Page 90 - The Rough Guide to Panama (Travel Guide)

88 Panama City Isla Taboga
1 buzzing port for supplies and repairs and, though the island’s maritime importance has
dwindled, many contemporary Taboganos still live off the sea, either through small-scale
fishing or unloading tuna from fishing boats to larger trans-shippers.

The beaches
Approaching Isla Taboga’s floating pier, you are greeted by the sight of the whitewashed
buildings and red rooftops of San Pedro, strung out to the left behind Playa Honda, a
shingly strip dotted with small fishing boats, which extends to a swathe of tan sand at
low tide. Turning right after leaving the pier takes you to Taboga’s main beach, Playa
Restinga, a golden crescent, half of which forms a sand bar reaching to Isla El Morro;
at high tide the sandbar becomes submerged. The beach’s appeal is somewhat
diminished by the piles of overgrown rubble from the demolished Hotel Taboga at the
back, and by the rubbish that can wash up on the shore after heavy rains. Even so,
crowds of Panamanians happily swim from here, and from Playa Honda. Beach
umbrellas ($5) and deckchairs ($3) are available for rent.

San Pedro
Heading back towards San Pedro, along the jasmine-scented Calle Abajo, a steep path
to the right leads up to the plaza, the social hub of the island – where villagers of all
ages gather to watch or play football or volleyball, dance or simply hang out. At one
end, steps lead up to the gleaming white stucco walls of the Iglesia San Pedro, built in
1550 and reputedly the second oldest church in the western hemisphere. Leaving the
square via Calle Arriba at the opposite end, and turning left, you come across a shrine
to the Virgen del Carmen and the house where Pizarro apparently lived, while a
brightly tiled plaque nearby commemorates the French painter Paul Gauguin, who
had a short stint working on the Canal before heading off for the South Seas.

Cerro de la Cruz
The shorter of the island’s two hikes, to Cerro de la Cruz, takes an easy thirty minutes.
Leaving town along Calle Abajo, you pass the delightful casa de la concha on the right,
decorated by its former owner, a one-time pearl fisher, with scallop and pearl shells.
Further on is the site of an old French canal-era sanitorium, which the Americans
converted into a rest and recuperation centre for “gold roll” Canal employees (see p.297)
before upgrading it to a hotel. Beyond the weed-strewn cemetery, take the dirt road down
to the left, then a path up an embankment to the right 100m later, after which it’s an easy
walk to the gigantic sixteenth-century cross, where you can soak up the sweeping sea view.

Cerro Vigía
The panorama is truly spectacular from the mirador at the top of Cerro Vigía (370m),
Taboga’s highest point, making the hour-long hike a rewarding experience. Heading
along the main path out of the village, you pass the turn to Cerro de la Cruz, before
arriving at a junction. Straight ahead lie the MiAmbiente offices (signposted but not
open to the public), the island’s desalination plant and the refuse dump; to the right, the
widening dirt road meanders slowly up the hill. The more direct route to the summit, up
the Sendero de las Tres Cruces, presents a more challenging but shorter climb through
lush forest, not least because of poor signposting. After heavy rain, the path becomes a
mudslide, but the rewards are almost-guaranteed sightings of green and black poison dart
frogs and tarantulas. The route is indicated from the plaza, by the phone box; after the
housing ends, turn sharp right and keep to the right of the stream until, ten minutes into
the forest, the route bears left across a stream, which the path crisscrosses several times

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