February 1, 2010.
Boquete, Panama.
The first day of February seemed like a good day to explore Panama's countryside. And what better way to do so than on a rented moped? When we first started dating, Tim had a moped and we often scooted around campus on it. When we saw the scooters for rent, we thought it would be fun to relive our scooting days. Our expedition team was lucky enough to have such a capable captain. The word "guapo" comes to mind.
We mounted our motorbike and hit the open road. Since I was seated behind the captain, I had views of the surrounding landscape as it whizzed or slowly moved by, depending on if we were going up or downhill.
The open road:
The area is dotted with coffee plantations and beautiful forests.
A river runs through the area and there are waterfalls. There are also steep hills and our little moped couldn't always find the strength to take the both of us to the top. I was grateful for the occasional short walks to stretch out my cramped up legs- I don't know how motorcyclists tolerate riding for hours on end.
Yes, the photo below is staged. Tim did the driving!
During our expedition, we spotted this very homemade bridge that was little more than a log spanning the rushing river. Tim just had to stop and check it out.
After cruising the coffee lands, we decided to head south to some hot springs. We had an hour of highway driving, during which time we were often passed by rapidly moving traffic. It was exhilarating! (and maybe a tiny bit scary)
It seemed to be taking a long time to get to the hot springs so we pulled over to consult the map. It was all good - we were on the right path.
The route to the hot springs involved a turnoff onto a mile of very sketchy gravel road. Luckily, our captain has great balance. And guts! He navigated like a champ! I was sent out to walk ahead and scout our trail.
When we arrived at the hot springs we realized that the weather was much too hot and we had no desire to sit in hot water. Maybe we should have thought about that beforehand? However, the river runs through the property and it provided a refreshing alternative to the hot water. Some of the rocks were positioned in the water in such a way that I was able to devise a sort of "river recliner".
We watched an ox cross the river on this bridge. I guess the people decided they couldn't afford the risk of losing their oxen by fording the river.
After spending some time cooling ourselves in the water, it was time to return from our expedition. It was a really fun way to spend the day and check out what the Panamanian Highlands had to offer.
Other activities during our week in Boquete included multiple hikes and a walk over to the local garden, Mi Jardin es su Jardin. Boquete apparently has a very good climate for growing flowers so the garden was really spectacular!
The climate of Boquete is great for growing coffee and flowers in part because of the mist that often spills down from the mountains and into the valley in the afternoons. It never fully rained while we were there but it did mist every day. So, besides brilliant flowers, there are rainbows every day! Boquete is actually referred to as "the valley of the eternal rainbow." How poetic.
On one of our hikes, we spotted a baseball diamond and realized that a game was going on. We quickly abandoned our hiking plans in exchange for a nice home talent game. Most players were wearing uniforms - none of which matched. The players and crowd were enthusiastic and it made for a nice time. People would also call out to us "hello. hello friend." It's a friendly town.
It was a fun afternoon. We don't really know who won because we arrived in the middle of the game and there was no scoreboard. There were, however, 30 cent empanadas to munch on.
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