Boquete

We planned a last minute trip to Boquete over the last national holiday weekend in November. When we arrived, I was surprised by how cold it was! Everyone describes the weather as "fresh," but I was wishing I had brought the girls' sweaters. (We've really enjoyed not bundling up at all this year so far!) Boquete is beautiful. The landscape is not tropical at all, and there are lots of triangle shaped pine trees and A-frame chalets, so it feels almost like a little ski village. The hotel put us in a suite because they were overbooked, and the girls enjoyed the loft where their beds were. From the bathroom, you could hear the river than ran behind the hotel. We walked up a hill near the hotel, where the flowers were just beautiful, and we saw this berry plant everywhere. Turns out it's coffee!

We took a drive in toward a hike I had read about, and all along the way were interesting stops: a climbing wall, some waterfalls, an abandoned "castle." By the time we got to the trail area, it was later in the day, and after figuring out where to start the hike, we were getting hungry. We headed up the path, through a pig sty and across a hanging bridge. The trail started with a steep rocky/muddy climb, so we decided to turn back. As soon as we did, it started to pour! We ran back across the bridge and past the pig and made it back to the car.

At lunch, we overheard another table talking about a horse parade that afternoon, so we decided to stick around. So glad we did! It was short, but it seemed like every horse in town was there. I don't know how the horses handle firecrackers so well, but they do. We enjoyed gelato as we watched the parade pass before we headed for a night in David.

We arrived in David in the dark, and it was raining. The hotel was old and ugly, and it was one of those nights we couldn't figure out where to eat and what was open, so we had pizza at the hotel, and Earl caught a movie (in English!) at the theater around the corner. While he was gone, we heard drums and looked out the window and saw a parade passing. In the dark. With torches. At 9:30 at night. It seemed very strange then, but parades are everywhere you turn in Panama! Looking forward to spending more time in David with better weather.