Page 147 - The Rough Guide to Panama (Travel Guide)

Penonomé and eastern CoClé Central Panama 145
arrIVal anD DePartUre CHIGUIrÍ arrIBa anD CHUrUQUIta GranDe
By bus Buses leave Penonomé by the market (6am, 9am Arriba, and will reach Villa Tavida (a 15min drive from the
then every 60–90min until 6.30pm; 1hr 15min) for Chiguirí main road) unless it’s very wet. Otherwise, it’s a 1hr walk
Arriba, via Churuquita Grande. from the turn-off.
By car An ordinary saloon car is fine as far as Chiguirí
aCCOmmODatIOn
★ Villa Távida Lodge & Spa Chiguirí Arriba, 28km electricity and cold-water showers are available, and
northeast of Penonomé T6485 0505, Wvillatavida mattresses are provided in the tents, but you’ll need to
.com. Set in the Reserva Privada Tavida, this delightful bring your own bedding. There’s a spa with sauna, offering
lodge offers six spacious, light double and family rooms massages and other treatments ($25–80). You can also
(sleeping two to six). All have cable TV and a/c; four have organize a local guide here (with advance notice) if you
private balconies with a hammock to admire the wonderful want to hike further afield. Breakfast included in room
forest views. Day-visitors are welcome to enjoy the price (not for campers). Restaurant daily 8am–6pm for
birdwatching trails and dine at the moderately priced visitors, daily 8am–8pm for residents. Camping/tent
restaurant (whole grilled fish and sides for around $16). $15, camping/rented tent $25, doubles $150 3
The new camping area gets you even closer to nature:

Parque Nacional Omar Torrijos
PARQUE NACIONAL OMAR TORRIJOS may be tricky to get to, but this little-visited,
250-square-kilometre protected carpet of lush forest astride the continental divide is well
worth the trip. Its full name, Parque Nacional General de División Omar Torrijos Herrera,
was given on its formation in 1986 in remembrance of Panama’s flamboyant populist
leader, whose plane mysteriously crashed into one of the area’s highest peaks, Cerro Martha,
in 1981. These days it is more usually referred to as “Parque Omar Torrijos” or “El Copé”
after the nearby village. Averaging 20°C in the cloud-forested peaks of the Cordillera
Central, the canopy cascades down to the more moist vegetation of the Caribbean side,
where temperatures average 25°C and the area receives 4m of rainfall annually.
There’s some fine wildlife: tapirs, peccaries and all five of Panama’s species of large cat
roam the undergrowth, while red-fronted parrotlets, orange-bellied trogons and the
extraordinary bare-necked umbrellabird draw bird-lovers. You’re more likely to hear
than see the three-wattled bellbird, which has one of the loudest birdcalls in the world
– a bizarre metallic “dong” that carries for almost 1km.
Around the visitor centre
A few hundred metres beyond the park entrance, an informative visitor centre, with
a rear balcony offering splendid views, marks the start of a couple of fairly short,
well-kept circular routes (2km and 4km) and an interpretive loop, aimed at enhancing
visitors’ appreciation of the abundant and diverse flora. For longer hikes, to Cerro Peña
Blanca or La Rica for example, you will need to arrange a guide, either via the MIA
office in Penonomé (see p.142) or by contacting the Navas family (see p.146).

Cerro Peña Blanca
With a guide, hikers should consider aiming for Cerro Peña Blanca (1314m), which
occasionally peeks out from the mist to the west of the park entrance. The moderately
strenuous four-hour trail ascends west from the village of BARRIGÓN and on a rare clear
day you are rewarded at the summit with spectacular views of both oceans.
La Rica
The other popular route heads over the continental divide from the park entrance
down to the community of LA RICA, a good four-hour hike away. Set in verdant
surroundings laced with waterfalls and natural swimming pools and within reach of
giant guayacán, cuipo and cedar trees, La Rica is the perfect spot to appreciate the

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