Page 198 - The Rough Guide to Panama (Travel Guide)

196 Chiriquí and Veraguas The Chiriquí highlands
5 settlers. Roadside stalls overflow with locally produced vegetables; stop off and gorge on
a heaped bowl of strawberries or blackberries and natilla (a local creamy custard) or
pick up a pot of home-made jam.
Cerro Punta
Set almost 2000m above sea level in a fertile basin-shaped valley – the scarcely
recognizable crater of an extinct volcano – and surrounded by densely forested, rugged
mountains, CERRO PUNTA is the highest village in Panama. In the ninety or so years
since it was formally settled, partly by Europeans, agriculture has expanded so rapidly
that the area now supplies over sixty percent of all the vegetables consumed in Panama,
with fields forming a tapestry of produce from lettuce, onions and carrots to
commercial flowers and strawberries. This agricultural boom has come at the expense
of the surrounding forests, but the village, frequently swathed in cloud, and the
surrounding fields are still undeniably beautiful, filled with abundant flowers and
buzzing with hummingbirds.
The spectacular scenery, together with the cool, crisp mountain air (temperatures
drop to well below 10°C at night), makes Cerro Punta a superlative base for hiking,
and the pristine cloud forests of La Amistad (see opposite) and Volcán Barú (see p.190)
national parks are both within easy reach.

Guadalupe
Three kilometres beyond Cerro Punta, you arrive at GUADALUPE, an enchanting
flower-filled hamlet of around four hundred inhabitants, dominated by the rustic
Los Quetzales Lodge and Spa. From there, the road (and bus) sweeps round to the left
in a wide loop, passing the turn-off to Las Nubes and Amistad to the right, then the
church, before a steep climb back to the junction with the main road at the police
station, where taxi drivers often hang out. Orchid fanatics may fancy dropping in at
nearby Finca Dracula (Wfincadracula.com) while horse lovers can visit a stud farm
(Wharascerropunta.com).
arriVaL and deParTure CerrO PunTa and arOund
By bus Buses from David via Volcán pull up on Cerro to David leaves Guadalupe at 8pm, passing through Cerro
Punta’s one main street before heading up to Guadalupe Punta 10min later.
(5am–8pm; every 15min; 1hr 50min). The last return bus
aCCOMMOdaTiOn and eaTing
CERRO PUNTA GUADALUPE
★ Hostal Cielito Sur Nueva Suiza, main road 5km ★ Los Quetzales Lodge and Spa T771 2182,
south of Cerro Punta, 10km north of Volcán T771 Wlosquetzales.com. Incredibly versatile place
2038, Wcielitosur.com. This outstanding B&B is run by accommodating campers, backpackers, honeymooners,
genial hosts, who provide a perfect blend of Panamanian families and expats with consummate ease. If
knowledgeable warm hospitality and privacy. Set amid you’re not camping, choose from superior dorms – chunky
beautiful grounds, five vast, immaculate rooms, some wood, quality bedding, bedside lights and really hot showers
with kitchens, are decorated with traditional – standard doubles, suites and glorious cloud-forest cabins
Panamanian artwork and share a homely living room. that sleep two to eight people. All guests have access to the
Rates include a substantial breakfast with plenty of comfy lounge and games room, full of books and sofas,
home-made goodies. $116 warmed by a log fire, and with table tennis. Activities include
Hotel Cerro Punta Main road T771 2020. Though spa treatments, cycling, horseriding and cloud-forest walks.
the rooms at this place are rather run-down, you The restaurant caters to a good range of budgets, offering
should bear the restaurant in mind, as there aren’t many delicious soups with home-made bread ($6), pizza and pasta
places to eat in the vicinity. Local dishes are well ($10) and pricier, fancier mains accompanied by more
prepared, with weekday set menus (around $5) and vegetables than you are likely to see in a month elsewhere in
limited à la carte selections at weekends (from $9). Panama ($12–17). Daily 6.30am–8pm. Camping/tent $15,
Daily 8.30am–7pm. dorms $18, doubles $85, cabins $155

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