There is no deficiency of beautiful mountain villages on the way to the highest peak in Panama. In this article, we will talk about two important towns along the road to Cerro Punta situated in the Chiriqui Province- Santa Clara and Bambito.
The town of Santa Clara, located just 30 kilometers away from Volcan on the highway leading to the Costa Rican border, at first, seems to be a very insignificant place with nothing much to offer to the tourists, but it houses some very beautiful shade-grown coffee farms including the Finca Hartmann, Café Duran, Café Balboa, and the Café Flor de Chiriqui, making Santa Clara the ‘Coffee Capital’ of Panama. The farms are open to being toured by visitors at 15 US Dollars per person. Apart from coffee, the rich volcanic soil serves as a suitable surface for producing beans, avocados, oranges, and plantains.
The tourists will find a rich variety of wildlife species in the town. It houses around 300 unique species of birds, including the Quetzals, Humming Birds, Tinamows, Hawks and more, making bird-watching a major activity here. The town also renders 5 hiking trails passing through ravishing natural surroundings.
The staying needs of the visitors are taken care of by gorgeously established cabins, including 2-person and 4-person cabins. A smaller, 2-person cabin, features only a bedroom, a bathroom, and a kitchen, while the bigger, 4-person lodging, offers 2 stories housing guestrooms and a veranda at the top rendering extensive views into the picturesque surroundings.
Bambito
Bambito is one of the many tiny mountain towns you will come across along the path to Cerro Punta. The place features a series of beautiful farms along the slope between Cerro Punta and Volcan Baru. The village renders a peaceful place for the tourists who can spend their nights here. They can also engage in fishing in the Truchas de Bambito farm; the main attraction of Bambito.
Truchas de Bambito is a rainbow-trout farm belonging to Hotel Bambito, featuring three spring water pools where thousands of fish are raised. Tourists have to pay some admission fees to the hotel to start catching fishes on the farm which effectively will form part of their meals. You have to, however, pay an additional fee of 4.50 US Dollars if you desire to take your fish away with you.
Places to Stay and Eat in Bambito
Although the town of Bambito does not offer eye-catching architectural masterpieces, as is the case with a number of Panama towns, it definitely features a number of good hotels, lodgings, and restaurants where the tourists can rest and eat. The best options include:
Casa Grande Bambito Highlands
This luxury resort renders a picturesque setting to the visitors. The 10-room and 10-suite resort are surrounded by beautiful 400 acres of lush green forests. All the 10 suites feature wooden floors, living rooms and even the most standard of the lot offer modern facilities like satellite TVs, I-Pod docks with high and beautiful ceilings. The suites are of different sizes with the bigger ones accommodating up to 8 people at a time. Suites located up the hill are more expensive as compared to the lower ones as they render more privacy and spectacular views into the beautiful surroundings.
The place serves swimming pools and a reasonably priced spa along with a play area for children. The on-site restaurant serving both local and international cuisines including pasta, pizza, hamburger, fresh trout and more is definitely a delight. Tourists are also posed with opportunities to indulge in exciting activities including hiking trails into the dense forests, horseback riding, canopy tours, and fishing.
Cielito Sur B&B
This beautiful setting in a beautiful garden on the highlands is owned and managed by an American-Panamanian couple who offer four fine guestrooms; all coming with private bathrooms while only some of them feature private kitchens. The guestrooms render a local Central American feel and are named after indigenous tribes. Just a small trail away is the B&Bs coffee plantation. Coffee procured from the plantation is served daily to the customers.
A new two-bedroom house has recently been added to the services featuring a full private kitchen and a fireplace. Restaurants and grocery stores are just a 5-minute drive away from the place while the La Amistad International Park is 10 minutes away. The staff here can also arrange birdwatching, canoeing and hiking trails for you.
Hotel Bambito Resort
This luxury resort in Bambito is a hot favorite among the tourists. The hotel offers ample family-friendly facilities with spacious and rustic, country-style rooms. The rooms feature private bathrooms and flat-screen cable TVs and offer majestic views of the spectacular hill forests. Some also render a private balcony. The other modern facilities available here include a lounge, game room and a health club featuring tennis courts, a spa with sauna and swimming pools. The on-site restaurant, Las Truchas, specializes in American and Italian cuisines. Guests are provided opportunities to engage in exciting outdoor activities like horseback riding and fishing. The hotel also arranges and provides updates on hiking trails in the national park.
Dulces Caseros Alina
Dulces Caseros Alina is a small shop cum ice cream parlor located around 2 kilometers north to the Hotel Bambito Resort. It is a perfect pitstop for tourists on their way to the La Amistad International Park for resting and stocking up on some eatables. The shop offers milkshakes, fruit cream, fruit jam, candy and ice creams prepared with world-famous locally grown strawberries, growing extensively under the suitable climate and soil rendered by the hills.
Conclusion
The above article talks about two important mountain towns along the road to Cerro Punta and the La Amistad National Park. Santa Clara, a town on the highway, 30 kilometers away from Volcan seems to be very unimportant at first but it boasts of beautiful and sprawling coffee farms producing the finest coffee in the country. The town is therefore referred to be the ‘Coffee Capital’ of Panama. The staying needs here are taken care of by beautifully executed cabins of varied sizes rendering scintillating views of the surroundings.
The town of Bambito is another important town located on the highlands of Chiriqui rendering a series of farms and hotels. Bambito is one of the best options to spend the night in the hills offering a number of hotels and resorts featuring a plethora of luxurious modern facilities. Truchas de Bambito, a trout farm featuring thousands of fishes is a famous fishing spot owned by Hotel Bambito Resort in the area. Both towns have the capacity to render memorable experiences, therefore, tourists trailing the hills are highly recommended to visit the towns.
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