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| Local golden frog |
Road trips in Panama share very similar characteristics of having very vague directions. There are hardly any street names, and signage... no way. On the whole, there was a lot of - turn left, then turn left, then turn left, which was provided from the ever helpful, Google maps. When driving from Santa Catalina to El Valle, luckily the drive was much shorter and we arrived without much fuss.
The main focal point of El Valle is the beautiful volcano, which is the most recently active volcano in Panama. It is also much cooler in El Valle than other more typically humid and very hot parts of lowland Panama.
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| El Valle from afar |
There's really just one road for the town, and a large food and crafts
mercado, called the 'Sunday Market', but it was open the whole time we were in town.
The main attractions for the area are the lush vegetation, the wildlife and especially the birds, waterfalls and thermal pools.
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| Las Mozas hike |
Though the trip was very short, we still got to see some waterfalls, indigenous petroglyphs, and some really interesting birds (there are about 500 species in the area).
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| La Piedra Pintada |
At the petroglyphs called 'La Piedra Pintada' (close to La India Dormida), a local Kuna woman explained the meaning of the undeciphered petroglyphs to us. Her interpretation included a bit on the Coclean cultures that existed millions of years ago, and how the images portrayed the different gods that people believed in. She also mentioned the arrival of the Spanish armies. The real interpretation of the petroglyphs remains unknown as the languages and cultures of the Cocle region were lost long ago, and even her interpretation was a struggle for me. First thing in the morning, saying my Spanish was shaky, would be kind.
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