Traveling to Boquete – What a crazy drive

We woke at 5am to get an early start to what we thought was going to be a six hour drive.  Leaving Pedasi we saw several caballeros heading to work, a pretty common site in this region of Panama.

The maximum speed it appears you can drive on any major highway is 80 kilometers which is roughly 49 miles an hour so we are never going very fast.  Often the speed is 40 kilometers so the going is slow.  After passing through Santiago which was about 150 miles from Pedasi the going went real slow – Between potholes and road construction we spent the next five hours going about 150 kilometers.  Then the rain began which added further delays.

We did get to see a magnificent waterfall cascading down a mountain to our left.  The rain started gradually but then it was coming down very hard.  It became difficult to see out and Stan had to turn on the heat so the windows would defogger.  The air had a strong earthy smell, not unpleasant, especially after smelling tar oil for 100 kilometers.

After passing David, we travelled north and stopped at Los Molinos to visit new friends Marsall and Marsha, ex pats from North Carolina.  The waterfall was one of two that could be seen from their clubhouse.  The properties at Los Molinos were beautiful and I fell in love with the place.  On our way out of Los Molinos to head up to Boquete I saw the coati and was able to take a few pictures of  him.  What an adorable little creature.

We arrived in Boquete at a little hotel.  Nothing fancy, very inexpensive and it reminded me of a hotel you may find in Europe.  After settling in our rooms the four amigos, very tired and very hungry walked down the street to a little restaurant, La Posada.  Our food was delicious.  I had Milanese Argentine chicken.  Linda had sea bass, Bruce had trout and Stan had chicken.  For dessert we had tres leche cake and carrot cake.  Now to bed because we have a very busy day tomorrow.