Second Panama Trip II

We returned from the Kuna Islands to Panama City the next day with a four hour trip down the river and up the bouncy mountain road. We got back by noon and had showers as soon as we could. We then went to the Metropolitan National Park where we had a good view of the city and tried to find some of the native Geoffroy's tamarin monkeys. We saw one of these tiny squirrel sized monkeys living as a pet on the Kuna islands but were unable to find a wild group. That night we stayed in a different hostel, one that was closer to the heart of the 'new' city. It was full of international restaurants and nightspots. We ended up eating at a sushi restaurant with hundreds of different types of sushi. It was also the last night for one of my friends because she had to get back to Costa Rica, taking a bus leaving at 11:00 pm.

The next morning we decided to head to the town of Santa Fe, a small village in the mountains west of Panama City. On the way we stopped at in the town of Natá to see the church there. The church was built in 1522 after the Spanish decided to establish a city after defeating a large Indian settlement. The inside and outside of the church were well maintained and restored. We continued on to the city of Santiago where we ate the traditional Panamanian soup, sancocho. The next bus we took climbed a beautiful mountain road to Santa Fe. We arrived in town just as it was getting dark and managed to find a hostel. It wasn't in the guide book, but it had been recommended by someone we met in Panama City. It was a gorgeous hostel. It looked like a mountain cabin and had a great view. The rooms were cheap and, most importantly, it had hot showers which was perfect for the cool mountain air. The family that owned it were French and they were very friendly and gave us a bunch of suggestions about places to see. We decided to do a long hike so we went to bed early.

The next morning we headed out on a hike to a waterfall. The first 5-10 km followed a dirt road that rose and dropped steeply from valley to valley. Eventually we arrived at the trail head that led to the waterfall and the Santa Fe National Park. The trail was full of butterflies of many different kinds. It crossed a number of streams before leading to the river and a very impressive waterfall. Unfortunately there were a number of huge rocks and a steep cliff that prevented us from getting a close look but the spray of the falls kept everything damp, even at a distance. We stopped to have lunch and later I decided to try to make my way across the rocks to get a better picture of the falls. This was the wrong decision. I stepped on one particularly slippery rock and plunged 10 feet into the water to the amusement of my friend. I got out as quickly as I could but it was too late for my camera. At first it wouldn't turn on at all but later after it dried out it seemed to work fine but would only take black photos. Luckily I was able to salvage the pictures I had taken but my camera won't be taking any more. Since I was wet anyways, I swam up the river to the base of the waterfall and was suitably impressed by the power of the falls. The return trip involved many more butterfly sitings and even a bright green snake streaking through the grass. Once back on the road we returned a different way and ran into hundreds of yellow and white butterflies flitting around the banks of the river.

The next morning we went to the local coffee making factory where the manager gave us a free tour of the premises. The locally grown coffee was brought in, separated into higher and lower quality batches, dried out in the sun and in the heat and then roasted. The roasting room smelled incredibly good. The beans were then ground and packaged. They were sold around the world, mostly to Germany and they were also available in Panama and locally. I also visited an orchid garden where the owner hosted an orchid festival in August that attracted people from all over Panama. This time of the year there weren't many orchids blooming but it was an interesting experience. Later in the day I decided to go inner tubing. I had met a kid on the bus and he rented out inner tubes to go down the river. I found his house and got a tube. He gave me instructions on where to stop and I set off by myself. It was the end of the rainy season so the river was quite full and fast. After about 10 minutes another large river joined creating even larger rapids. I managed to make it almost all the way down this section but the last mini waterfall flipped over my tube and threw me out. I had forgotten to take my hat off at the beginning so it was knocked into the river. I tried to swim over to grab it but it got swept away in the fast current and I never saw it again. Meanwhile my tube had gotten stuck in a whirlpool and I couldn't swim back to get it. I had to get out on the shore and make my way back to the tube and then carefully swim rock to rock across the current until I could jump into the tube and free it from the whirlpool. The rest of the trip was a bit more leisurely as the river spread out and I could enjoy the beautiful scenery and the water birds in solitary peace. Once I got out of water I had a 5 km uphill walk back to town carrying my tube but it was well worth it for the tubing.

This was my last day in Panama as I had to get back to work. I left my friend behind because she had another week of holidays and I made the long journey back. It was 5 hours back to Panama City where I caught the 11:00 pm bus, 15 hours back to San Jose, and 4 hours back to Bagaces. After a full 24 hours of riding on a bus I went straight to sleep.