Wrong Side of the Bed
We got up early to take a bus north to Cerro Punta, to hike the Quetzal Trail. This trail is supposed to be one of the best trails in 
So our morning started out very positive as we met the bus at the bottom of our road and did not have to walk into town. Once in Cerro Punta there was a taxi right at the bus stop. Nice! We bargained our taxi down by $5 and off we went to the trail head. We got 1K away from the trail head (as we later found out) and the driver told us the road was too bad, he would have to drop us off there. Okay what do we know? So we walked a few minutes and found what we thought was the start of the trail. Turns out what we took was the old trail, straight up for one hour. When we got to the top, saw the ranger’s station, and the road the taxi driver should have taken, we were so mad. Not only did we pay full price for our ride, but we lost an hour of hiking time on the trail conquering the hill.
Not to let that ruin our day, we began our hike. The trail was mostly downhill towards Boquete. It was a really beautiful hike along a river, with so many different types of birds. We hiked for about 4 hours (not including our hour up the hill), and came to the trail head on the Boquete side. A sign at the trail head said Boquete 3K with an arrow pointing to the right. So we started walking in that direction. And walking. And walking. Another hour passes. We started to go uphill, which did not make sense to us, when we saw a farmer outside his home. I asked him if this was the way to Boquete. He said yes. I asked how far it was. He said three hours on foot. Three hours!! Didn’t the sign say 3 K? He said he did not know how many kilometers it was, but it was definitely in this direction and definitely three hours.
Frustrated, we set out walking again. We finally reached a paved section of road , where like a mirage in the distance, sat a taxi. Ahh!! Salvation! By now the knees are hurting, feet dragging, old age rearing its ugly head. We asked the driver how much he would charge to drive us to Boquete? He said he was waiting for four people from the trail and could not drive us, and had no phone to call anther driver. But, if we walk 25 minutes down the road, we could hail a taxi.
Now Sean and I are walking downhill, backwards and sideways like crabs because our knees hurt too much to go straight downhill. We walk and walk, and then again mirage in the distance….a bus!! Only this time the mirage is real and we get a ride into Boquete. As it turns out, the sign at the trail head said 13K to Boquete, not 3K, someone was kind enough to vandalize the “1” off.
We arrive home after a few hours of bus travel, and a nice opportunity to rest the knees and bitch about Lonely Planet’s guidebook
Crisis averted, I had to go into the backyard with Sean and use the garden hose to rinse off while he held my towel to keep things PG-13.
After I apologized to the family for almost burning their house down, they feed us a wonderful chicken dinner. I am not sure I would have fed me after all that.
So I really can’t decide….was it a good day or a bad day? The Naprosyn is kicking in, I am clean, and at least I am not still walking to Boquete. I may not be able to walk tomorrow, but I think overall it was a good day.
