Birding in Boquete

Boquete is a leading birding destination in Panama.  It is home to hundreds of bird species, ranging from large and simply-colored to tiny and brilliant.  Millions of migratory birds pass through here each year, feeding on its bugs, flowers, and fruits before continuing their journeys.  Hummingbirds with long, curved beaks flit in and out of the many trumpet-shaped flowers.

Mountains above Boquete

This morning we went on a beautiful birding hike, high up on the side of one of the calderas.  The vegetation is thick and extremely varied, with some trees towering over the canopy, elegant ferns of all sizes, vines, bushes and dozens of tree species.  This is an ideal environment for birds, with countless kinds of bugs, beetles, flowers and hiding and nesting places.  We did not see the long-tailed Quetzales, which will be here in March to mate and nest, but we did see the dead trees full of the holes in which they build their nests.  Clear creeks provide water for many kinds of animals, including pumas and jaguars, which stalk the forests at night.

Mountain home above Boquete

We drove high up the mountainside from Boquete to begin our hike, rising nearly 3000 feet above the valley, up extremely steep roads that would never work in a snowy climate.  Our van struggled in a couple of places that looked like 75% grades but were probably about 18%--very steep.  the hiking trail looks like a Colorado jeep road, descending steeply into a ravine with a rapid creek at the bottom before climbing, also very steeply, to the top of a ridge.  We did this up and down over several miles, stopping to enjoy the birds moving rapidly through the underbrush and along the canopy.  The air is fresh, the creeks are fast and clear, and the flowers and vegetation are luscious.  And then there are the beautiful birds.

Indian family walking to Boquete

We returned for lunch in one of the most popular local restaurants in Boquete.  We joined the long line, which continued to grow for over an hour, before passing through the cafeteria line to try several of dozens of typical Panamanian food options.  Very good, with not another gringo in the place.  Obviously, this is the restaurant to be seen in if you're a Boquete native.

Flower of the banana tree

We've talked to a number of the local guides and businesspeople who are very concerned about the changes taking place.  Developers are buying the coffee plantations to build gated communities for "snowbirds" from the north and from Europe.  Their primacy as the main coffee area in Panama is threatened, as is the lifestyle of what was a bustling, but indigenous, town and is now a tourist haven.  Boquete hasn't quite gained the mass of T-shirt and souvenir shops that have transformed so many newly-touristed towns, but the local citizens worry about that.  They don't want to lose their traditional culture, but also, understandably, can't resist the opportunity to improve their lives very significantly by selling their small land and coffee holdings.