Page 188 - The Rough Guide to Panama (Travel Guide)

186 Chiriquí and Veraguas The Chiriquí highlands
5 Brief history
Though the Guaymí were the first inhabitants of this remote valley, seeking refuge from
the conquistadors, formal settlement only started in 1911, when European and North
Americans migrants joined the existing population. Drawn to Panama during the canal
construction eras, these pioneering settlers started up the various coffee estates and
hotels as Boquete continued to develop, especially when, in 1916, the (now defunct)
national railway improved connections with David and other lowland centres.
In recent years, the increase in foreign retirees and associated real estate boom,
driven by the government’s attempts to increase foreign investment, has resulted in
considerable deforestation and has forced major changes on the tranquil mountain
community. Many Guaymí are only resident nowadays for the duration of the coffee
harvest (Oct–March, depending on the estate), when families migrate from across the
province for the tiring work of picking the “cherries”, the earnings from which have to
support many for the rest of the year.

Jardín El Explorador
Jaramillo Arriba, 2km north of Boquete • Mon–Fri 9.30am–5pm, Sat & Sun 10am–7pm (in low season closed Mon and reduced hours) •
$7 • T720 1989 • Cross the bridge in Boquete and follow the road north; turn right at the fork and walk uphill to Jaramillo Arriba
If you’ve time to spare, and don’t mind the high admission charge, the quirky Jardín
El Explorador northeast of Boquete is worth the forty-minute walk. Its steep gardens are
decorated with tin men and scarecrows, with plants protruding from Wellington boots
and old TV sets, plus scattered homilies in Spanish. On a clear day the views of the
Caldera Valley and Volcán Barú from the rose garden are fabulous, as are the strawberry
juices at their café.
arriVaL and inFOrMaTiOn BOqueTe
By bus The only way to reach Boquete by bus is from Santa Catalina departs at noon (5hr; $35) and leaves
David’s bus terminal (4.50am–9.45pm; every 20min; Boquete for Santa Catalina at 7.30am. There are reductions
returning at similar intervals 5.45am–9.45pm; 45min); for hostel guests.
buses drop passengers on the west side of the Parque Tourist information The best advice and information is
Central, and depart just off its southeast corner. to be gained from the hotels or tour operators. The tourist
By shuttle Hostel Mamallena Boquete (see p.189) runs office (daily 9.30am–5.30pm; T720 4060) and adjacent
daily shuttle services to and from Bocas del Toro and Santa café is inconveniently, if splendidly, located on the bluff
Catalina. Shuttles from Bocas del Toro to Boquete leave at overlooking the town at Alto Boquete, on the road to David.
11am (4hr; $30, including water-taxi), whereas shuttles to Few of the staff speak English and their knowledge is
Bocas leave Boquete at 8am. The service to Boquete from limited.
GEISHA COFFEE
in most of the world, the word “geisha” evokes elaborately made-up Japanese entertainers.
Mention the word in Boquete and you’ll be naming a deluxe beverage that took the speciality
coffee world by storm in 2004, prompting ecstatic experts to exhaust their thesauruses. as with
fine wine, the world of gourmet coffee tasting or cupping is full of hype, jargon and poetry.
geisha – a variety of bean named after its village of origin in ethiopia – has variously been
characterized as spicy, honeyish, chocolatey and citrusy, with one critic likening the experience to
“diving head first into a swimming pool of mixed fruits”. The fuss started when the small hacienda
esmeralda began sampling individual cups of beans from different parts of the farm – usually
combined in blends – and discovered an extraordinary ethiopian variety that had been growing
neglected for some years. having been declared the world’s best coffee on three occasions by the
prestigious specialty Coffee association of america, the estate’s “esmeralda especial” is very much
in demand, setting an auction record of $350 per lb in 2013. since almost all the farm’s slender
annual hundred-bag crop is exported you have a better chance of locating it at Fortnum & Mason
than anywhere in Panama. although you won’t get to sample any esmeralda especial on a
Boquete coffee tour (see p.187), you will at least learn what goes into making a great coffee.

178-215_Panama_3_Ch5.indd 186 30/06/17 11:51 am