TAKE A BREAK IN BOQUETE

Boquete is known for its beautiful hikes. Here are two hikes we did:

• The Pianista trail: an 8km round trip, 609m of elevation gain
  To get to the trailhead, we took a collectivo from downtown. There’s a person who tells you which collectivo to take depending on your destination. It takes about 1 hour to travel. When you get off the collectivo, check with the driver for return times so you don’t get stuck. The beginning of the hike is quite nice, you walk in the middle of the plains. It reminded me a bit of our week in the Jura. Then you climb in the forest for quite a while. After being in Costa Rica, it felt weird to be in a forest and not see any animals. But the vegetation remains very dense in this place, it’s super pretty. It’s nice because it’s very quiet. Then you arrive at a beautiful viewpoint over the mountains of the region. We did the hike in 3.5 hours in total. It climbs a bit and almost all the time, but it isn’t complicated. If it has rained, it can be a bit muddy.

• The Lost Waterfalls trail: a round trip of 3.5km, 252m of elevation gain
  Same as the other trail, there are collectivos that go all the way to the trail entrance. After paying the entrance, you go deep into a forest. Don’t stop at the first waterfall. Continue directly to the second waterfall which is super pretty! And then climb to the third which is also super beautiful! The path can be a little muddy and sometimes you have a rope to help you. But it’s pretty easy, don’t worry. Then, turn around to go to the first waterfall which is the biggest! And it’s gorgeous! We did the walk in about 2 hours. I really liked the waterfalls and the ride.

There’s also a hike that we didn’t do, because at that time I was a little sick, and we had already done Cerro Chirripó, is to make the sunrise at the Barú volcano. We’ve met people who have done it and loved it. On the other hand, they left at night to be sure to arrive at sunrise up there.

Price of the round trip bus to go to the Pianista trail: about US$4
Price of the return bus to go to the Lost Waterfalls trail: approximately US$4
Entrance fee to the Lost Waterfalls trail: US$10

Yes, yes, I didn’t expect that either, but Boquete is nationally known for its coffee. There are around 600 coffee companies, some of which you can visit. We chose to take a guided tour at the Don Pepe cafe. They picked us up at our hostel to go directly to the factory. From there, our guide who used to work for this company, explained the whole process to us to make coffee. We saw the coffee fields, the factory, the machines, the place where they dry the coffee bean, the techniques, etc. The visit was very interesting! Then we tasted 6 different coffees. Unfortunately, not liking coffee, I can’t give a very objective opinion, but my friend with whom I made the visit liked it. I enjoyed this visit very much. If you’re in the area, this is a must do.

Price of the guided tour with guide and transportation: US$30