Our first hike was a short drive down our road ( we had to drive to all- too far to walk) and I referred to it as 'Jurassic Park'- the pictures will tell why.
This is the start and where we parked the car.
This hike was only 1 kilometer and the trail was constructed of blocks of concrete for walking on and wooden hand rails to help navigate the ups and downs.
We assumed the trail had been constructed +20 years ago when the subdivision of 'Altos de Cerro Azul' had been originated.
There were huge ferns and I fully expected a dinasaur to peek over the trees at very turn.
A couple of days later we attempted the hike to the Julietta & Romeo Water Falls. This hike is usually done on an ATV and we soon found out why.
The entire distance of the two kilometers to the Falls was downhill. And what a slope!! it had to be at times +50 degrees- I had to walk back and forth across the hill as though I was skiing in order to get down safely.
Of course what goes down must come up- more on that later.
We crossed a couple of small creeks and after approximately 1 hour came to the end of the trail. Ok, where are the falls? The trail ended and not a waterfall in sight.
We figured that we must have missed a turnoff somewhere. We sure didn't walk all this way and not see the damm thing. We went back to the camping sign and turned right , down a little hill, across another creek and there we saw handrails and a path leading where else but up.
And 300 meters further, there it was!
Absolutely beautiful!
With a great swimming hole that we did not fully make use of.
Uwe walked a bit further over some huge boulders and saw yet another waterfall around the corner. This LOL ( little old lady) was way too pooped to go.
After a rest, soaking our feet and splashing water on ourselves in the cool pool we got up to do the long hike back uphill. Please don't attempt this if you are not in reasonably good shape. It took us over an hour walking uphill all the way. Towards the end we had to stop every 25' to catch our breath. There were a couple of times I had to find a log to sit on. It was the most crueling hike I have ever done- not for the faint hearted.
On a more wonderful note we actually saw some critters. Having seen nothing on the way down, we saw a family- mother,father & 3 or 4 babies- of the Panamanian version of Javelinas cross the trail about 50' in front of us. Needless to say, I did not get my camera out in time.
Two days later we went on another hike , this time along the river to the falls of Vigia.
Again the path was made of concrete and was probably constructed around the same time as the "Jurassic Park' trail we had done earlier in the week.
We started near a cute bridge.
And then hiked about 1 kilometer up & down ( per usual- nothing is flat in cerro Azul).
The trail was very scenic and definitly less strenous then the 'Other'.
Again we found some great swimming holes to try later when we have our bathing suits on. And yes, we are way past the years of skinny dipping ( except maybe in absolute privacy- LOL)
This one looked particularly inviting.
We finally came to the Waterfall
There were some anxious moments navigating the stairs to get there.
Especially where the handrails had fallen off- did I mention I'm scared of heights!
Another day and yet another hike! Our fourth and final one for this week was to the lookout point where on a clear day you could see both the Pacific ocean and the Caribbean Sea. When we left our home is was very sunny and clear so we had great hopes.
Here is the trailhead.
And again it was uphill, but this time on the way there and downhill on the way back- yippee!
Again a nice wide trails for ATV's and we were walking.
Almost there.
This hike took us less than 1/2 hour. There was a great deck on top and views in all directions. Only problem was that by the time we got there, the weather had changed and we saw neither ocean- oh well, this will need a repeat.
Too misty in the distance to see much but still very pretty.
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