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| Startin' Seventh Grade in Style |
We can't believe this beach is the closest one to our home here in Escazu, the bluest water, the whitest sand, yet it took us a year to get here!
One weekend, went the route of heading into the beach club area as we visited the Echandi family. We had a goofy time playing in the pool, avoiding a rainstorm and eating some outstanding hummus. Our excursion was graced by a visit from a flock of scarlet macaws which perched in the trees overhead, apparently, frequent visitors to this area.
We parked near the public lot for Playa Manta - 3,000 colones ($6) for "valet" parking, i.e., leave your keys with the sketchy dude, or, park as we did, along the road, and tip the security guy a couple of bucks! 
Perfect weather in the open countryside, peace and quiet and relaxation. Are we in paradise?Nope---just Boquete, Panama.
Lucky us! We got to visit our friends' family farm; Hacienda Esmerelda, where Geisha coffee became a known name in coffee; like Dom Perignon is to champagne!
We joined the Petersons on a ATV trip through bumpy, beautiful terrain to the river where the kids splashed and played. Steve drove like a little, old lady, but felt like a speed demon. (Just check out his enormous grin in the photo....he's like a kid in a candy store.)
Then we had a lunch fit for kings, complete with fresh milk and ice cream from their own dairy and delicious, home-grown coffee.
Afterward, we took a quick dip in their cool lake. All in all, a fun day shared with great company.
We highly recommend staying just five minutes out of town in the cabins at Villa Marita--reasonable, great beds, hot showers ("Come on, Benji, it's been twenty minutes..."), breakfast and friendly staff.
It's hard to describe the splendid feeling of hot sun on the skin and a cool breeze in the hair, but that's the ideal climate boasted by Boquete. Mountains, waterfalls, coffee farms, dairies and great, inexpensive hamburgers (at Don Fulo's burger shack) are just some of the draws here...Boquete is now up there in our TOP TEN PLACES to visit in Central America!
You want waterfalls? You got it! Boquete, Panama has 'em like Seattle has Starbucks: there's one on every corner.The Lost Waterfall hike of Boquete, Panama is a series of three powerful cascades. The setting is like something out of an epic novel, traversing rolling mountains, muddy ups and downs and fording sparkling rivers.
It was like an obstacle course! We raced past a 20 foot swath of red, fire ants, running over roots like our feet were on fire. We pulled ourselves up by knotted ropes and skied down mud slides on our butts. The water was icy cold, the rocks were slick, but we did it!
The slippery trail was challenging, especially at the start of our hike when the rains came down, but this is a very worthwhile way to spend a day (and $5 /pp)
Torrential rain followed us on our drive from San Jose, Costa Rica, five hours to the border, then plagued us as we continued into Panama and on the speedy ferry to Bocas del Toro. By the time we arrived at our too expensive, cat-pee smelling, tiny hotel room (Hotel Olas--never go there) we were soggy and too tired to change hotels. But the next day was almost heavenly in comparison. (until the last little bit...more to come) We moved to the functional and clean Hotel Cristina. A short, 20 minute bus ride ($2.50 pp/each way) took us to Playa Drago. There, we trudged through the wild jungle along the beach for about twenty minutes until the rain abated and we reached the sparkling, transparent waters of PLAYA ESTRELLA.
When we arrived at the beach, like Dorothy arriving in Oz, the darkened skies suddenly turned to blue and reflected in the clear,placid water.
Orange starfish dotted the shore and we dipped in the tranquil Caribbean Sea and snorkeled. The water was the perfect temperature and we felt like we could have floated on our backs for days...
...Until, Steve's shouts of pain broke the quiet. He'd been stung across the cheek and ear by a large jellyfish! He tried everything: urine, ibuprofen, antihistamine, vinegar and ammonia---It all eased the sting a bit, but the scar lingered for days!
The next morning the downpours reappeared in earnest, flummoxing our plans to snorkel, dolphin watch and island hop. We decided to cut bait and head on to Boquete. Bocas del Toro, overall, is touristy, but worth the trip to see beautiful Playa Estrella.
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