Boquete, Panama

On to the mountain town of Boquete, which is on the beginning of the continental divide between the Pacific and the Caribbean in the west of Panama. So it's a bit cooler but also more prone to rain (like right now). This is coffee growing country for those who like such things and there is also good walking in the cloud forest here. So the outing for the day was a guided walk which could almost have been through NZ bush (and sometimes farmland). Not many large animals today, just very poisonous caterpillars, deceased snakes and the usual spectacular birdlife.
Nice bromeliads by Romany which sometimes contain tiny poison arrow frogs with outsize voices
Walking back into the town after our bush trek there was a free garden tour where some rich and somewhat crazed personnage has given free reign to all their child hood desires. The plants were nice but not a touch on the cows.
And what garden is complete without a giant pink flamingo!

El Valle, Panama

The very picturesque town of El Valle is set in the crater of an extinct volcano and is surrounded by hills and beautiful bush. One of the local attractions is the thermal pools complete with therapeutic mud baths. Oddly the kids required more encouragement than Susie to get involved.
The jungle around the town has lovely walking tracks some of which lead to cool swimming holes. The changing sheds are sometimes rudimentary!
Ciaran and Romany waiting for a bus connection on the side of the road under the watchful eye of the Madonna. Having made the long hauls to get to Panama City we are now coming back to Costa Rica more slowly and this often involves several local buses dropping you on the roadside to flag down the passing bus going in your direction. An exercise in patience, heat adaptation and squinting into the distance to figure each bus´s destination.