Playa Farallón
At the farthest reach comes the most developed of the beach resorts. Playa Farallón is the setting, since 2000, of the all-inclusive Royal Decameron Beach Resort and Casino. You can purchase a day-pass to make the most of this mega-resort, which isn’t my thing at all. But Panamá City’s middle classes seem to love it, despite the lackluster gray sands. They come for the casino, I suppose. Believe it or not, a small fishing community clings to its impoverished existence within a stone’s throw of the Decameron’s high walls, providing an opportunity to commune with real downtown folks as they tend their fishing nets and colorful piraguas drawn up on the sands.
Pipa’s Bar and Restaurante (507-233-0945; www.pipasbeach.com), a 15-minute stroll from Decameron, is just the kind of funky beach bar that I love to hang out at, with a chilled beer and my bare feet stretched out in the sands. It serves lobster and fresh garlic shrimp. Speaking of which, Bubba Shrimp Fishing Tours (507-993-2740; bubashrimp@cwpanama.net) lets passengers play the part of Forrest Gump as you go shrimping at sea. Part working vessel, part party boat, it has a bar and lively sound system.
The turnoff for Playa Farallón is between the towns of Santa Clara and Río Hato. A former U.S. airfield that also sits between the two towns took a plastering on December 20, 1989, courtesy of AC-130 Specter gunships during Operation Just Cause to oust General Manuel Noriega. “Pineapple face” had a beach home near the Decameron. U.S. Army Rangers dropped from the sky and took that out too. You can still see the bullet holes.
Playa Blanca
The attractive tan sands of Playa Blanca, about 3 miles (5 km) west of Farallon, received a boost in 2009 when Jamaica’s SuperClubs opened its Breezes all-inclusive resort. There are several other resorts here, and the beach is slated to receive the sexiest hotel of all—the Nikki Beach Playa Blanca—in 2010.
Good to Know About
The Panamanian Tourist Board (IPAT, 507-993-3241) has a small information bureau at Playa Farallón, 400 yards (365 m) south of the Interamerican Highway. It had only a bare minimum of literature when I last called in. Open Monday through Friday 8–5.
El Valle
Altos de Campaña and Valle de Antón
The first time I saw the Altos de Campaña massif, which rises about 30 miles (50 km) west of Panamá City, I did a double take. The tan-colored landscape reminded me more of the craggy Welsh highlands than the jungle-clad slopes one hour’s drive east, such as Chagres. The first sight is misleading, however. While much of the lower slopes close to the Interamerican Highway have been denuded, the upper slopes and Caribbean-facing northern slopes are rain-soaked and lushly forested. You can experience four distinct ecosystems.
The Parque Nacional Altos de Campaña, on the northeast slopes, offers splendid birding and hiking opportunities and will also thrill botany enthusiasts: These upper slopes are renowned for their endemic orchids and other flora (pines are typical on the Pacific slopes, while the Caribbean side is bottle-green lush). On its western side, the massif rises to 3,888 feet (1,185 m) atop Cerro Gaitál, spectacularly framing the Valle de Antón, one of the most delightful settings in Panamá. Basking in springlike temperatures year-round, it’s justifiably a popular weekend escape from the lowland heat, and a center for active adventures—from horseback riding to zipline rides.
LODGING
ANTON VALLEY HOTEL
507-983-6097
www.antonvalleyhotel.com
Avenida Principal, El Valle de Antón
Inexpensive to Moderate
Right in the heart of the village, this lovely little hotel is run by a gringo couple, Les and Earle, and feels like a cozy, impeccably clean bed and breakfast. Like most hotels hereabouts, it is set in lovely gardens. Rooms vary, so check a few. None are air-conditioned. It’s not needed, anyway, and the ceiling fans work a treat. Hearty gringo breakfasts are served on the patio. You can practice your Spanish with Coconut, the talking bird.
BED & BREAKFAST PARK EDEN
507-983-6167
www.parkeden.com
Calle Espave 7, El Valle de Antón
Moderate
Another lovely stone-and-timber lodge, this bed and breakfast is set in 2 acres (0.8 ha) of lush gardens great for birding. Lionel Alemán Toledano and his delightful wife, Monica, are your hosts, and they run Park Eden with a loving touch reflected in the filling breakfast and the afternoon tea, English fashion, served on the porch. There’s a quaint and romantic old-world touch to the eight air-conditioned rooms, all with cable TV and DVD player, coffeemaker, and mini-fridge plus ceiling fan. Two rooms are family-sized suites.
CANOPY LODGE
507-264-5720 or 800-930-3397
www.canopylodge.com
1.2 miles (2 km) northwest of El Valle de Antón
Moderate to Expensive
Beloved of birding groups, the Canopy Lodge is a true eco-lodge combining a superb location hard up against a forested mountainside with superior facilities and comfort. Slide back your French doors and you can relax on your veranda and spot the birds, and maybe a monkey and sloth or two. Meals are served family style on an open-air, stone-lined veranda dining room. There are comfy open-air lounges, and the eight spacious rooms have stone floors and blazing white walls to set off eye-pleasing contemporary hardwood furnishings. It doubles as an activity center; the zipline tour is here, for example, and it has world-class birding guides and tours.
HOSTAL HACIENDA DOÑA VICTORIA
507-263-4593 or 6618-8370
http://hostalvictoriapanama.com
Campana, 2 miles (3 km) W of Capira
Inexpensive
You’d be forgiven, at first sight, for thinking that “hostal” doesn’t do justice to this intimate old Spanish hacienda set in a beautiful garden in the eastern foothills of the Altos de Campana. Approached by a stone courtyard with fountain, the exterior exudes charm thanks to terra-cotta patios, red-tile roof, and wrought-iron grills. However, the eight bedrooms are a huge letdown, with barebones furnishings and a students’-dorm feel. Swimming pool. Games room. Camping permitted.
HOTEL CAMPESTRE
507-983-6146
www.hotelcampestre.com
Calle El Hato, El Valle de Antón
Moderate
Looking suitably alpine, this low-slung lodge squats at the base of forested mountains. The interior of this 1920s hotel, with its beamed restaurant and large fireplace, is timeworn, but 2010 hopefully will see completion of a drawn-out reconstruction meant to replace the termite-ridden structure with a more contemporary brick and steel vogue.
HOTEL LOS CAPITANES
507-983-6080
www.los-capitanes.com
Calle de la Cooperativa, El Valle de Antón
Moderate
Run by a retired and amiable German sea dog, Manfred Koch, this hotel floats amid a sea of gorgeous greenery. Buildings feature red tin roofs. The 10 bedrooms are sparsely furnished and the mood is a bit dowdy; some have loft bedrooms; others are equipped for handicapped travelers. Sr. Koch serves up the likes of German pancakes, meatloaves, and pork chops and sauerkraut, plus barbecues on weekends.
HOTEL LOS MANDARINOS
507-983-6645, or toll-free 888-281-8413 (in the U.S.)
www.losmandarinos.com
218 yards (200 m) west of Escuela Primero
Ciclo, off Calle El Ciclo, El Valle de Antón
Expensive
Looking like a piece of Tuscany transplanted, this deluxe boutique hotel owned by Pedro Fábrega, is the region’s finest. Faced with river stones and Romanesque columns, it cuts a striking figure against the mountain backdrop. Most of the 31 rooms are in villas. All feature sleigh beds and heavy drapes, plus French doors opening to large balconies for enjoying the gorgeous views. The acclaimed La Casa de Lourdes gourmet restaurant is overseen by Pedro’s sister, Lourdes Fábrega de Ward, and opens to a striking pool with Jacuzzi. There’s even a games room with Wi-Fi for kids, an Irish pub for adults, and a top-class spa.
HOTEL RINCÓN VALLERO
507-983-6175
www.hotelrinconvallero.com
Calle Espave, El Valle de Antón
Moderate
This hacienda-style hotel in lush grounds with flower-ringed pond and a stream is a peaceful recluse. Most of the cabins are lovely junior suites and suites, but many of the rooms in the hotel proper are mere cubbyholes. Mosaic-lined sunken showers and bamboo-lined ceilings make amends. The El Pez de Oro restaurant serves an eclectic menu.
TANGLEWOOD WELLNESS CENTER
6-671-9965 or 301-637-4657
www.tanglewoodwellnesscenter.com
Sorá, 9 miles (15 km) NW of Bejuco
Expensive
The mountain setting is appropriate for this health-and fasting-retreat. Festooned with bougainvillea and trailing vines, it has seven cabins that stairstep the slopes. Guests socialize in a library-lounge furnished with wicker. One-week minimum.
DINING
CASA DE LOURDES
507-983-6450
www.lacasadelourdes.net
218 yards (200 m) west of Escuela Primero Ciclo, off Calle El Ciclo, El Valle de Antón Cuisine: Nouvelle Panamanian It doesn’t get any better than this! Housed in an Italianate villa, this is one of the top five restaurants outside Panamá City in my book, and is the very epitome of romance. Red-tile roofs. Lush formal gardens with Roman fountains. And antique furnishings, sumptuous leather couches, and timber ceiling beams. All combine to grace this beautiful villa, with a dining terrace beneath a portico opening onto a swimming pool courtyard. Lourdes Fábrega de Ward’s acclaimed cooking (she studied with Paul Prudhomme and Martha Stewart) is worth the drive from Panamá City in its own right. Treats might include langosta Grand Marnier, blackened fish in tamarindo sauce, and a killer fruit and ice cream sundae. Open: Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday 7:30 AM–9 PM, Friday-Saturday 7:30 AM–10:30 PM. Expensive to Very Expensive.
DON PEPE
507-983-6425
Avenida Principal, El Valle de Antón
Cuisine: Panamanian
A perfectly unpretentious place to enjoy local fare, this diner-style restaurant offers an eclectic menu that includes burgers, veggie items, and even Chinese dishes alongside good ol’ Panamanian ropa vieja (braised beef with rice and beans). No reservations. Open: Monday through Thursday 7 AM–9 PM; Friday through Sunday 7 AM–11 PM. Inexpensive to Expensive.
EL VALLE GOURMET AND COFFEE SHOP
507-6715-5785
Avenida Principal, El Valle de Antón
Cuisine: Delicatessen
On weekends, this is the place to pick up sandwiches, cold cuts, cheeses, tinned goods, and gourmet coffees, including cappuccinos and espressos. Open: Friday noon–9 PM, Saturday 9 AM–10:30 PM, and Sunday 9 AM–6 PM. Inexpensive.
PIZZERÍA PINOCCHIO’S
507-983-6715
Avenida Principal, El Valle de Antón
Cuisine: Panamanian
Catercorner to the church, on the main drag, this simple refectory-style Italian restaurant serves tremendous thin-crust pizzas baked in a wood oven, although you’ll also find spaghetti, lasagne, etc. No credit cards. Open: Friday 4–9 PM; Saturday and Sunday noon–9 PM. Inexpensive to Moderate.
Iglesia San Jose, El Valle de Antón, Panamá
ATTRACTIONS, PARKS, AND RECREATION
PARQUE NACIONAL Y RESERVA BIOLÓGICA ALTOS DE CAMPANA
507-244-0092
www.anam.gob.pa
This 12,170-acre (4,925 ha) national park was the nation’s first when created in 1966. Although taking up only a fraction of the massif, it features attractions unique in the country, not least dramatic volcanic formations that include lava fields and huge freestanding boulders known as tors. With a 4WD vehicle, you can exit the Interamerican Highway at Capira to access the eastern side of the park and to a steep, slippery trail to the summit of Cerro Trinidad 3,176 feet (968 m). The highest point is Cerro Chame (3,304 feet/1,007 m), which is accessed from an exit off the highway about 2 miles (3 km) west of Capira. The snaking road is a real scenic stunner. There’s a lookout (mirador) just beyond the ranger station with a great perspective of the plains far below. The trails include Sendero La Cruz, a relatively easy and well-maintained trail that begins 3 miles (5 km) above the ranger station and leads you to the top of Cerro Campaña. For a more rugged hike, choose the Sendero Cerro Campaña. Bring your binoculars to help identify the 267 bird species so far identified here. Hopefully, too, you might see coatis, sloths, howler monkeys, Geoffrey’s tamarin, and poison-dart frogs.
El Valle de Antón
This fabled vale, in the heart of the Altos de Campaña, is actually a former lake bed within the crater of a now (hopefully) extinct volcano. The flat-as-can-be valley floor is at 1,975 feet (600 m), surrounded by a thickly forested mountain meniscus. Scenic beauty astounds. Likewise, the eternal springlike climate. And the air is scented with a piney fragrance. Reason enough, then, to explain the vale’s popularity as a weekend retreat for Panamá City’s moneyed folk, many of whom have built villas. Many are in Swiss alpine style. Others are Tuscan themed. Still others, Modernist inspirations. Add to the mix a couple of dozen cozy bed-and-breakfast hotels tucked behind white-picket fences, bougainvillea bowers, and topiary hedgerows. The result is a delightfully peaceful and colorful village that is second only to Boquete (in Chiriquí province) as a center for eco-adventures: hikes, horseback riding, and even an exhilarating zipline ride. And the birding around here is world-class.
El Valle village is laid out in a rough grid on the east bank of the Río Antón. Simply walking the tree-shaded lanes is reward enough.
Canopy Adventure: Fancy whizzing between treetops, Tarzan style? Actually, Tarzan could never have conceived of a zipline—a meta cable slung between trees. It’s the new rage for exploring the canopy, but don’t expect to see much, if any, wildlife. It’s all about the adrenaline rush as you whizzzz downhill in a harness attached to the cable. It’s offered by the Canopy Lodge (507-264-5720; www.canopylodge.com; Calle Cerro Macho, 2 miles (3 km) northwest of town; open 6 AM–5 PM; $50 full tour, or $15 short tour).
Squirrel monkeys
Birding and Hiking: The north side of the vale is framed by Cerro Gaitál (3,888 feet/1,185 m). The mountain lies at the heart of the 827-acre (337 ha) Monumento Natural Cerro Gaitál, created to protect the only habitat of the highly endangered rana dorado (golden toad), endemic to this area. A modestly steep and moderately challenging trail (three hours; open 6 AM–6 PM; $3) begins at the north end of Calle El Gaitál and has a mirador (lookout) halfway, offering sensational views over the valley and even, on clear days, to the Pacific and Caribbean. You can join guided hikes offered by the Panamá Explorers Club (507-215-2330; Vía Ranita Dorada; www.pexclub.com; $20 from El Valle, $60 from Panamá City), which follows a trail to the summit of Cerro La Indian Dormida (Sleeping Indian Woman), named for its clearly discernible form.
Some of the best birding and easiest hiking is on the trails of the Canopy Lodge. These include the Chorro Macho, leading to a 150-foot (45 m) waterfall, and short Riverside Trail. Expect to see such species as rufous motmot, chestnut-backed antbird, and even the rare sunbird. Sloths are also commonly seen.
A short and somewhat overgrown trail to the right (south side) of the Hotel Campestre leads to a copse of arboles cuadradas (square trees). Yes, square trunks! Or so they say. I had difficulty discerning any such thing.
Sites: The yellow-and-black rana dorado can be seen at a rather pathetic zoo and plant nursery—El Nispero (507-983-6142 or 6566-2220; E-mail: zoonispero@gmail.com; Calle Carlos Arosemena; open daily 8–5; $2). The critters displayed here (in far-too-small cages) include kinkajous, monkeys, and ocelots, as well as native and exotic bird species. There are even ostriches here! Most of the animals were illegal pets confiscated from their owners by government authorities; the tapirs once belonged to former Dictator Manuel Noriega. Refrain from following the awful habit of Panamanians, who feed the animals! Here, the El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center, funded by the Smithsonian Institute, breeds and studies the rana dorado to save it from total demise at the hand of a fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) that has wiped it, and many of its cousins, out in the wild.
To learn about wriggly reptiles, head to the Serpentario (507-983-6680; Avenida Principal; variable hours; entrance $1), a small snake exhibit with 15 local species.
Rincón de la Biodiversidad (507-6706-1271; daily 7–6; free), fronting Hotel Los Mandarinos, welcomes visitors to this organic farm, where you can even pick your own veggies.
The town’s Iglesia San José is a tiny footnote. Next door, the yet tinier Museo El Valle displays folkloric costumes plus pre-Columbian relics, including petroglyphs (Saturday and Sunday, 9–5). A far more impressive pre-Columbian site is Piedra Pintada—a massive boulder etched with ancient symbols; it’s at the far west end of town, off the road to the Canopy Lodge. Local youngsters will be ready at the parking lot to guide you and give you a basic spiel for a tip. Don’t leave anything in your car, as break-ins have been reported.
Good to Know About
In El Valle de Antón, there’s an IPAT tourist information bureau (507-983-6474; open Tuesday and Thursday through Sunday 7:30–3:30) in the Mercado Artesanal.
SHOPPING
Sunday holds added appeal, when Ngöbe-Buglé Indians come to El Valle de Antón to sell their crafts in the open-air Mercado Artesanal (artisans’ market; daily 8–6; free), on Avenida Central—look for ceramic figurines of ranas doradas (golden frogs). This is a great time to meet Ngobe-Buglé people (and even some Emberá) selling their exotic baskets, jewelry, and clothing, etc. You’ll also find orchids and ceramics. A smaller version is held daily. And you can find wonderful indigenous items for sale at Tienda Artesanía Don Pepe (507-983-6425; daily 8–6), next to the market.
Penonomé and Vicinity
On the western side of the Altos de Campaña, the prosperous yet small provincial capital of Penonomé has a colonial pedigree dating back to 1581, when it was born as a forced resettlement colony (a reducción de indios) for indigenous slave laborers. In fact, the town is named for the execution (penó) of an indigenous chief, Nomé. In the late 17th century it briefly served as the region’s capital. Today, the whitewashed town bustles as an agricultural center and as gateway to the Cordillera Central.
The mountains to the north and east of Penonomé are among the most scenic in the nation and made more so by flat-topped mesas (such as Cerro Ororari), sugarloaf-shaped mogotes (such as Cerro Chiquiralí), and other dramatic limestone and volcanic formations that stud the landscape. These highlands are frequently shrouded in clouds and tendril-like mists that feed the lush forests.
Bust of Arnulfo Arias, Penonome, Panamá
LODGING AND DINING
POSADA CERRO LA VIEJA ECO-HOTEL & SPA
507-983-8905
Fax: 507-983-8900
www.posadalavieja.com
Chiquirí Arriba, 17 miles (27 km) NE of Penonomé
Moderate
Formerly Trinidad Spa and Lodge, this hacienda-style hilltop eco-lodge boasts a sensational location with marvelous views. It sits in lush gardens enfolded by a macadamia farm and lush forest. Most of the 22 rooms are in spacious fourplex cabins with terra-cotta floors and modest furnishings, including comfortable king-sized beds. You can soak in healing mineral waters in stone-walled spa rooms. Walls of glass open to verandas with hammocks. The rustic dining room exudes charm. Games room.
LA IGUANA ECO-RESORT
507-991-0879 or 6785-7550
www.laiguanaresort.com
Churuquita Grande, 9 miles (14.5 km) NE of Penonomé
Inexpensive
No frills at this thatched, riverside eco-lodge with eight rooms. Some have loft bedrooms, and bathrooms lack hot water. It has trails for guided hikes and horseback rides, plus a mini-zoo and playground, and swimming pool.
Posada Cerro La Vieja Eco-Hotel & Spa, Panamá
ATTRACTIONS, PARKS, AND RECREATION
The town’s few sites revolve around Parque 8 de Diciembre, the main plaza, ablaze in summer with African flame trees. It is centered on a gazebo and pinned on its south side by a life-sized bronze statue of Simón Bolívar. On the park’s north side, the Iglesia San Juan Bautista has a lovely baroque façade and exquisite stained-glass windows. To the west side, a medieval-style police station abuts the gobernación (municipal government building). The park opens to the northeast to a boomerang-shaped plazuela studded with busts and monuments of Panamanian presidents born in Penonomé, most famously ill-fated three-time President Arnulfo Arias (1901–88).
Nearby, the small Museo de Penonomé (Calle San Antonio; 507-997-8490; open Monday through Saturday 9 AM–12:30 PM and 1:30–4 PM, Sunday 9:30 AM–1 PM; entrance $1) is spread among four red-tile-roofed, colonial homes. It displays pre-Columbian relics, colonial religious icons, and other exhibits pertaining to local history.
La Pintada
15 miles (24 km) northwest of Penonomé. This hamlet makes for a scenic excursion. It lies in the foothills of the Cordillera Central and is centered on a pine-fringed plaza hosting the colonial-era Iglesia de Candelaria. Its main call to fame is Cigarros Joyas de Panamá (507-6729-4978; joyapan@yahoo.com; open daily 7 AM–8 PM), a tiny cigar factory where 12 types of puros are rolled from Cuban-seed tobacco, including oddities such as a cigar shaped like a baseball bat. Reservations are advisable.
Parque Nacional Omar Torrijos visitor center, Panamá
PARQUE NACIONAL OMAR TORRIJOS
507-997-9089, or 997-9805 in Penonomé 997-7538
www.anam.gob.pa
30 miles (50 km) NW of Penonomé via
El Copé
Protecting 62,455 acres (25,275 ha) of montane cloud forest in the Cordillera Central, this park was created in 1986 and named in honor of Major General Omar Torrijos, Panamá’s populist military leader, who was killed when his plane crashed here on July 31, 1983. Colloquially called Parque El Copé (for the el copé tree), it straddles the continental divide. Birders and hikers never had it so good, as the U.S. Peace Corps maintains a latticework of trails.
The rugged, rain-soaked park teems with wildlife. All six cat species stalk tapir and smaller game. The bare-necked umbrellabird, red-fronted parrotlet, and immaculate antbird are among the commonly seen, yet rare, bird species. Poison-dart frogs hop about underfoot. And monkeys are a dime a dozen. Hummingbirds buzz around the ANAM ranger station, about 0.8-mile (0.5 km) before the ridgetop Alto del Calavario Visitor Center, where you can look out toward the Caribbean Sea. From here you can tackle short self-guided trails and longer, more rugged trails that lead to the summits of Cerro Marta and Cerro Peña Blanca. You can even hike to see remnants of the Torrijos wreck—a five-hour hike from the ranger station—and, for experienced hikers with full provisions, all the way downhill to the Caribbean coast. The Asociación de Guias, in Barrigón, offers guide services ($5–10 per person).
You’ll need a 4WD to reach the park beyond the hamlet of Barrigón (a 60-minute hike from the park), where families rent rooms to hikers. The visitor center also rents a simple dorm with kitchen, and you can camp. It gets cold up here at night; pack accordingly.
Serranía del Escaliche
This mountain group, about 12 miles (20 km) east of Penonomé town, is studded with soaring limestone cones. The forests are alive with the calls of three-wattled bellbirds, toucans, oropendolas, and a veritable encyclopedia of other birds. With luck you might spy monkeys, sloths, poison-dart frogs, and perhaps even a wild cat, such as an ocelot.
The best base for exploring is the Posada Cerro La Vieja Eco-Hotel & Spa, named for Cerro La Vieja, a huge sugarloaf-like mountain. The hotel offers horseback rides and guided hikes, including to Cascada Tavida, a 98-foot-tall (30 m) waterfall. It even has its own trails, including the 0.6-mile-long (1 km) Sendero Pozo Azul, which leads to a pozo azul (blue well), where you can soak in invigorating mineral waters.
Red-eyed tree frog
SHOPPING
Penonomé is famous for its sombreros pintados (straw hats). Expect to pay up to $200 for a quality hat at the Mercado de Artesanías Coclé, beside the Interamerican Highway at the entrance to town. Most, though, are of lesser quality and thereby much cheaper.
Ildaura Saavedra de Espino sewing a lace pollera, Guararé, Panamá
La Pintada also has its Mercado de Artesanías de La Pintada (507-983-0313; open Tuesday through Sunday 9 AM–5 PM) selling sombreros pintados and muñequitas (dolls) dressed in polleras. To see the hats being made, head to the neighboring hamlet of Pedregosa.
Aguadulce and Vicinity
West of Penonomé, the Interamerican Highway slices through a broadening valley planted with sugarcane and in whose heart the town of Aguadulce (“sweet water”) acts as an agricultural center and industrial node. To the east, a huge swamp and mangrove forest lines the Bahía de Parita—migratory waterfowl abound in the coastal wetlands. Last century, Aguadulce had a thriving salt and sugar industry.
LODGING AND DINING
HOTEL CARISABEL
507-997-3800
www.hotelcarisabel.com
Interamerican Highway at Calle Alejandro
Escobar, Aguadulce
The nicest hotel in town, this centrally located option wins no prizes for beauty or decor, but at least it has Wi-Fi plus a beat-the-heat swimming pool, and the staff are friendly. Its 19 air-conditioned rooms are modestly, almost functionally, furnished.
EL JARDIN DE SAN JUAN
507-997-2849
Plaza 19 de Octubre, Aguadulce
Choose the refreshing air-conditioned interior or the courtyard terrace at this simple restaurant, run by friendly owner Nelva Real. I enjoyed a delicious sea bass fillet with mushroom sauce and mashed potatoes, washed down with sangría. Open: 7 AM–3 PM and 6–10 PM.
ATTRACTIONS, PARKS, AND RECREATION
The few sites of interest in Aguadulce surround Plaza de 19 de Octubre, the main square with the rather austere Iglesia de San Juan Bautista on its north side. The square’s main draw is the Museo Regionales Stella Sierra (507-997-4280; Calle Fábrica Final; Tuesday through Saturday 9–5; admission $1), principally dedicated to telling the history of the local salt and shrimping industries. Housed in a two-story mansion (1925), it also has pre-Columbian artifacts, a small trapiche (sugar press), plus military paraphernalia relating to the Colombian civil war (1899–1903).
Birders should head southeast to the wharf on the Bahía de Parita. En route, you’ll pass abandoned salt pans (salinas) and still-active brine pools where shrimp are farmed. The coastal wetlands hereabouts are a habitat for shore and marsh birds, including such waders as heron, roseate spoonbill, and even wood stork.
Ingenio de Azúcar Santa Rosa (Santa Rosa Sugar Refinery; 507-987-8101; El Roble, 9 miles (15 km) west of Aguadulce) operates around the clock during the December through April sugar harvest, when the air for miles around carries the unmistakable smell of molasses. You can tour the facility, including the original mill-owner’s home, displaying 19th-century furniture. Monday through Saturday by 24-hour prior appointment.
Natá de Los Caballeros
6 miles (10 km) N of Aguadulce. This small town, on the Interamerican Highway, has one of Panamá’s most endearing churches. The Basilica Menor de Santiago Apostól, on the tree-shaded main square, dates back to 1522 and claims to be the oldest surviving church in the Americas. It has an impressive baroque façade (suggesting that the church has a later provenance), a statue of the patron saint carrying a Spanish flag, plus a wooden altar carved with fruits, flowers, and feathered serpents. The town itself was founded in 1517 and is named for a local cacique (Indian chief).
Basilica Menor de Santiago Apostól, Nata, Panamá
A local produce company, Hermann Gnaegi S.A. (507-993-5546 or 6617-3500; info@agroturismopanama.com), offers tours of its various enterprises, including a fruit processing plant, turf plantation, cashew nut farm, dairy farm, and the Gnaegi family Swiss-style villa.
PARQUE Y MUSEO ARQUEOLÓGICO DEL CAÑO
507-987-9352
http://ciudad.latinol.com/chicasusma
5 miles (9 km) NE of Natá
Open: Tuesday through Saturday 9 AM–4 PM, Sunday 9 AM–1 PM
Admission: $1
The nation’s most important pre-Columbian site spans 20 acres (8 ha) and displays relics unearthed since its discovery in 1924. Dating back about 5,000 years, the ancient ceremonial center and burial ground most prominently features stone stelae jutting up from pasture. You can also view petroglyphs plus five skeletons curled in fetal positions and stuffed into jars, in ancient burial fashion. Various artifacts are displayed in a small museum (the most important relics were shipped abroad, while others reside in the Museo Antropológico Reina Torres de Araúz, in Panamá City). It’s 2 miles (3 km) north of the Interamerican Highway.
WEEKLY AND ANNUAL EVENTS
Every mid-October Aguadulce bursts to life for the annual festival celebrating the city’s founding, with everything from topes (displays of horsemanship) and folkloric music to beauty pageants and live music.
Santiago de Veraguas and Vicinity
The largest settlement between Panamá City and David, near the Costa Rican border, Santiago de Veraguas serves as the main administrative and commercial center of the region. It occupies the heart of a rich agricultural lowland vale and is a crossroads granting access northward to the delightful mountain hamlet of Santa Fe, in the Cordillera Central; and southward to the mangroves and surfing-and-sportfishing resorts of the Golfo de Montijo.
LODGING AND DINING
HOTEL GRAN DAVID
507-998-4510
Interamerican Highway
Inexpensive
Comfy yet unremarkable air-conditioned rooms at this hotel just off the Interamerican Highway serve impecunious travelers with minimal expectations and have cable TV and phones. It has a swimming pool, restaurant, and Internet.
HOTEL AND RESTAURANT LA HACIENDA
507-958-8580
Fax: 958-8579
Interamerican Highway, 2 miles (3 km)
W of Santiago de Veragua
Inexpensive
As you might expect by its name, Santiago’s nicest and most colorful hotel is Mexican-themed. The place is adorned with ceramic sun and moon smiley faces, echoing those of the friendly staff. The 42 bedrooms surround a courtyard and are furnished in traditional hacienda fashion; some rooms have king beds, and the orthopedic mattresses are firm. The restaurant has wisely shifted from Mexican fare (my meal was a real letdown) to Italian. Swimming pool. Wi-Fi.
HOSTAL LA QHIA GUEST HOUSE
507-954-0903
www.panamamountainhouse.com
Santa Fe
Inexpensive
A wealthy Panamanian businessman’s former alpine retreat has metamorphosed as a gorgeous Swiss-style lodge set in a riotously colorful garden and now run by a Belgian-Argentine couple. Rooms are a medley, including an eight-person dorm and three upstairs “matrimonial” rooms. However, they have only minimal furnishings and are far too Spartan given the expectations that the exterior instills. You can rent the entire facility May through November.
HOTEL SANTA FE
597-954-0941 or 954-0881
santafeexplorer@hotmail.com
Carretera Santiago-Santa Fe, Santa Fe
Inexpensive
This timeworn, U-shaped hotel has a porch with valley views. Budget hounds will be pleased to find 21 cozy rooms, albeit meagerly furnished and with tepid water in the showers. Some rooms have TV and are air-conditioned, but it seems superfluous at this elevation. It offers guided hikes and horseback tours. The tiny restaurant serves excellent dishes, including seafood.
HOTEL SOL DE SANTA FE
507-954-0941
www.hotelsolsantafe.com
Santa Fe
Inexpensive
New in 2009, and stair-stepping a hillside on the outskirts of Santa Fe, this 20-room hotel is just the ticket for hikers and birders seeking an unpretentious budget base at low prices. It shows movies and has a library, bar, and simple restaurant. Rooms sleep from two to five people. Campers can pitch their tents.
HOTEL VISTA LAGO ECORESORT
507-954-9916
www.hotelvistalago.net
Interamerican Highway, Km 258, Santiago de Veragua
Moderate
Sitting over a lake a 10-minute drive outside town, this hotel is surprisingly stylish for an “eco-resort,” at least in the public arenas, where minimalist contemporary furnishings bring this newcomer to life. The 24 air-conditioned rooms aren’t quite so en-vogue; furnishings are, in fact, a bit sparse. Nouvelle dishes are served in what the owners claim to be a gourmet restaurant. It has a swimming pool and trails.
ATTRACTIONS, PARKS, AND RECREATION
Although Santiago was founded in 1632, relatively little of its colonial heritage remains. Nonetheless it’s worth a detour when traveling the Interamerican Highway, not least to admire La Escuela Normal Superior Juan Demostenes Arosemena (507-998-4862; Calle 6ta). Erected in the 1920s, this teacher training college is justifiably a national historic monument. The highlight features are its plateresque façade adorned with nymphs; and, inside, murals by acclaimed Panamanian artist Roberto Lewis depicting major events in ancient history.
Then, head to Parque Juan Demostenes Arosemena, the main plaza named for the homeboy politician and man of letters who died in 1936 mere months after being elected president of Panamá. A bas-relief monument of Arosemena pins the plaza, on the south side of which stands the austere Iglesia Santiago Apóstol. One block away, the Museo Regional de Veraguas (507-988-4543; Calle 2da and Avenida Juan Demóstenes Arosemena; Monday through Friday 7:30 AM–3:30 PM; $1) occupies a replica of the town’s former jail. The eclectic displays range from prehistoric beasts (!) and pre-Columbian jewelry to musical instruments and a collection of sombreros montuños, the locally made straw hats. You can pick up a sombrero at the lively Mercado Artesanal de la Peña on Avenida Central, which branches from the Interamerican Highway and runs west 1.2 miles (2 km) to the main plaza.
Ceramic dolls and Iglesia Santiago Apostól, Santiago de Veraguas, Panamá
Worker roasting coffee beans at Café El Tute, Santa Fé, Panamá
Ecclesiastics on a busman’s holiday might head north 10 miles (16 km) to San Francisco de la Montaña, a sleepy village that boasts its own national historic monument—the Iglesia San Francisco de la Montaña. Completed in 1727, remodeled in 1937, and recently restored, it features a Romanesque bell tower and a baroque cedar altar remarkable for its fusion of Indian folkloric elements with scriptural scenes.
Santa Fe
32 miles (52 km) N of Santiago. To beat the lowland heat, follow the rollercoaster Carretera 91 that leads due north from Santiago via San Francisco de la Montaña into the Cordillera Central, ending at the sleepy mountain village of Santa Fe, at 1,500 feet (450 m) elevation. It’s a perfect spot to relax in crisp air scented by pines and by the aroma of coffee being roasted at Café El Tute (507-954-0801; daily 8–5). This small beneficio (roasting plant), run as a local campesino (peasant) cooperative, sits amid coffee fields on the north side of the village; you can visit to learn about coffee cultivation and processing. Ngöbe-Buglé Indian women in bright hand-stitched dresses can be seen picking beans alongside their children during harvest season (October through January). The Mercado Agríola y Artesanal Santa Fe, on the west side of the plaza, is a venue for Ngöbe-Buglé artisans to sell their chacaras (woven bags) and other handicrafts.
Orchids: Santa Fe is a paradise for botanists, especially lovers of orchids. Many a local garden is adorned with these epiphytes. More than 300 species grow locally. Many are endemics. The most substantial garden is Orquideário y Cultivos Las Fragrancias de Santa Fe (507-954-0910; no set hours; by donation), lovingly tended by Berta Castrellón, Santa Fe’s former mayor and erstwhile president of the Asociación de Orquideologia de Panamá. Time your visit for mid-summer, when the orchids are in full bloom and the village hosts an annual three-day orchid show.
Tubing: The village sits above the Río Bulabá, which has calm pools for swimming and is perfect for tube floats. William Abrego (507-6583-5944) rents tubes for $5 and will even accompany you on the hour-long trip.
Hiking and Birding: More than 280 square miles (72,636 ha) of these mountains are enshrined within Parque Nacional Santa
Fe de Veraguas, established in 2001 to guard the habitat of fabulous wildlife species, including anteaters, monkeys, tapirs, jaguars, and more than 400 bird species. Santa Fe lies beneath the gaze of Cerro Tute, a heavily forested mountain that in 1959 was the setting for a short-lived leftist guerrilla insurrection intent on overthrowing the Omar Torrijos regime. Clouds drift around the mountain summit. The trail begins about 1 mile (1.6 km) south of the village. Another trail (follow the sign in town) leads 3 miles (5 km) to the triple waterfalls of Alto de Piedra, passing cafetales—coffee farms—en route. Above, you enter pristine forest that echoes with a calliope of birdcalls: Rufous-winged woodpecker. Pygmy owl. Great potoo. Crimson-collared tanager. Toucans. Local guides, dedicated birder Berta Castrellón (507-954-0910), and Cesar Miranda (507-954-0807 or 6792-0571; aventurascesamo@hotmail.com;. http://aventurascesamo.blogspot.com) can be hired; he also has his own orchid farm. And the Panamá Audubon Society (507-232-5977; www.panamaaudubon.org) runs birding trips.
Getting There: Buses depart Santiago every 30 minutes, 5 AM–6 PM ($2.50).
RESERVA FORESTAL LA LAGUNA DE LA YEGUADA
40 miles (65 km) NE of Santiago, via Pedrogoso
www.ecoviajerospanama.com/yeguada.htm
Pine trees abound in this 17,000-acre (70 sq km) upland forest reserve centered on a man-made lake, created within an extinct volcanic crater to feed a hydroelectric plant. Some 4,900 acres (2,000 ha) of pines have been planted in a reforestation project. Trails lead to a cascade that tumbles 100 feet (30 m), perfect for waterfall rappels during dry season (in wet season the water volume is dangerous).
Orchid
Golfo de Montijo
This huge gulf indents the coast of Veraguas province. The San Pedro and San Pablo rivers drain from the Cordillera Central and snake to a slow crawl at the head of the gulf, which is accessed at Puerto Mutis, a small port 20 miles (35 km) southwest of Santiago. Communities of Ngöbe-Buglé are interspersed with ramshackle fishing villages. Isles stud the gulf, whose west-facing shores receive crashing waves—nirvana to surfers, whose capital of cool is the small fishing village of Santa Catalina, at the end of the road on the west shore of the gulf. Santa Catalina is booming as a newfound frontier for developers who spy the next big resort, and realtors’ signs have sprouted like mushrooms on a damp log. The first planned luxury oceanfront development—Big World Villas—has already broken ground.
Much of the shore is lined with wetland and mangroves that form a habitat for countless waterfowl and wading birds—many of them migratory shorebirds (black-bellied whistling ducks and Muscovy ducks; whimbrels and willets)—plus caimans and crocodiles and other reptiles, and no shortage of mammals. The Humedal Golfo de Montijo (Gulf of Montijo Wetlands) protects 541 square miles (140,000 ha) of coastal ecosystems, including mudflats and gulf waters. Frigatebirds, pelicans, and boobies inhabit some of the gulf islands.
An all-weather road runs the length of the east shore (the western shore of the Azuero Peninsula), rising and dipping and ending at the small fishing hamlet of El Varadero.
Getting There: Buses from Santiago to Santa Catalina travel to Soná four times daily (90 minutes; $4).
Good to Know About
Santiago has an IPAT tourist information bureau (507-994-7313; facing Hotel Gran David, on the Interamerican Highway in Santiago; open Monday through Friday 8–4).
A local tourism cooperative (507-954-0737) arranges tours.
Pacific Ocean view from Playa Santa Catalina, Panamá
LODGING
Santa Catalina has more than one dozen surf camps. One of the best is Blue Zone Surf and Dive Camp (in the U.S., 760-723-4787; www.bluezonepanama.com). The five rooms at this well-run oceanfront surf camp share two bathrooms. It has a shared kitchen plus laundry, and has board rental and surfing lessons. For the truly impecunious, Campin’ (507-6579-1504), on the road to Playa Estero, is run by a local family that welcome surfers and backpackers. You’ll share a rustic outhouse.
ART LODGE LAND ART
507-6517-1618
www.artlodgepanama.com
Isla Gobernadora, 6 miles (10 km) SE of Santa Catalina
Moderate
Established and run by two French artists, Valerie and Yves, this exquisite back-to-nature option looks like a yesteryear hippy commune that has metamorphosed into the kind of rustic yet trendy digs that Hollywood stars might gravitate to. Its entire essence is focused on ecological sensitivity. Accommodations are in open-air thatched A-frames with “rain forest showers” featuring exquisite and artsy mosaics. You’ll sleep beneath mosquito nets on platform beds and dine on wholesome organic meals. The lodge has its own boat. Yoga and surf packages can be arranged.
LA BUENA VIDA
507-6635-1895
www.labuenavida.biz
Santa Catalina
Moderate
The three colorful, air-conditioned villas at this lovingly cared for (by U.S. escapees Michelle and Mike) hotel are each distinct. Butterfly Villa sleeps five people in one bedroom and has a bunk. The bi-level, two-bedroom Bird Villa has two bedrooms and a shaded porch with hammock. Gecko Villa has one bedroom and a patio. Health-conscious breakfasts and lunches, such as pancakes and huevos rancheros, are served alfresco daily, 7 AM–2 PM.
CASA DOS PALMAS
507-6614-3868
www.dospalmascatalina.com
Santa Catalina
Moderate
The closest thing to a true hotel in these parts, this whitewashed two-story, hilltop structure sits amid tree-shaded lawns with ocean views. The rooms are meagerly appointed but have TVs, Wi-Fi, and telephones. It specializes in surf packages.
HIBISCUS GARDEN
507-6615-6097
www.hibiscusgarden.com
Playa Lagartero, Santa Catalina
Inexpensive
This former German-run hotel now in the hands of Mike and Ollie, from California, is perhaps the classiest in Santa Catalina, with its stylishly minimalist rooms adorned with seashells. All guest rooms are spacious and air-conditioned and have fans and patios or balconies. This is a budget option with class, more so for its excellent food and the ability to spy caimans, herons, and other wildlife in the river to one side. The hotel sits above a gray-sand beach in a tranquil bay. Shared kitchen.
American crocodiles
OASIS SURF CAMP
507-6588-7077
www.oasissurfcamp.com surfoasis@hotmail.com
Playa Estero, 1 mile (1.6 km) E of Playa
Santa Catalina
Bring your tent to pitch on the cliff top, or opt for one of eight colorful, simply appointed, tree-shaded cabañas with batik spreads, and hammocks slung on the porches. Owners David and Sylvia prepare filling breakfasts and Italian meals served in an open-air thatched rancho with hammocks and a TV. It also has a volleyball court, and surf lessons ($25 hourly). You need to ford a small river that can be tricky at high tide.
DINING
Most of the hotels and surf camps serve meals. Most other restaurants open mid- or late afternoon. For a break try Pizzería Jammin’ (no telephone; open daily 4–10 PM only), between Playa Santa Catalina and Punta Brava, and which opens in the evening to serve thin-crust pizzas fired in a brick oven. No frills here: you eat alfresco at bench tables. It has hammocks.
For local fare, you can’t beat Donde Viancka’s (daily 2–10 PM low season, 10 AM–10 PM high season), on the dirt road to Playa Estero and named for the charming owner. Viancka—once a local surfing champion—dishes up tasty fresh seafood and vegetarian dishes ($5–8).
ATTRACTIONS, PARKS, AND RECREATION
Santa Catalina is all about water sports, but it does have a series of lovely dark sand beaches. The two principal beaches are Playa Santa Catalina, at the end of the paved road in town; and more secluded and peaceful Playa El Estero, to the east and reached by dirt road. The beaches vary in length and accessibility according to tide levels, which here can vary as much as 20 feet (6.5 m).
Water Sports
Santa Catalina is abuzz with water-bound activities above and below the waves and every year sees one or more new operators open shop. Santa Catalina Boat tours (507-6481-3401; www.santacatalinaboattours.com) specializes in trips to Isla Coiba and other islands; it runs surfers to remote spots. It also has surfing and snorkeling tours.
Sea-Kayaking: Michael and Javier, the Canadian-California owners of Fluid Adventures Panama (Calle Principal; 507-6560-6558; www.fluidadventurespanama.com), offer sea kayaking trips (from $45 half-day at Isla Coiba to $239 for an overnight trip at Coiba). You can also rent kayaks by the hour, day, or week.
Scuba Diving and Snorkeling: Santa Catalina is considered one of Panamá’s premium scuba diving bases. Two local outfitters run dive trips as far out as Isla Coiba, where the coral reefs and pelagics astound. It’s not unusual to see marine turtles, huge schools of rays (especially prolific October through December) or sharks (including whale sharks February through July). Humpbacks calve in these waters June through October, but pilot and minke whales are commonly seen. Many of the Isla Coiba dives are best suited to experienced divers, while beginners should opt for inshore dives.
Woman donning snorkel gear at Isla Granito de Oro, Panamá
Parque Nacional Isla Coiba
Comprising the huge (194-square-mile/50,315 ha) ox-jaw-shaped island of Isla Coiba, 39 satellite islands, and the marine waters that surround them, this the largest marine park in Central America. The park extends about 55 miles (88 km) east and west and an equal distance north and south. Isla Coiba is clad in dense tropical rain forest and rises to 1,365 feet (416 m) atop Cerro La Torre. Of the isle’s 147 bird species, more than 20 are endemics, such as the brown-and-white Coiba spinetail. The stars of the show are the scarlet macaws: Isla Coiba has Panamá’s largest population. It’s also the last refuge in Panamá for the endangered crested eagle. Monkeys abound, including an endemic sub-species of spider monkey.
Offshore, the warm nutrient-rich waters are a breeding and calving area for humpback, minke, and pilot whales, while large pelagics—tuna, sharks, etc.—abound, and the healthy coral reefs and underwater lava rock formations act as condominiums for a zebra-striped, piebald-dappled, polka-dotted, multi-hued array of fish.
Between 1918 and 1991, Isla Coiba—the largest island in Panamá—served as a convenient colony for the nation’s worst criminals. Although the free-range prison (it had 14 separate penal camps) was closed in 1991, rumor has it that a few dozen prisoners still live wild.
Access is by permit only. Visitors must first check in at the ANAM ranger station (507-998-4271 or 998-3829; park entrance costs $20) in a cove on the northeast of Isla Coiba, a 90-minute boat ride from Santa Catalina. The station has a small yet excellent natural history exhibit (including the skeleton of a humpback whale) and doubles as a biological research station. You can laze in hammocks and swim in the warm waters. You can rent duplex cabins ($20 per person). There’s a communal kitchen for self-catering.
Nature-oriented cruises offered by Cruise West (1-888-851-8133; www.cruisewest.com) and National Geographic Expeditions (1-888-966-8687; www.nationalgeographicexpeditions.com) include Isla Coiba and Granito de Oro on their itineraries.
TRAILS: Hiking is restricted to short trails that begin at the ranger station. The short (20 minutes) Sendero del Observatorio trail leads uphill to a mirador, with views north toward Isla Coabita. The Sendero de los Monos (Monkey Trail) requires a short boat ride from the ranger station; the 2-mile (3 km) loop trail is named for the howler, spider, and white-faced monkeys commonly seen while hiking.
DIVING AND SNORKELING: The volcanic outcrop that forms Isla Granito de Oro, to the northeast of the main island, features a gorgeous white-sand beach shelving into turquoise waters where the snorkeling is superb. Moray eels poke up between submerged rocks. And harmless nurse sharks and large green and hawksbill turtles are almost always around in the warm waters, while needlefish, parrotfish, and angelfish are among the dozens of smaller fry species.
Divers like to head to the Bahía Damas reef, spread over 334 acres (135 ha) and thereby the largest in Pacific Central America. Underwater pinnacles pierce the coral formations, providing a dramatic backdrop for sighting sharks (hammerheads, nurse, tiger, white-tip, and massive whale sharks), manta rays, and even whales.
Coiba Dive Center (507-6565-7200; www.coibadivecenter.com) and Scuba Coiba (507-6575-0122; www.scubacoiba.com) offer snorkeling and scuba trips out of Santa Catalina.
Parque Nacional Isla Coiba, Panamá
Canadian Glenn Massingham’s Coiba Dive Center (507-6565-7200; www.coibadivecenter.com) offers snorkeling at Isla Coiba ($55) plus two-tank dives from $65, and PADI certification ($365). Scuba Coiba (507-6575-0122; www.scubacoiba.com; open 8 AM–6 PM), run by Austrian Herbie Sunk, charges from $100 for a full-day trip to Coiba, with a two-person minimum. Non-divers can join the trip for $60. And weeklong dive trips are offered aboard the M/V Coral Star (985-845-0113 or 866-924-2837; www.coralstar.com). Sportfishing: Sportfishers are gleeful about the bonito and billfish to be hooked in these waters. Santa Catalina Boat tours (507-6481-3401; www.santacatalinaboattours.com), Pesca Panamá (507-6614-5850, in the U.S. 1-800-946-3474; www.pescapanama.com), and Coiba Adventure Sportfishing (507-999-8108 or 1-800-800-0907, www.coibadventures.com) arrange trips deep-sea fishing, plus inshore trips for snapper, roosterfish, etc., off the east coast of Isla Coiba (a $50 per boat fishing permit is required, valid for one week; fishing is catch and release). The island is just a few miles from the edge of the continental shelf, where the waters plummet to the inky black depths. No restrictions apply for fishing these offshore waters of the Hannibal Bank, west of Isla Coiba. You can book multi-day fishing trips aboard the M/V Coral Star (985-845-0113 or 866-924-2837; www.coralstar.com).
The Cebaco Bay Sport Fishing Club (507-317-6670; www.cebacobay.com) is a 110-foot-long floating hotel operated by Captain Jim Wiese. Moored at Isla Cebaco, the club has a 47-foot Buddy Davis boat, plus pangas rigged for cast fishing.
Surfing: Surfing is the big enchilada around Santa Catalina, which is renowned for its consistent and powerful, easy to line up, hollows that break both left and right on a lava-rock reef. Most of the surf camps offer lessons. Mike and Javier of Fluid Adventures Panama (see above) run a three-day surf camp (from $369 per person), offer hourly lessons, rent boards, and run surf trips. Why not sign up for a three-in-one, six-day “Surf, Sea Kayak & Snorkel Extravaganza” ($989)? Awesome!