Río Palo Alto, Panama Travel Journals & Blogs

Traveler Costa Rica and Panama 2019
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- Mar 13, 2019
- ☀️ 26 °C
- Altitude: 1,113 m
- Panama Provincia de Chiriquí Centro Jaramillo Río Palo Alto 8.779527, -82.4351238°46’46” N 82°26’6” W
Day 31
Beautiful Boquete
March 13, 2019 in Panama ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
What an interesting place this is - so completely different from the beach side experience of Bocas del Toro. With an elevation of 1200 m above sea level, it is noticeably cooler than the coast but still T-shirt comfortable. The town lies between volcanic mountain ridges that ascend quickly to heights above 2000 meters. Volcano Baru is the highest point at 3500 meters and you can hike to the summit and back from here in a very long day. Maybe next time😜.
These heights to the north of Boquete have been covered in cloud since I arrived here 4 days ago. Winds, clouds and a very fine rain frequently (especially in the afternoon) descend to the town but not for long. The evenings are borderline jacket temperatures .
The cultural mix here is fascinating. The indigenous locals compose the majority on the streets but many travelers from around the world are obvious too, based on the plethora of hostels and Bed and Breakfasts on the side streets. In the last couple of decades a largely American expat community has grown up in the region too, totalling about 20,000.
Many or the indigenous women wear brightly coloured full length dresses with elaborate embroidery .
There are plenty of coffee shops and restaurants here catering primarily to all those foreigners.
I spent the last two days hiking two of the numerous mountain trails within easy access of central Boquete. On the first day I was lucky enough to see a male quetzal. It’s an endangered bird known for its brilliant colouring and long blue tail feathers.
Coffee plantations dot the mountainsides, bamboo and eucalyptus trees are common and flowering trees are plentiful in and around the town.Read more
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2019 Central- and Southamerica
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- Mar 12, 2019, 11:58am
- ⛅ 25 °C
- Altitude: 1,086 m
- Panama Provincia de Chiriquí Centro Jaramillo Río Palo Alto 8.77638, -82.430548°46’35” N 82°25’50” W
Day 7
Boquete
March 12, 2019 in Panama ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
Today we just walked through the town, visited a market and planned our next days. The river which is crossing the town is Rio Caldera. Boquete is really small, but nice! Many charming buldings, surrounded by nature. The temperature here is lower compared to the coastal areas.Read more
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Traveler Weltreise
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- Oct 13, 2016, 7:41am
- ⛅ 18 °C
- Altitude: 1,090 m
- Panama Provincia de Chiriquí Centro Jaramillo Río Palo Alto 8.77618, -82.432078°46’34” N 82°25’55” W
Day 5
Boquete - Wandern: Spaß oder Qual?
October 13, 2016 in Panama ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Nach der Ruhe in der Karibik geht's weiter mit dem Nachtbus nach Boquete (bei gefühlten -10 Grad dank Klimaanlage❄❄❄), um dort schon einmal unsere Wanderschuhe etwas warm zu laufen. Das Wetter lässt am ersten Tag leider etwas zu wünschen übrig, was den ersten Hike zu den "Hidden Waterfalls" zu einer unterhaltsamen Rutschpartie und Matsch Schlacht werden lässt. 😂⛅💧☁
Unter den Voraussetzungen fällt auch die Entscheidung, ob um Mitternacht noch der Anstieg auf den Vulkan angegangen werden sollte (2.000 Höhenmeter, 6h hoch und dann auch wieder runter😨) dann doch nach etwas hin und her schnell negativ aus.
Stattdessen geht es am nächsten Morgen auf den Quetzales Trail, eine 6h Wanderung auf ca. 2.500 Meter Höhe.🌳🌄🌳 Die Aussicht und auch der Weg warens definitiv wert, aber die echt gemeinen, ca. 0,5 bis 1 m hohen Stufen, die die letzten 20 Minuten des Anstieg auf uns warteten, ließen uns dann doch etwas an unserer körperlichen Fitness zweifeln 😅. Für Peru müssen wir definitiv noch etwas trainieren!!! 💪👟Read more
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pura vida - costa rica
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- Nov 27, 2018, 10:26am
- ⛅ 21 °C
- Altitude: 1,124 m
- Panama Provincia de Chiriquí Centro Jaramillo Río Palo Alto 8.782668, -82.433678°46’58” N 82°26’1” W
Day 15
Fahrt Osa - Boquete, Panama
November 27, 2018 in Panama ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
Da unsere Hütten statt mit Wänden eigentlich nur durch Moskitonetzen ausgestattet sind, verbringen wir die Nacht quasi im Regenwald. Betonung liegt hier auf Regen. Was ein bisschen unangenehm ist. Etwas knatschig und zerknautscht verabschieden wir uns von unserer Lodge und besteigen abermals das Boot. In der nächsten Bucht, der Drake Bay - ja, wie Francis Drake - steigen weitere Fahrgäste zu, Touristen, es wird eng, alle sind etwas zerzaust und nass. Nur ein Mann kommt wohlriechend, trocken und gebügelt aus dem Regenwald. Und zieht sich dann mit vollendeter Eleganz einen schwarzen Müllsack über und kommt trotz Regen, Wind und Wellen trocken am Ziel an. Faszinierend.
Dieses Mal fährt uns der Papa-Kapitän, also geht es etwas sachter zu. Dennoch werden wir trotz Regenponcho pitsche-patsche nass bis auf die Unterhose. Gut, dass es bis zur Anlegestelle aufhört zu regnen, so dass wir uns in der Sonne trocknen können wie die Pelikane, die ihr Gefieder in den Wind halten. Robinson sammelt uns auf und los geht es Richtung Panama.
An der Grenze wird uns das Leben schwer gemacht, alles muss seine Ordnung haben, Stempel hier, warten, Stempel da, warten, Bild machen, Fingerabdrücke nehmen, warten, Formular ausfüllen, warten, Gepäck zeigen..... und dann heisst es: Willkommen in Panama.
In Boquete steppt heute der Bär, eine Brücke wird eingeweiht, die Unabhängigkeit von Spanien gefeiert, der Präsident fährt an uns vorbei, es gibt Feuerwerk, Live-Musik, Trommel und Fanfaren-Umzug, Remmidemmi. Was für ein Tag! Und dabei sind wir noch nicht mal gewandert!Read more
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Valentina R.Oh wie schön ist Panama
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- Nov 22, 2018, 5:21pm
- 🌧 20 °C
- Altitude: 1,089 m
- Panama Provincia de Chiriquí Centro Jaramillo Río Palo Alto 8.77546, -82.431128°46’32” N 82°25’52” W
Day 5
Boquete Hochland Kaffee
November 22, 2018 in Panama ⋅ 🌧 20 °C
Heute haben wir eine geführte Tour in das Kaffee Anbau Gebiet Boquete gemacht. Uns wurde erklärt welche Sorten es in Panama gibt und was einen qualitativen Kaffee ausmacht. Probieren durften wir auch. Wir haben den Prozess von der Pflanze bis zum fertigen Kaffee gesehen.
Panamas Kaffee gilt als einer der teuersten und somit exklusivsten der Welt. Jede Bohne ist handverlesen.Read more
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Traveler Zentralamerika
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- Mar 25, 2018
- ☀️ 21 °C
- Altitude: 1,097 m
- Panama Provincia de Chiriquí Centro Jaramillo Río Palo Alto 8.777095, -82.432038°46’38” N 82°25’55” W
Day 12
Boquete
March 25, 2018 in Panama ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
In boquete a cho, siwer schnäll in ischi unnerchunft ga d‘ruckseck dartüe und de diräkt eppis ga ässu. Zum glick, will emabu isch im ganzu dorf der strom ewäg gsi und alli beize hend züegita. Im näbilwald fam nationalpark la amistad heiwer isch de ufu wäg gmacht der quetzalvogil zgse und si erfolgrich gsi, wie mu ufum letschtu foto gseht (vilicht is öi en grossi päja).
Iner letscht nacht heiwer es unagnähms erläbnis ka: vor ischum zimmer isch eppis grossus hin und her gseklut und hed aner vergittrut port fam hüs grüttlut. Di patron druf agsprochu, hed isch de nid genau wellu säge was das gsi isch. Wie wier erfahru hei gits uriwohner und grossi tieri wie leoparde und wildschwii wa alli nid seli gäru tourischte hend.Read more
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Traveler Backpacking Mittelamerika
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- Mar 16, 2018, 5:42pm
- ☀️ 20 °C
- Altitude: 1,091 m
- Panama Provincia de Chiriquí Centro Jaramillo Río Palo Alto 8.776108, -82.4321828°46’34” N 82°25’56” W
Day 15
Auf der Suche nach dem Quetzal
March 16, 2018 in Panama ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
In Boquete verweilen wir nur 2 Nächte, um wandern zu gehen. Wir machen uns früh morgens auf zum Pipeline Trail, um einen Quetzal zu entdecken. Tatsächlich gelingt es uns zwei dieser schönen Vögel zu entdecken. Leider sind sie Kamerascheu.. aber bei Google findet man viele schöne Fotos 😁Read more
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Traveler Weltreise reloaded
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- Dec 20, 2017
- ⛅ 20 °C
- Altitude: 1,099 m
- Panama Provincia de Chiriquí Centro Jaramillo Río Palo Alto 8.777637, -82.4318778°46’39” N 82°25’55” W
Day 85
Regenbogenland
December 20, 2017 in Panama ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
Boquete liegt im Hochland von Panama, nicht weit vom Volcán Barú, der die letzten Jahrhunderte aber keine Aktivitäten gezeigt hat. Nicht ganz so hoch in den Bergen wie meine vorletzte Unterkunft ist es aber auch hier tropisch grün. Es wird Kaffee angebaut und generell viel Obst und Gemüse. Wir haben uns etwas außerhalb in einer kleinen Anlage mit herrlichem Garten und eigenem Kaffee-Anbau einquartiert. Das Wetter ist tagsüber gut, aber abends ziehen regelmäßig Wolken auf, es ist stürmisch und es regnet. Ergebnis sind aber wunderschöne Regenbogen 🌈 jeden Morgen.

Während Matthias heute endlich sein verlorenes Gepäck in David abholen kann (erfolgreich!), habe ich eine Raftingtour gebucht. Der Fluss ist allerdings fast an der Grenze zu Costa Rica, so dass zuerst eine Autofahrt vor uns liegt. Als wir ankommen sieht man zudem besorgte Gesichter unserer Guides und schnell verstehen wir ihre Unzufriedenheit. Fluß aufwärts liegt ein Stromkraftwerk, das vom Staat betrieben wird. Dieser hat damit auch die Hoheit über die Dämme. Und zumindest heute hilft alles gut zureden nichts, die Schleusen bleiben geschlossen 🙁. Die Konsequenz daraus bemerken wir schnell. Nach Besteigen der Boote treiben wir zunächst einige Zeit vor uns hin, als jedoch die Stromschnellen beginnen ist der Wasserpegel zu niedrig, um sie zu passieren, regelmäßig bleiben wir an den großen Steinen hängen. Den Guides bleibt nicht anderes übrig, als oft auszusteigen und die Boote 🛶 einige Meter zu schieben oder zu ziehen. Aussteigen lassen möchten sie uns auch nicht, denn die Steine sind glitschig und die Strömung dann abschnittsweise dann doch stark und man rutscht leicht aus. Am Ufer sieht man, dass der Fluß vor kurzem bestimmt 1,50m höher stand und ich kann mir gut vorstellen wie es dann hier aussehen würde. An einigen Stellen ist es dann doch etwas wilder und ich falle natürlich prompt aus dem Boot und hole mir einen schönen großen blauen Fleck an einem Felsen ab! Der Trip dauert doppelt so lang wie üblich und am Ende sind alle froh, als wir wieder wohlbehalten am Ufer stehen.

Auch am nächsten Morgen verziehen sich die Regenwolken schnell und so steht dem Ausflug zum Wasserfall sowie den Petroglyphen in der Nähe nichts im Weg. Der Parque Arqueológico de Piedra Pintada ist kaum zu finden; man durchquert über ein privates Grundstück auf dem Pferde und Kühe weiden und gerade wenn man denkt, dass man komplett falsch ist erreicht man ein kleines Tor, dass den Park beschildert. Die in den Fels eingeritzten Zeichnungen sind mehr als 1000 Jahre alt und die Bedeutung ist auch nicht so ganz klar.Read more
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Daniela Mussel Sehr erlebnisreich
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About a girl who travels Latinoamérica 2017
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- May 15, 2017
- ☀️ 23 °C
- Altitude: 1,085 m
- Panama Provincia de Chiriquí Centro Jaramillo Río Palo Alto 8.774283, -82.4316338°46’27” N 82°25’54” W
Day 139
Boquete
May 15, 2017 in Panama ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
Even though Alena had told me so much about Boquete I still expected something completely different! Somehow I thought Boquete was this little village along a little road next to a river up a mountain. Boquete is basically just one street. But this one is like a proper road. Also the town is a lot more wealthy than most of the places I've seen in the last month. Lots of international restaurants and fancy shops. Proper houses with nicely cut gardens. Almost everybody seems to have their own car. But maybe this is not special to Boquete but actually just normal in Panama? They do have the canal and are definitely a richer country compared to Nicaragua or El Salvador. Also a lot of international people were living here and lots of western stuff was available all over town.
Of course this isn't necessarily a bad thing I just had to adjust my expectations that this was not the authentic little village with an old Panamanian Lady selling coffee in a rustic cafe.
When we arrived to the hostel we were greeted by the owner and his dogs. I understood immediately why Alena felt so much at home here. The hostel was one of the nicest and cleanest I have stayed and the stuff was super friendly and open hearted.
We had a quick shower and headed out again to the Brewery Factory. On the way we made a quick stop at another restaurant to say hello to some of Alenas friends. At the brewery we got some snacks from a food truck integrated in the bar and some of the good beer. I choose the coconut one. Sounds weirder than it was ;)
I liked the design and the vibe of the place a lot.
Usually there is life music at night but we missed it due to our belated journey. We shared a table with some guys from David and after a while Adam joined us. Adam was a guy Alena had met the week before who was playing at the Brewery and other places around town. When the brewery closed we walked over to Taboo Lounge - a bar that belongs to the only night club in town which was unfortunately closed tonight. We were the only people here and actually not really up for another drink but Adam said we should have one more cocktail together. So we went for purple rain - a new creation by one of the bartenders. They came in huge glasses and the bartender switched the music to purple rain immediately. Everybody took pictures of us and our huge cocktails and we figured we gonna show up on a lot of Instagram profiles tomorrow ;)
The bar filled up more and more and Adam seemed to know everybody. We ended up having another cocktail before we headed over to Mamallenas Hostal to visit Isaac, another of Alenas friends. We hung out for a while but I was super tired so we went home with just a quick stop at the 24h supermarket to buy breakfast for the next day.
The next morning after breakfast we took a collectivo to get towards the quetzal trail as we wanted to go for a hike around the area. The driver dropped us of at a crossroad but we walked quite a while from here without finding the trail. After a while we got to the turnoff for another trail to 3 waterfalls and as Alena hadn't seen that one as well we decided to take it.
The hike was partly more a climb but that made it more exciting and fun. When we got to the last waterfall we weren't sure if the guy at the entrance had said "you can climb up to the top of the waterfall" or "you shouldn't climb up to the top of the waterfall". Actually I had just seen him pointing to the top of the waterfall on a picture and assumed he was telling us to go there. So we decided we would just keep on going along the trail and see if it was possible. It was possible. And even though we are still not sure we were supposed to go up there it was definitely worth it.
When we got back to the street afterwards a collectivo picked us up right there. It started raining shortly after we got into the car so I guess we did everything right.
Back in town we went to one of Alenas favorite places for quesadillas and smoothies.
As it was Alenas last night she invited some of her friends for a home cooked dinner at the hostel. She made Spaghetti Bolognese and a salad that could have fed 10 people easily. Unfortunately we were only 5 but it gave us all something to eat the next day.
The dinner was really nice and it was nice meeting Alenas friends here.
The next morning I walked around town one last time with Alena and she showed me where the hostel used to be and another new hostel the owner is working on.
After I walked Alena to her bus I walked around town by myself for a while and found a little market.
Later I went back to that new hostel with the owner as he wanted some tips for the bathroom (I should start saying I'm a teacher or something). I think I didn't really help him as we talked about different options but kind of figured just the one he didn't like was working but it was nice to see a Panamanian construction side. When we got back to the hostel it started to rain again so I stayed inside on the sofa next to the reception and made some travel plans for the next days. For dinner I had some of the leftovers from the night before and I kind of didn't leave my spot on the sofa talking to other guests and stuff till I went to bed.
The next morning I left early to catch the bus to head back towards the Pacific Coast again.Read more
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Richard Ellis The Americas
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- Apr 1, 2017
- ⛅ 25 °C
- Altitude: 1,085 m
- Panama Provincia de Chiriquí Centro Jaramillo Río Palo Alto 8.77452, -82.432048°46’28” N 82°25’55” W
Day 166
Boquete, Panama
April 1, 2017 in Panama ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
A breath of fresh air.

Boquete lies in the Chiriqui Highlands in the west of Panama, in the shadow of Panama's highest (but still not that high) peak, Volcan Baru. It's a reknowned adventure sport hub, comprising of the Americans who partake in these and the locals who guide them.

I like Boquete, if anything because it's cool. Cool enough to give us some sanity between what we faced in our last two stops and what we will face in Panama City. It's also clean and stunningly picturesque. Flowers (the old burgain villia above all!) bloom everywhere, the air smells fresh, the river is clean and the traffic is minimal as Boquete is almost at the literal end of the road. Birds too, chirp audibly at every location. It's just so darn peaceful!

We met up with Mike and Char again and opted for a waterfall hike - the cheapest activity on the list. It was only a short taxi ride away, but it was almost enough to cost us our lives as the old fart took every corner like it was the final bend on Mt Panorama. Unfortunately we took the first track we came across with a waterfall sign, paid our $5 and went for a walk. It wasn't until we found the one and only waterfall that we'd realised we had done the wrong walk. We backtracked to the road and found the Lost Waterfalls sign we were looking for, reluctantly paid another $7 to begin the hike we were supposed to. The day made for some gruelling climbing and plenty of waterfalls, and ended up being much longer than we anticipated after we walked the whole way back to town - over 20km in fact. As you do, we treated ourselves to a hard earned drink at the (surely american-owned) brewery pausing only to let two nappy-wearing baby monkeys play on our shoulders. Not kidding.

The next day was relaxing. Cat and I proceeded to undertake our own 'food tour' of Boquete (really who needs a tour guide on a food tour - just follow your nose!). It began with coffee and cake (of which we ate way too much) and continued with delightful pulled beef sandwiches and an incredible fresh strawberry shake. In between of course there was rest, research and one of my best runs on tour - cool, scenic and quiet up through the hills of Boquete in the twilight. We also enjoyed a delicious meal at Big Daddys grill. There are a lot of American expats living here and it shows in the dining options - at least the employees are still largely spanish speaking locals! Fish tacos and curly fries to die for...yum! Depsite splashing out on this meal, prices are unquestionably lower than that of Costa Rica and for that matter - Bocas del Toro where food prices appear to have been hiked for import costs to the island. A welcome reprive.

Onwards to the baking heat and hustle of Panama City. An hour on a chicken bus followed by eight on a coach. Looks like I'll be getting some episodes of Narcos under my belt!Read more
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