We left the highlands of Southern Costa Rica and crossed into Chiriquí Province in Northern Panama at Rio Sereno. It was a pleasant drive from Rio Sereno to Volcán, a quiet mountain town where we bought lunch at a local bakery. Since we are not fond of being in hot, humid tropical lowlands, we had decided to head to Boquete in the Western Panamanian Highlands. Based on my earlier research Boquete had the coolest temperatures in Panama. We decided to check out Boquete before venturing into Panama City.
What we discovered was that Boquete is one of the top places to visit in Panama. Boquete is a small charming village in the western highlands. It is located at an elevation of 3,200 feet on the eastern slopes of Volcán Barú. The result is that temperature ranges from 60-80 F, which means Boquete has an ideal climate year round. Given the near perfect climate it is not surprising that Boquete has become one of the top retirement places in the world. In addition, there are so many exciting things to see and do in Boquete. The Caldera Hot Springs near Boquete is well worth a visit.
There is a good selection of restaurants in Boquete. While in Boquete we ate at a number of these restaurants. In Boquete you will also find a wide range of accommodations. We stayed at pet friendly, Pension Topaz for two nights. During our stay at Pension Topaz we ate delightful breakfasts in their pleasant courtyard.
We spent two cool days in Boquete and then we were off to meet with a shipping agent in Panama City. Reluctantly, we headed back down into the tropical lowlands and onto Panama City. It was so good to be driving down the highway in an air-conditioned vehicle. All the time we drove the Pan American Highway south, we knew that our final Central American destination would be Panama City. In Panama City we would finalize arrangements for shipping our vehicle to Colombia.
After a few hours drive from Boquete we arrived at the Bridge of the Americas. The bridge took us across the canal and onto downtown Panama City. In Panama City we stayed at the pet friendly Costa Inn Hotel. Our dog was greeted every time we left or entered the hotel. The hotel staff was great with both our pets. I cannot say enough about how helpful the staff was in accommodating our pets and us.
We stayed five days in Panama City (1) to finalize vehicle-shipping arrangements; (2) to get the proper entry documents to bring our pets into Colombia. During our stay we had so many delightful meals at our hotel restaurant. The restaurant has great Tortilla Espanola. There is a worldwide cuisine selection to choose from in Panama City; so do not plan on dieting while you are there. Panama City is home to many good restaurants at reasonable prices. You can choose from Indian, Italian, and Lebanese to Panamanian. For example, Tripadvisor lists over140 restaurants in Panama City. We did not have enough time to explore all the culinary delights. We did however get to check out a few. One of our favorites was an Italian restaurant called Rinos. They are pet friendly if you dine outside in the patio area; they have a good wine selection at reasonable prices. For a change of pace one evening we went to the Panama Canal Zone near the yacht club and had dinner at TGIF Friday's.
We enjoyed trying to stay cool during our Panamanian traveling experience. Soon we were at the Tocumen International Airport bound for another hot, tropical lowland city Cartagena, Colombia. There we would continue the next part of our American dream to drive from Deadhorse Alaska to Ushuaia, Argentina.
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