Boquete

This morning Ryan and I decided to rent a car for the rest of our stay in Boquete.  Our hotel, while great, is set a bit away from town, and most activities around here require lengthy bus or cab rides if you don’t wish to pay for a tour. 

Danny, the manager, hooked us up with a rental guy named Abel.  We have a Yaris.  Today after breakfast, which is cereal, fruit, and pastries, (did I mention they put fruit out around the garden to attract birds while we eat breakfast?) we drove to Cerro Punta.  Its about an hour and 20 minutes on the other side of Volcan Baru. 

It was a scenic drive through cloud-shrouded mountains and farmland.  We wanted to see ancient petroglyphs in one area, but even with our map I couldn’t find it. 

A woman was walking with a small child, so we pulled up, rolled the window down and asked for directions.  It went something like this:

Me: Perdoname senorita, donde esta la calle a la barillos?
Woman: :::blank stare:::
Me: Um…las picturas mas pequena y mas vieja? Donde esta?
Woman: :::blank stare::::
Me:  Sabes?
Woman: No.
Little girl: Chao!
Me: Chao.

Rolled window up.  Drove away.  It then started raining and we gave up on the petroglyphs.  At this punta we were ready for lunch, so we stopped at a little diner in Volcan next to a farmacia.  Chicken, beans, and rice for lunch.  Pretty good I might add.  We were the only "whities" in there for a while.  Side note: breastfeeding is much more commonplace here.  I've seen women breastfeeding at bus stations, restaurants, even ordering meat from the butcher in a grocery store.  They don't cover with a blanket or anything.  Just out and proud, I guess.  Interesting.  I feel like that's taboo in the US of A.  Anyway...

We drove on into Cerro Punta with the intent on seeing Finca Dracula, an Orchid Farm.  It was raining, we parked and walked up to the gate, but the sign said 10 dollars a person to come in.  We arent really flower enthusiasts so we took a picture of the sign and went back to the car.

a micro town on the way to cerro punta

We headed back out the way we came, stopping for a strawberry milkshake for me, and fresas y crema for Ryan.  Both tasty.

We were back to the hotel in time for “social hour.”  We got our complimentary sangrias and chatted with the owner of the hotel, Jason, an Englishman.  After talking for a while about healthcare abroad we headed to La Pianista for a salad and calzone. 

The calzone was huge, and we brought some back to the hotel.  We’ll keep it in our minifridge and have it for lunch manana.

Update: Watching Animal Planet and waiting for Ryan to get out of the shower after his morning run,  We’ll grab some breakfast and head out to the Pipeline trail!