This morning we were picked up for our panoramic tour of Boquete. Our transportation, an open backed old school jeep. It's kind of what I had imagined a safari in Africa would be like. This was going to be fun.
We drove our way through town and started to four wheel drive up the volcano. The hills were zooming past, and I was thinking that it might be hard to get a good photo. But then we stopped. I turned around and saw the most spectacular view of the green luscious mountains, and as the title of our tour suggests, a panoramic view of the town of Boquete. It was beautiful. We continued on, every stop just as beautiful as the last. Each place was so uniquely beautiful.
We pulled up just near a bridge and saw the cascading water down the hill. Not far down the road a stunning waterfall. This certainly is a beautiful cloud forest.
After a couple of hours I was dropped off back in town whilst the others continued on to a coffee tour. I'm doing a coffee tour in Colombia so thought it would be a waste of time and money to do both. Instead I walked around town to see if there were any major attractions. I think I had the town covered in about 30 mins, so I stopped at a cute cafe/bakery for some breakfast. This bakery had the first good omelette I've had in Central America. It came with sour dough bread and real orange juice. Do you know how hard it is to find real orange juice in Central America.... it's like searching for a needle in a haystack! The Central American version of orange juice is more like tang, a powdered cordial.
As I ate my breakfast I soon came to realise that Boquete really is like a retirement village for Americans. It would appear that middle aged Americans were everywhere.
You can tell that they are marketing the town towards them as well. A lot of the places that I have been in have been playing old American country music and serving up classic American food. I'm sure I've heard Dolly Parton playing at least half a dozen times!!
This afternoon was just a chilled afternoon. I watched the rain come in and made sure I was in a dry place once it hit. Although still doesn't solve the problem that we still need to head out for dinner, which means that we are going to get wet anyway!!
I had quite a bit of panel beating done today. Eye brow wax..... check. She showed military precision to get my eyebrows into fine Latino style. Although I did have a scary moment. The words you never want to hear when you are having something waxed.... 'Oh'. Great do I only have one eyebrow left? Then she grabbed another waxing strip and cleaned up the last couple of bits of wax that didn't come off the first time. Phew. Then she plucked my eyebrows... And plucked them some more, until there was not even one eyebrow hair out I place. Finally job complete. Now for the scary part... How much is this going to cost me? 'Trios'. Hmmmm. My spanish isn't the best, but did she just say $3?? I sheepishly handed her $3.... Just waiting for the 'no.... I said $13'. But I just got a gracias. Wow, now that is cheap.
I then went back to my favourite coffee shop for a coffee. Good coffee!! Now what to do with the rest of my afternoon?? I had a thought.... maybe I should just go the full hog and get a manicure and pedicure. I went back to the place I had my waxing done, however they said that they could only do it in the morning. Ok no go..... Until I saw the plaza. There I found another place that would do it!!
Now this lady was a miracle worker. She transformed my ant bitten fingers, and mosquito bitten feet into something that a hand and foot model would be proud of!! My travel weary feet got a good going over. Foot spa, feet buffed and polished, nails trimmed, filed and painted. The 2 months of travel punishment, wiped away in 1hr. Then the price. There was no confusion this time, as the lady typed the price into the calculator.... $19. Serious. Do I have to pay for the pedicure and the manicure separate?? No $19 together. Holy crap. I love this place!!!
Fully serviced now I'm ready for South America.
As we watched the rain from our verandah at the hotel, conversation quickly turned to dinner. We were thinking of a Peruvian restaurant. However, after consulting my best companion..... trip advisor, we soon diverted our attention to another restaurant called mangos. It had good reviews, and trip advisor hasn't let me down yet. So off we trot.... We eventually found the place and walked in. It was so different to everywhere else we have eaten so far. Cloth napkins and cutlery already on the table.... this place is looking swish compared to every other place we have eaten at on this trip. We reviewed the menu and were happy with our options. I had the yummiest lentil curry soup and kale salad. It felt so good to have a nice healthy dinner. Just the right amount to sustain my evening of packing bags!!!