Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
than you are l
ike
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th elsewh
ere
in Panama. Restaurant daily 6.30am-8pm.
Camping/tent
$15
/person, dorms
$18
, doubles
$85
Parque Internacional La Amistad
Las Nubes • $5, payable at the permanently staffed park office at Las Nubes, a few hundred metres beyond the
entrance
Covering four thousand square kilometres of precipitous forested mountains straddling
Panama and Costa Rica,
Parque Internacional La Amistad
(International Friendship Park),
often abbreviated to PILA or Amistad, forms a crucial link in the “biological corridor” of
protected areas running the length of Central America. Given its varied topography, Amistad
is the most ecologically diverse park in the region, including more than four hundred differ-
ent
bird
species, making it the most important protected area in Panama after the Darién.
Although almost all of the Panamanian section lies in Bocas del Toro, it is far more access-
ible from the Pacific side of the country. There are three short
trails
with
miradores
offering
excellent views of some of the highest mountains in Panama (at least before the cloud des-
cends) and a 50m
waterfall
. A longer, steeper and less distinct trail (8km round trip) leads
through virgin cloud forest to the summit of
Cerro Picacho
(2986m), but you'll need to get
one of the park wardens to guide you.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE: PARQUE LA AMISTAD
On foot or by taxi
From Cerro Punta or Guadalupe, walk the 6km - or take a taxi ($7) - to
the park entrance at Las Nubes.
ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
ANAM park refuge
One of the larger, better-equipped refuges with kitchen facilities but
onl
y cold water - bring your own food and, ideally, a sleeping bag, as it gets cold at night.
$15
PILA restaurant
At the park entrance.
Run by a local women's cooperative, the restaurant
serves
comida corriente
($3 for breakfast, $5 for lunch) such as
arroz de guandú
(rice
and beans) with chicken, pork or beef, which you can enjoy on a wooden balcony.
Daily
8am-5pm.
Along the La Fortuna road
Highway 4, the serpentine road that traverses the continental divide to the Caribbean coast,
is Panama's most spectacular drive, with
breathtaking views
on a clear day; conversely, if
you find yourself peering through thick fog to see the edge of the asphalt, it can be one of
the scariest journeys you ever make. During the October and November rains, landslides are
frequent, sometimes blocking the route for days. Midway across the cordillera, before des-
cending into Bocas del Toro province, you cross the dam wall of
Lago Fortuna
, Panama's
main source of hydroelectric power.
