Page 196 - The Rough Guide to Panama (Travel Guide)

194 Chiriquí and Veraguas The Chiriquí highlands
5 wood-panelled dining room where the hospitable hosts Restaurante Mary Av Central on the left T6704
serve Panamanian cuisine and US comfort food, spanning 1237. Popular local restaurant on a breezy upstairs terrace
the price spectrum: choose from gallo pinto ($7), BLTs or (with inside a/c seating) serving moderately priced
burgers, or splurge on filet mignon in red wine ($17). Daily chicken, pork and seafood ($6–8), plus tasty soups and
11am–10pm. fresh juices. Try the local trout ($9). Daily 6am–6pm.

Around Volcán
A few kilometres west of Volcán lie several modest attractions – a couple of lakes, a
coffee estate and an archeological site – which will appeal to enthusiasts or may be
worth swinging by if you’ve a free couple of hours and your own transport. South of
the town, the waterfall of Cañon Macho de Monte is a spectacular sight in season.
Lagunas de Volcán and Janson Coffee Farm
The Lagunas de Volcán (1300m), Panama’s highest wetlands and an important
sojourn for migrating birds, will appeal to birders keen to spot northern jacanas,
masked ducks and, in the forested fringes, the rare rose-throated becard. Consider
some early morning birdwatching ($35 for two hours) with Laguna Adventures
(Wlagunaadventures.com), the tour company branch of the Janson Coffee Farm
(Wjansoncoffeefarm.com) on whose estate the lakes are located. They also offer
guided hikes, horseriding and, of course, coffee tours.
Sitio Barriles
5km west of Volcán, on the road to Caisán • Daily 7am–5pm • Guided tours in English or Spanish $5 • T771 4281 or T6575 1828 •
A taxi from Volcán will cost $6
The private finca of the Landau family harbours one of Panama’s most important
archeological sites, Sitio Barriles, named after the barrel-shaped stones unearthed in
1947 that provided the first modern-day evidence of what is presumed to be the
country’s oldest pre-Columbian culture, which was prominent around 500 AD. The
most interesting artefacts have been carted away to Panama City’s anthropology
museum (see p.64), but the farm possesses a couple of petroglyphs – the pièce de
résistance is a silky smooth slab of basalt, which when doused with water reveals yet
more squiggles. There’s also an unconvincing re-creation of an archeological dig
chamber and a small, rather chaotic display of ceramics.
Cañon Macho de Monte
Roughly 13km south of Volcán, east of the Concepción–Volcán road • No fixed hours • Free • Any David–Cerro Punta bus can let you off at
the hamlet of Cuesta de Piedra; take the turn east at the mini-super and hike 2.5km along the tarred road, crossing two bridges, to the
canyon – if travelling by car, park at the hydroelectric project, where a path leads to the precipice above the fall
A worthwhile detour is Cañon Macho de Monte, a dramatic (less so in the dry season)
waterfall that tumbles into a gorge. It’s also a good birdwatching site, where orange-
collared manakins and fiery-billed aracaris are the stars of the show.

eaTing CaÑOn MaChO de MOnTe
Mirador Alan-Her Road to Volcán, 2.5km south of slow-cooked dessert of rice, milk and panela – and sopa
Cuesta de Piedra. A good pit stop for tea or coffee, this borracha (“drunken soup”), sponge cake soaked in
place is also a top spot to pick up regional delicacies, from cinnamon-flavoured rum. Daily 6.30am–7.30pm.
local mozzarella and ricotta to bienmesabe – a

The road to Río Sereno
From Volcán, a well-paved road snakes its way 42km to the small border town of Río
Sereno (see box opposite), swooping round tight bends, across cascading rivers and
through coffee and banana plantations. Unless you’re bound for Costa Rica, the only

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