Feria de Santa Fe

We gave Santa Fe another try the weekend of their annual fair. It's such a beautiful area up in the mountains. It shares some characteristics with Boquete, but it is much smaller and almost untouched by tourism. In some ways, it makes it less accessible for those of us who don't have connections there, but we've fumbled our way around twice now. Next time, I've decided, we're going to make a point to have someone familiar with the area guide us. We're dying to hike there!

I was surprised by how much the lush greenery effected drying out affected the views on the way up into the mountains. Just a couple months without daily rain, and it's more brown and not quite as breath-taking.

The fair was small but had vendors and rides. There were farm animals, but there was a guy kind of fighting with a bull that was tied up, which bothered me. The most interesting thing we saw were the costumes! Men dressed as women with papier mache masks, a witch chasing people around, and my favorite Diablos Sucios. We also saw giant prized ñame at the different farmers' stands. It's a root like yuca used in sancocho, Panamanian chicken soup. Like in Boquete, our afternoon visit to the fair seemed too early. As we left, the line to get in was backed up down the street!

I'll look forward to spending a quiet weekend in Santa Fe sometime before we leave Santiago. To me, its appeal is the lack of crowds and small town feel. Just need the rain to return and make it all green again.