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Ron´s Trip On day 3 we were headed to Boquete, the town known for mild weather and the greatest number of American ex-patriots in the country. After the Interamerican Highway goes through Santiago, where there was a lot of road construction, 2 lanes only with diesel trucks, the road became significantly less crowded all the way to David. The potholes, however, were well in evidence but did not phase the KTM at all. Along the way, we did a short diversion to Playa las Lajas to experience a ride on the sand. Once we got through the squirrelly loose sand at the high tide mark, the beach opens out to miles and miles of hard pack that could be ridden with ease at any speed. Again, I was impressed how well the KTM performed.
The tourist books say that David is the hottest place in Panama and I believe it. Toasty and humid. But the 50 km ride up to Boquete provides a noticeable 20 degree change in the temperature. We stayed at the very nice B&B style Panamonte Inn and Spa (www.panamonteinnandspa.com) where we had arguably the best meal of the trip in their formal (by Panamanian standards) dinning room. Walking around the town in the mist and rainbows one is struck by how lush the hillsides are. Here, one see plenty of coffee plantations along with the wild flowers. The next morning after breakfast we went exploring the twisty back roads around Boquete. Interestingly, there is a oil pipeline running through the hills that is used to move oil from one coast to the other as the supertankers can’t make it through the Panama Canal.
Riding the road outside Boquete towards Alto Lino added new meaning to the Spanish word for stop as the road suddenly disappeared due to the river washing it out only a few days beforehand. There were no warning signs. I can only imagine what would happen if riding at night (not advisable).
At the end of the paved road at
Alto Quiel there is a dirt road that leads over to Volcan, our destination for
day 4. While we saw mountain bikers
riding the road, we elected the “safer” passage back down through David, the
Costa Rican border, and then on a very narrow but fun back road along the border
to Volcan. Outside of David on the
divided Interamerican Highway Taso switched lanes to pass a slow truck.
No sooner did he get around than the truck pulled out right in front of
Carl and myself. The Brembo brakes
sure made a believer of me, although riding staggered and on the inside I had
nowhere to go but the grassy median. Even
at 60 mph the KTM handled beautifully on the grass!
As I mentioned, the road along the Costa Rican border goes through the
mountains along twisty roads, some of which had recently washed out. We stopped at a tiny border village in the middle of no where
that had a guard shack.
Leaving the Panama-Costa Rican border we headed back into the mountains and to Volcan. Again a light rain started late in the day before we reached our destination Los Quetzales Lodge in Cerro Punta. A nice location within the rain forest specializing in eco-tourism, Los Quetzales is constructed with lots of teak wood indigenous to the area. After the cold arrival, a sauna and an hour long massage ($40) was very refreshing. Carl decided to go for a run in the rain, much to the applause of the locals!
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