The Chiriqui Highlands comprise the part of the Cordillera Central that defines the northern border of the province of Chiriquí. It is a beautiful landscape of cloud forest, volcanic peaks, and coffee plantations and is home to most of Panama’s Ngöbe Indians. In the province of Chiriquí, a few roads connect the highway to the highlands areas. All these roads encompass one of the most beautiful scenic roads and landscapes of Panama. Lowland areas give way to hills that have been clean for farming. Ascending the mountains become sharper, their slopes more densely forested, and by noontime, they are enveloped in misty blue clouds.
La Amistad International Park
La Amistad is a binational park that stretches from Costa Rica into Panama, a small portion of which extends into the Chiriquí province. Here the land rises almost 5,000 feet, and warm air ascends the mountains where it meets with cooler air and condenses into persistent cloud cover. Cloudforest exhibit a unique ecosystem with an astonishing diversity of flora and fauna. Towering trees reach to the sun to form a canopy that creates a cool, shadowed, misty underworld on the forest floor. It is noisy with the sound of numerous ferns and epiphytes that crowd the lower and middle strata of the forest. Water drips from spongy mosses covering three trunks, from bromeliads that attach themselves to every cranny on the trees, and from flower petal perched high in the canopy of the forest. It is a magical world.
Boquete Mountain town
Tucked away on the eastern slopes of the Volcan Barú is small and charming mountain town of Boquete. Known to produce some of the best Coffee in Central America, Boquete is becoming a destination for those seeking great outdoor activities and good weather. Visitors bask in Boquete’s sunny and cool mountain climate and marvel at the beautiful landscape.
Boquete’s hills and slopes are primary covered in shade-grown coffee plantations. Coffee is primary picked by the Ngöbe Indians during the months of October through February. Coffee picking season is a festive time when colorfully Indian families come from varios part of the Bocas del Toro and Chiriqui province to harvest the berries.
The highlands of Panama are the perfect place to practice different outdoor activities, such as hiking national parks, trekking adventures, birdwatching tours, river rafting, zip lining, downhill biking and more. Contact us for more information on our extension tours to the highlands. http://www.ecocircuitos.com
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