Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
to the gleaming white stucco walls of the
Iglesia San Pedro
, built in 1550 and reputedly the
second oldest church in the western hemisphere. Leaving the square via Calle Arriba at the
opposite end, and turning left, you come across a shrine to the Virgen del Carmen and the
house where Pizarro apparently lived, while a brightly tiled plaque nearby commemorates the
painter Paul Gaugin, who had a short stint working on the canal before heading off for the
South Seas.
Cerro de la Cruz
It's definitely worth summoning up the energy to do one of the island's two walks. The short-
er hike to
Cerro de la Cruz
takes an easy thirty minutes. Leaving town along Calle Abajo,
you pass the delightful
casa de la concha
on the right, decorated by its former owner, a one-
time pearl fisher, with scallop and pearl shells. Further on is the site of an old French canal-
era
sanitorium
, which the Americans later converted into a rest and recuperation centre for
“gold roll” canal employees before upgrading it to a hotel. After the weed-strewn
cemetery
,
take the dirt road down to the left, then a path up an embankment to the right 100m later,
after which it's an easy walk to the gigantic sixteenth-century cross, where you can soak up
the sweeping sea view.
Cerro Vigía
From the mirador at the top of
Cerro Vigía
(370m), Taboga's highest point, the panorama is
truly spectacular, making the hour-long hike a rewarding experience. Heading along the main
path out of the village, you pass the turn to Cerro de la Cruz, before arriving at a junction.
Straight ahead lie the ANAM offices (signposted but not open to the public), the island's de-
salination plant and the refuse dump; to the right, the widening dirt road meanders slowly up
the hill. The more direct route to the summit, up the
Sendero de las Tres Cruces
, presents
a more challenging but shorter climb through lush forest, not least because of poor signpost-
ing. After heavy rain, the path becomes a mudslide, but the rewards are almost-guaranteed
sightings of green and black poison-dart frogs and tarantulas. The route is indicated from
the plaza, by the phone box; after the housing ends, turn sharp right and keep to the right of
the stream until, ten minutes into the forest, the route bears left across a stream, which the
path crisscrosses several times before arriving, forty-five minutes later, at three well-tended
crosses - the burial sites of a trio of buccaneers who foolishly tangled with some Taboganos.
Bearing left again, the trail soon emerges from the undergrowth onto the dirt road to the sum-
mit.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE: ISLA TABOGA
By boat
Two companies run boats to the island. Most people travel on the
Calypso Queen
(
314 1730) as it is one of the highlights of a visit, giving passengers close-ups of the ships
waiting to transit the canal and a chance to glimpse dolphins and even migrating whales
(July-Oct). There are daily departures from La Playita on the Amador Causeway, near the