Bajo Boquete

Straddling the Costa Rican border in Panama’s Chiriquí Highlands, La Amistad International Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of Central America’s last great wildernesses. Spanning over 400,000 hectares, this transnational sanctuary protects ecosystems ranging from cloud forests to páramo grasslands, harboring jaguars, tapirs, and the resplendent quetzal. Indigenous Naso and Ngäbe-Bugle communities steward ancestral lands within its bounds, adding layers of cultural depth to its ecological grandeur. Trekking trails—like the demanding but rewarding Sendero Los Quetzals—wind through orchid-draped canopies and past thundering waterfalls, while night hikes reveal glass frogs glinting like emeralds on mossy logs. For serious hikers and biodiversity enthusiasts, La Amistad is not merely a park but a pilgrimage into the heart of Mesoamerica’s wild soul.

Soaring 3,474 meters above the coffee plantations of Chiriquí, Volcán Barú is the only point in Panama from which both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans can be seen simultaneously—on an exceptionally clear day, that is. This dormant stratovolcano is the undisputed roof of Panama, and an ascent to its summit is a pilgrimage for fit, determined travelers who trade the humid lowlands for a punishing vertical trek through cloud forests draped in epiphytes. For those who seek the journey rather than just the car ride, the summit delivers a spiritual reward: a 360-degree aerial survey of the entire isthmus accompanied by biting winds and an incredible sense of relative solitude.