East from Boquete along the Interamericana highway and then high up in the mountains of Veraquas province is the microscopic little town of Santa Fe. The road up here was awful! I’ve never dodged so many potholes in one day before, and that’s saying something, but the destination is really beautiful. This will just be a quick stop.

As awful as the road up here was, the roads around Santa Fe were actually pretty nice. It seemed that around every twist and every turn was another astounding view.

Really the only thing to do in Santa Fe and the only reason people come here is for more hiking and waterfalls. Out of my three stops in Panama, Anton Valley, Boquete, and Santa Fe, this is the smallest and least crowded. I feel pretty alone up here. Anyway, my first stop was Cascadas Los Golondrinas, a hike that takes you past three really amazing waterfalls.

This hike shouldn’t be as difficult as it was. I would classify it as treacherous though. It wasn’t super steep or very long, but there is so much water here between the rain and the mist from the river and the waterfalls that everything is super slippery. It’s like trying to walk on blocks of ice wearing bowling shoes. I took a pretty nasty fall trying to get pictures of that first waterfall. I’m a little sore, but thankfully not injured.

Even though I’m now being extra cautious, my feet are still slipping and sliding a lot. It was hard to get a good view at the second waterfall, but I wasn’t about to venture out onto all those slippery rocks. They’re so slippery it’s even hard to get a hand hold on anything, even the trees are slippery! Pics from the trail will have to do.

Finally at the top I reached the third waterfall, which actually looks like two waterfalls.

The trail climbs up past the lower tier of the falls and then right to the base of the upper tier. It reminded me of Niagra. It was so loud and there was so much water! I was soaking wet, but what an awesome place this is!

Now it was time to hike back down that slippery trail without falling again. The soreness is setting in. I’m really gonna feel this tomorrow! But I only have a couple of days left in Central America, no time to stop and rest yet. Next up, I did the short hike down to Cascada Loma Grande. Along the way I saw this crazy tree with even crazier black roots.

The Loma Grande hike was just as slippery as Los Golondrinas, but at least I was prepared for it this time and made it down to the falls without falling. I was actually grateful for the steps of doom in the middle section this time.

The Loma Grande waterfall was definitely worth it. What a beautiful spot!

After the Loma Grande waterfall I made a quick stop at the Loma Grande viewpoint to enjoy the landscape for a bit before driving back to Santa Fe. Santa Fe is a little light on restaurants, but there is a very much out of place Cambodian restaurant in town. For a short time I felt like I was in a different country with the giant Cambodian flag out front and the chicken curry making its way into my belly. Yummm!

The next day I went for the Cascadas Alto de Piedra hike. I thought I was paying the three dollars to the coffee farmer just to park the car, but apparently it includes him and his dog being tour guides as well. Every time we stopped he would work on sharpening that machete.

Just like Los Golondrinas yesterday, this hike winds around the hills and past three beautiful waterfalls. And it’s slippery as hell too!

The second waterfall was kind of obscured by a bunch of fallen trees and debris, so it was impossible to get a good view, but there it is.

Finally we reached the third waterfall. I really would’ve liked to just hang out here for a while, but I felt weird about it knowing my guide was there waiting for me, so we started the hike back up.

On the way back up there were a lot of butterflies fluttering around. One butterfly is cool to see, but having them flying all around you like that is even better.

My next hike was clear on the other side of town. I drove all the way back down to Santa Fe and then up the other side to continue my waterfall gluttony.

Thankfully, the hike to Salto de Bermejo wasn’t as treacherous, though there was still some really slippery parts, especially at the falls themselves. The occasional views of the river made me realize that this is really an area of thousands of waterfalls. There are so many beautiful little cascades it’s just mind blowing!

Finally, I arrived at Salto de Bermejo, or at least as close as I could get to it. I imagine if you were willing to swim in that turbulent, fast flowing water and brave the super slippery rocks you could get closer, but it would be extremely difficult. From what I could tell there seems to be about five tiers of waterfalls here. Most of them are obscured by the rocks, though. I could only get glimpses of them from certain spots. In the pic below you can see the first or main falls in the back and what I think are the fifth in the foreground.

The pics don’t even begin to do this place any justice. Salt de Bermejo is absolutely awesome! I had the whole place all to myself too. I spent quite a long time here just watching the water and drowning in that loud thunderous noise. Incredible!

On the way back to Santa Fe I spotted something I missed earlier and something I haven’t seen in many many years, a telephone booth! I don’t know if it actually works or not, but there is a telephone booth way the hell up here in the mountains of Panama next to a farm. Crazy!

And now my time in Central America is pretty much over. Tomorrow I’ll drive back to Panama City where I’ll have one day to return my rental car and get ready for my journey back home. At twelve weeks this has officially been the longest trip I’ve ever done. I’m tired! Also, I celebrated my fiftieth birthday while on this trip and brought my tally up to fifty countries, so I got 50 in 50! Yay!

Until the next adventure…