Cheap Bus Tours

A great way to gain a sense of the Boquete region, without spending a lot of money, is to take a local bus. The buses depart across from Boquete Bistro and leave at least twice an hour. Some of the best routes are the Arco Iris (rainbow) and Palo Alto, but you can hop on any one and most of them run in loops, bringing you back to where you started. I rode the Palo Alto and the Arco Iris buses and was able to see the scenery as we climbed up high into the mountains, past the coffee and the strawberry plantations, where the indigenous people live in tenant housing. We traveled across rushing rivers, though dense green forests, and even in the most remote areas, the road remained smooth and in excellent conditions. On another route, I saw the castle an Italian resident built for himself on a bluff, several housing and hotel developments, and a couple of hidden restaurants. In some places, brugmansias, called floripondio flowers would line the road, the upside-down flowers like floral waterfalls.