|
|
Jay & Nicole's Trip to Panama - Nov. 2006 (click any small picture to get enlargement) |
|
|
|
||
| The
story of Jay & Nicole's trip to Panama
picks up in the mountain area around Boquete
... Panama City & Canal Southern Beach Boquete Mtn Bocas Del Toro Islands Trinidad Mtn & Return previous page this page |
||
|
|
||
 |
 |
|
| On our first day in Boquete, we drove around to see what was in the area. We found steep roads all around, which made driving difficult since we didn't have a four-wheel drive vehicle. | ||
|
|
||
 There were construction projects on every hill; like a fairyland! |
 |
|
|
|
||
|
 |
|
| At times, we felt like we were in the US or Europe, especially with golf club resorts going up. Just outside of town there were farms; you could imagine what the area was like just a few years ago. | ||
|
|
||
 Most of the hillside farms were growing coffee or citrus. |
 |
|
|
|
||
 Mother nature provided most of our sights though; the whole area was a beautiful rain forest! |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
|
Note: I should mention that
we did experience some nasty flea bites when we were outdoors; |
||
|
|
 |
|
|
||
|
 |
|
| Our map indicated a 'geological point of interest' at the back of this field. We investigated and found one of the strangest formations we have ever seen... years from now this will be a major attraction! | ||
|
|
||
|
We also found many projects
that were never finished; waste is a sad by-product of high growth.
Someone had invested a lot of time and energy into this project, and then stopped for some reason. It would be a great opportunity for a retired carpenter or handyman! |
|
 |
|
|
||
|
 |
|
| The locals usually don't benefit in situations like this. They have more jobs available, but the housing and food prices are so high that they will probably never attain a higher lifestyle. | ||
|
|
||
|
|
 |
| We had passed many coffee plantations and decided to take a tour of one the next day. We boarded a small bus in town and were taken about 15 minutes away to a rather large farm/factory operation. | ||
|
|
||
|
 |
 |
| The coffee plants were placed wherever they could find level land. The plants were inter-mixed with other plants and trees to ensure the ground would not get deprived of certain minerals. This mix also enticed birds to hang around to eat fruit and insects ... quite brilliant! | ||
|
 |
|
|
|
||
 |
 |
 |
| Our guide spoke perfect English and explained everything we wanted to know about the coffee plants. The berries grow along the branches and turn red when ready to harvest; the coffee bean is inside. | ||
 |
 |
 |
|
|
||
 |
 |
 |
| At the factory, the ripe berries are dried in rotating drums and the beans are released. Branches & trunks of trees are used as fuel. | The beans are sorted by size ... only the big beans are exported.. | |
|
|
||
 |
 |
 |
| The
beans are then dried a little longer and then bagged
up. The roasting is usually done by whomever purchases the beans. |
||
|
|
||
 |
 |
 |
| The by-products are used as fuel for the heaters, as fertilizer, or as seeds to grow new plants! | ||
|
|
||
 |
 |
 |
| Back in town we visited a small roasting place. They required complete cleanliness, so we had to completely suit up in plastic. | ||
|
|
||
 |
The tour was quite interesting, as we didn't realize there were so many different ways to roast coffee ... the best part was the excellent smell! At the end we saw the products being packaged and were able to take home some samples. The local market gets the smaller beans that didn't make the export grade ... but they tasted great! |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
||
|
This ends our visit to Boquete
... a very special place hidden away in the remote mountains of Panama.
We next headed towards the islands of Bocas Del Toro ... |
 |
 |
|
|
||
|
Panama City & Canal Southern Beach Boquete Mtn Bocas Del Toro Islands Trinidad Mtn & Return this page next page |
||
|
|
||
