Wikipedia describes Boquete as "a small town on the Caldera River, in the green mountain highlands of Panama, in western‑most Chiriquí Province, about 60 kilometres. from the border with Costa Rica". Then it rambles on about the temperate climate, that it's acknowledged as the source of some of the best coffee in the world and that it has much to offer the passing traveler. What it neglects to mention is that a while back the American Association for Retired Persons named Boquete as the number one place for North Americans to retire. As a result the town is swarming with pensioners, peering short-sightedly at menus and demanding the pensionado discount. Despite having to dodge the odd mobility scooter it was a nice enough town and our hostel had us in a cabin right by a fast-flowing river, which was pleasant. We ate some decent tapas, great sandwiches and superb fish taco, drank some rather strong beer at a micro-brewery and went on an utterly forgettable 'white-water' rafting trip which was anything but white water - spending nearly six hours in a bus just to paddle down a trickle of a river, getting stuck in all the shallows. Such a pity after the great rafting we enjoyed on the Rio Cagrigale. We opted not to do a coffee plantation tour since we did such a good one in El Salvador but we did taste a selection of the local coffees which were good, but not good enough to buy to bring home with us. We spent the rest of the time just taking it easy and planning the route to the next destination of Bocas Chica.

Adios!
KL