It was a very long drive from Anton Valley west to Boquete, almost six hours. I was more than ready to get out of that car when I arrived. While Anton Valley was seemingly abandoned in its idealic setting in the mountains, Boquete, on the other hand is packed with people and all the traffic that goes with it. Not that’s its not a pleasant town, just a busy place.

My hostel is pretty unique. They have the typical hotel type rooms available, but they also have these cement pods seen above. Mine is the one on the bottom right in that group furthest back. It’s definitely one of the more interesting places I’ve slept over the years and it was super comfy too.

Like all of my planned stops here in Panama, I came here to hike and overdose on waterfalls. The most popular hike in the area is the Lost Waterfalls hike. They’re hardly “lost” since it’s a well marked trail with paid admission and everyone knows about it, but it seemed like the most logical place to start.

This hike takes you through some really beautiful cloud forest terrain and past three waterfalls named simply one, two, and three. Number one is the only one you can’t swim in, just a viewpoint for this one. The flowers surrounding the trail were a nice touch though.

Further up the mountain along the muddy trail I could hear waterfall number two and eventually saw it through the trees.

Waterfalls make ideal spots to stop for a rest. I read about all these hikes that I’m doing before coming here, but nothing prepares you for just how stunning these places really are.

Hiking just to this point alone would have made this a really good day, but there’s one more to go. The trail first continues up, straight up, to the top of waterfall two for a birds eye view down. They tied ropes to help people get up that part. I didn’t really need them on the way up, but that trail is slippery. I was hanging on for dear life on the way back down.

The waterfalls are without a doubt the main attraction here, but the long stretches between the falls offer some unbelievable views of the river with lots of smaller cascades, the forest, and lots of unusual flowers too.

The furthest waterfall out and the end of the hike is waterfall three. I opted not to do any swimming today. The weather is really cool in Boquete, plus it’s raining a little bit and that water is freezing! Brrrr!

I said waterfall three was the end of the hike, but as always in hiking, the destination is only the halfway point. Time to head back down and try not to fall in the mud. As busy and as crowded as Boquete is, and given that everyone presumably comes here to hike, I have been surprised at how not crowded these hikes have been. I thought there would be lots of traffic jams on these trails, but all the hikes in this post have been peaceful and quiet with very few people on them.

Only a few hundred feet from the Lost Waterfalls trailhead is another waterfall hike, Cascada el Tatica, that everyone seems to pass right by. Not me, of course, but everyone else. On this short trail through some pristine farmland, I was all by myself.

Why more people don’t come to this waterfall too is just baffling. It’s a short and easy hike and the waterfall at the end of it is gorgeous!

The next day I set out to hike what seems to be the second most popular hike near Boquete, but first, a quick stop at Los Ladrillos. This cool rock wall on the side of the road is all that remains visibly of a lava flow from nearby Volcán Barú. On the weekends people supposedly come here to practice their climbing skills.

Not too far from the Lost Waterfalls is the Pipeline Trail. I realized about halfway through the hike that it’s called that because of the miles of pipe diverting some of the water to nearby farms.

Pipes aside, this was also a really pleasant walk through some really beautiful cloud forest. There were two streams flowing loudly on either side of the trail and the flowers and crazy trees were also in attendance.

And like the other Boquete hikes, this one also ended with a beautiful waterfall, Cascada Escondida (Hidden Waterfall). It’s not a gusher, but it sure was pretty. I find it funny that the most well known and popular waterfalls in the area are known as lost and hidden. Ha!

On the way back I stopped to admire Cenizo, the 1400 year old tree.

Also as I was getting back near to the trailhead, the butterflies decided to come out in force. I’m not sure why they were so active right at this time, but it made the walk back pretty magical.

This guys wings below are bright blue when they’re open. He didn’t want to show them off here, but when he starts flying they’re beautiful!

I think all the light rain that’s been falling is what’s bringing out all the flowers too. That’s my theory anyway. Anyway, after the hike I decided to eat my lunch sitting in the car. I could hear something tapping on the window behind me so I turned and saw this bird attacking the car. It was an unusual photo op, but ok.

Oh, and when I say he was attacking the car I was not exaggerating. I don’t know what his deal was, but this little dude was PISSED!

I thought about opening the window for some odd reason but quickly came to my senses. Then I thought maybe I parked over a nest or something so I moved the car forward and got out to have a look around, but didn’t see anything. He sat on that nearby post seen in the pics and just watched me. When I got back in the car to finish my lunch I could see in the mirrors him now attacking the car that was parked behind me. Rage on, little guy!

Having a car means having the freedom to explore further afield. So off I went to do just that, starting with this giant rock covered in petroglyphs. It’s just sitting on this farm in the middle of a bunch of cow pastures. No information, nothing, but still cool to see.

Up the road from the tiny town of Caldera out in the middle of nowhere I surprisingly found this next waterfall. I just drove very slowly when the GPS told me I was close until I found a hole in the fence, parked and started walking. There was no sign or any indication that anything was here, but sure enough, after walking through this little field there was a trail that led me down to Charco la Cascada. What a find!

Another awesome waterfall that nobody seems to know about and that I get to enjoy all to myself. Yessss! I was also able to climb up to the top and look over the edge.

I thought about swimming at Charco la Cascada, but I had two other waterfalls on my list for today. The first was easy, Cascada Jawata. This one is more well known and there were a few people already swimming here. It’s a beauty though!

My plan now was to hike about a half a mile up the road to see if I could find the trailhead to another waterfall, Cascada Agua Viva. It was a pretty steep climb and unfortunately I couldn’t find a trailhead anywhere. The view from up at the top was incredible though. I figured the trailhead must be off of the road on the other side of the river, so I made a plan to go back and swim at Cascada Jawata today and search for Cascada Agua Viva tomorrow on my way out of Boquete.

Back at Cascada Jawata I took off my shirt and shoes and jumped in for my refreshing swim. I swam out right into the waterfall and then slowly floated back towards the rocks feeling pretty good when I realized my phone was still in my back pocket. Crap! I took it out and raised it above the water to take it back to shore when I suddenly remembered the car key was still in my front pocket. I quickly reached down into my unzipped front pocket but the key was gone. Crap! Crap! Initiate panic mode! My car key is somewhere at the bottom of a waterfall, I’m pretty far from any sort of civilization, and I just murdered my phone.

Luckily, there was a family swimming nearby and they had two snorkeling masks. I went over and told the guy who was having fun snorkeling what an idiot I am and so he made his kid give me his mask and then the two of us scoured the bottom of that little lagoon for my lost car key. I really thought it was hopeless and a waste of time, though. But after about thirty minutes I finally spotted it! I can’t even begin to describe how relieved I was… My phone was still toast though, so I drove back to Boquete and had to buy a new phone from the only store in town that sells them (they only had two options). Miraculously, my sim card worked fine when I put it in the new phone and I was back in business. This is a day I definitely won’t ever forget!

The next morning it was time to check out of my pod and head to my next stop. I took a detour along the way and found the other road to try and find Cascada Agua Viva after my failed attempt yesterday. There was no way my little Kia was going to make it up that steep, torn up, rocky road, so I parked it and started walking. It was just a little less than a mile to the trailhead and the views were pretty awesome up there.

After that steep climb I found the trailhead, but it was through a farmers field and it was locked up tight. I debated for a minute and then just went for it. I squeezed myself through the barbed wire and I was on my way. At the bottom there was a small tour group of five people and the guides looked at me kind of strange, but I just said, “Hola!” and started snapping pictures. I found it!

The tour group left and I had the place to myself for a bit before climbing back up. At the top, the owner of the property was standing there with the tour group and one of the guides asked me how got in, so I came clean. They were all really nice, though. They just asked me to pay the owner the usual entrance fee of five dollars and no problema. They seemed impressed that I would walk up that steep road in the sun and squeeze through a barbed wire fence to see a waterfall. And then they offered me a ride with them down the road in his truck. Awesome!

Back down at the car I hit the road and made my way to my next and final stop in Panama. I had a couple of close calls this week that could have been really disastrous, but luckily things worked out in the end. I am a little mad about the phone though. Anyway, see you in the next post…