Panama highlights
On a custom tour our family took to Panama in June-July ’09 (Oct. ’09, pg. 32 & Nov. ’09, pg 31), we stayed in BOQUETE at Finca Lérida (P.O. Box 0413-00146, Boquete, Chiriquí, Panama; phone/fax +011 [507] 720-2285), a small hotel on a gorgeous coffee plantation on the mountainside outside of town. Although the hotel was outside the city, a taxi to/from town cost only $5.
The view there was phenomenal. The town of Boquete itself was nothing special, we felt. In the Boquete area, I recommend the following tours:
• Finca Dracula (phone 507 771 2070) — an orchid farm with gorgeous landscaping and lots of hummingbirds.
• Los Quetzales Trail — we saw two of the beautiful birds within the first 200 yards of our hike.
• Sitio Barriles — an archaeological site with petroglyphs.
In Boquete we ate at Delicias del Perú (Av. Central; phone 720 1966), an upscale restaurant serving seafood. The food was okay but not great. Around $15 per person.
We were told that Machu Picchu (Av. Belisario Porras; phone 264 9308) was the best restaurant in town, and we agreed. The food was very good, and the prices of around $16 per person were reasonable.
In SAN BLAS we stayed at Burbayar Lodge (Llano-Cartí, Panama; phone/fax +011 507 390 6674 or 6654), a very rustic lodge out in the middle of the jungle. The lodge had no electricity and was certainly off the beaten path. We ate all our meals at the lodge; there was nothing else close by.
Our stay included meals and two walking tours through the jungle each day. The lodge provided Michael as our guide. He was very knowledgeable and helpful and went out of his way to accommodate all of our requests. The birds were easy to see there.
At this lodge, I highly recommend taking an evening hike into the jungle to find all of the different species of frogs.
I also recommend a visit to Lake Bayano, where we saw a multitude of bird species and visited a village of the indigenous Embera people. We met village members and learned about their culture.
BARRY HANTMAN
Danville, NH