Chiriquí Province

[Jeff in Costa Rica]

I recently returned from a quick 4 day trip to the mountains of Panama. I stayed at nature reserve called Rio Encantado (Enchanted River) in a cottage along the Caldera river. The owner is a collector of pre-Columbian artifacts and he has many stone statues on the property.

At the entrance

Cottage where I stayed

Pathway from the cottage to the river

[Jeff in Costa Rica]

The Nature Reserve is on both sides of the river. It's hard to tell in the photos, but the mountain on the other side of the river is very steep (almost vertical) in some places.

The pool and bar

Some shot of the river

A nice place to jump...

[Jeff in Costa Rica]

Acrocomia was the most predominant palm in the area. They were growing in the forests, in open fields, along the roads, pretty much everywhere you looked.

The owner had two Syagrus planted

A couple Breadfruit trees

[Jeff in Costa Rica]

Another smaller Acrocomia

One of the cottages

Lots of color in the garden

Acrocomias poking above the canopy

[Jeff in Costa Rica]

Foxtail

Everywhere I travel, I find rocks stacked up like this...

Waterfall into the river

There was some kind of palms growing near the waterfall. These were growing on a near vertical part of the hill.

Geonoma?

[Jeff in Costa Rica]

Frank's dog Mo loves to fetch sticks in the river.

[Jeff in Costa Rica]

A couple more shots of the waterfall into the river

Tillandsia's

[Jeff in Costa Rica]

Nice vine with new red leaves that fade to green

It was very wet along the river trail and epiphytes were growing everywhere

[Jeff in Costa Rica]

A nice place to hang out by the river

Shot of my cottage from the river

The gardens are nicely manicured

[Jeff in Costa Rica]

Small Bismarckia in the garden

There was a huge boulder in the spot where Frank wanted to put the pool and instead of removing it, he built the pool around it.

Pool shower

Areca triandra

[Jeff in Costa Rica]

Pool

Bar

Nice spot overlooking the river

Another Acrocomia

[Jeff in Costa Rica]

Red bananas - my favorite

Banana grove on the hillside

Young coconut

Pool area

Frank had this turtle etched onto the boulder

He has a few turtle ponds on the property

[Jeff in Costa Rica]

Entrance to the river trail next to my cottage

Front porch

More views from my cottage

[Jeff in Costa Rica]

[Jeff in Costa Rica]

This cottage is the closest to the river and the most isolated

Another shot of my cottage

Love the contrast of colors

A view of the nature reserve from above

[Jeff in Costa Rica]

Acrocomia, Dypsis lutescens, and a Foxtail sticking up from behind the D. lutescens

Cyrtostachys renda

Carludovica

[Jeff in Costa Rica]

Croton

Acrocomia growing along the side of the road in front of the Nature Reserve

[Jeff in Costa Rica]

The road to Caldera

Misty mountains

Frank had some errands to run in Boquete so he invited me along. I walked around and explored the town while he took care of some business, then we had lunch and spent most of the afternoon in the area.

First glimplse of Boquete from the road above

[Jeff in Costa Rica]

Cactus growing in their central park

Loaded with flowers

Boquete

River that runs through town

[Jeff in Costa Rica]

Some nice garden by the river

This unusual structure was made of bamboo

Mountains surrounding town

[Jeff in Costa Rica]

They had a major flood last year and it wiped out many homes and businesses along the river.

Those rocks that they piled up are no match for mother nature....

Brugmansia growing by a stream that empties into the river

After the flood, this was the only bridge still standing

[Jeff in Costa Rica]

At one time there was a train that went from David to Boquete. This is all that is left...

Central Park

[Jeff in Costa Rica]

The old train station

These school children came to the old train station to be entertained by a magician.

Small children must hold onto this rope whenever walking around town.

[Jeff in Costa Rica]

A lot of pines in town

A small bridge that is crumbling, but everyone still drives across it...

Repairing damage from the flood. I doubt that thin cement wall will hold the river next time it floods.

[Jeff in Costa Rica]

A huge moth that was flying around the outside spotlight at night. At first I thought it was a bat because of the way it was flying around. Then it landed on the outside of the cottage so I could get a closer look.

And one last Acrocomia - with a beautiful crown!

I will definitely go back to Rio Encantado!

[Patricia-CR]

What a beautiful place! It seems very calmed. Are the roads as bad as in CR? What's the altitude there? Thanks for sharing, Jeff.

[_Rich]

Great tour and pics Jeff - thanks for sharing!

Rich

[ariscott]

Wow..... Jeff, beautiful place.... I haven't got time to look at the photos one by one this morning, so I have to do it again tonight. Thank you for posting.

Regards, Ari

[Jeff in Costa Rica]

What a beautiful place! It seems very calmed. Are the roads as bad as in CR? What's the altitude there? Thanks for sharing, Jeff.

Hi Patricia, It is a very beautiful place - muy tranquilo. The altitude of Rio Encantado is around 1,300 ft elevation (396 meters) whereas Boquete is around 3,900 ft (1,200 meters) elevation.

The roads were very nice, better than many in Costa Rica. In fact they are expanding the road from David to Boquete and it will be a 4 lane highway the whole way up the mountain. Boquete is expecting some 20,000 US and Canadian retirees in the next 10 years so they are getting ready for it now.

[Patricia-CR]

Thanks, Jeff! When are you coming this way or via San Carlos?

[amazondk]

Thanks for the trip Jeff. Since Panama is one of the closest places by air from here I might make it some day.

dk

[Tomw]

Jeff thanks for sharing you pictures, what an amazing place! You must have had a great time!