el Volcan Baru

From our patio at Casa Serena we can see Volcan Baru which, at 3,475 meters (11,400 feet) is the highest point in Panama.  There is a 13.5 km hike up to the top of the crater along a forest road, but we are not silly enough to think about making that trek.  Instead we hire a 4 wheel jeep tour for Wednesday through A1 Tours in Boquete to get us there.

We enjoy cocktails with our upstairs neighbors Terry and Sofie, have a simple dinner at Casa Serena, then head to bed early on Tuesday.  As we are on our way to bed we note the clear night sky lit up by a full moon and beautiful stars.

The alarms go off at 3 am.  We are lucky - the sky is still as brilliant as when we went to bed.  We dress, have a quick cup of coffee then walk to the Valle Escondido restaurant to meet our driver at 4am.  Alex is waiting for us in his highly modified 4x4.  20 minutes later he had driven through town and up past the coffee plantations to the start of the trail.  This is part 1 of the trip - very easy on the paved roads.  Alex explains that part 2 will be rough and parts 3 and 4 will be very rough.

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William is seated in shot-gun while Vic, Nanci and I are cozy in the back seat with me in the middle.  We all hold on.  We laugh and there's some "yee-ha" calls as we get jostled about.  William's head reminds us of a bobble doll.  The trail has sections which are gravel, dried river bed, rocks and boulders and often the trail was just wide enough for the 4x4.  At about the third kilometer Alex pauses the jeep as it is tilted going over a large rock and comments with a twinkle in his eye and in his voice "Not bad for my first trip up here, hey".  Later he tells us this is his 518th drive along the trail.

There are points in the journey where the jeep is on a 35-40 degree angle. We pass by three different groups of hikers on our way up.  I can't imagine hiking the trail in broad daylight much less at night. It takes us only 1 hour 25 minutes to reach the summit.  Alex explains we made very good time - the ground is dry, and that sometimes the trip up takes 2 hours.

Alex explains that we can see both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.  We peer out in the directions he points aided by the moonlit sky.  We have some coffee and hot chocolate then break out the sandwiches we packed while we wait for the sunrise.  It is cold and windy but not unbearable.  A little after 6am the first glimmers of light appear on the horizon. By 6:30am we are viewing a beautiful full sunrise.  The countryside around Volcan Baru are lush and green and also provide great views.

The trip down is along the same path, but feels rougher.  Alex stops on the way down for us to spot quetzal's, Panama's national bird.  While we are stopped a flock of sheep make their way down the trail followed by a shepherd.  We have fun posing with the sheep.

Further down the road we stop at the park office to register our visit and pay the $5 per person admission fee. The gardener at Casa Serena told Nanci that his father is a ranger at the park office and we are lucky enough to meet him. 

After a couple of other short stops we arrive back at Casa Serena by 9 am.  We are tired but everyone is happy we took the trip.