Hiking in Boquete…

This morning , bright and early , we met Jere McCormick for our first hike with her group. She runs a local hiking group called Boquete Nature Hikes. I had found her web sight (http://www.boquetenaturehike.weebly.com/) before we even moved here . I remember sitting in the salon, dreaming of finally being in Boquete and coming upon her wonderful web sight. I immediately sent her an email introducing myself and telling her how I was looking forward to exploring the trails around Boquete with her and her group. I was thrilled when she got back to me and told me to contact her when I got moved. As soon as we were somewhat settled I looked in to contacting Jere but my timing was just a bit off, she was in the States on a vacation and would not be back for about a month. So we then dove headfirst into our Spanish school. When She finally returned from her journey we discovered that her hiking group does a Thursday morning hike and a Saturday morning hike. Given our school schedule, we couldn’t join her until this weekend. So like I said, we got ourselves to the meeting spot at 8:00 this morning and off we went. I was so happy to finally meet her.

Today the weather was pretty wet but that didn’t stop us. It apparently did stop everyone but us and we were a small group, just four of us willing to get wet. She had decided on a hike up near Jaramillo arriba an area called La Estrela. We drove to the trail head and left the car and began our hike which was all uphill but very pretty. One of my favorite things about the climate here is that even with a bit of rain its not cold. So I don’t mind at all being outdoors exploring ,I even almost prefer it to really sunny and hot. There is something very beautiful about the mist in the distance and the sound the rain makes as it falls through the trees all around us. The air is so crisp and fresh when it’s raining and everything just feels so clean. One of the nice things about hiking with Jere is that she is very knowledgable about the area and about the flora and fauna that we saw on our hike. She would point out the birdsong of a particular bird or pause to take photos of an old gate or an adorable baby cow and a pretty old horse grazing in a field of sugarcane. We learned that the area where we were hiking happens to be where much of the eggs in Boquete come from . We saw a couple of huge chicken coops where the local farmers keep the egg laying crew of very happy looking chickens who we were told supposedly are not given any type of hormones . There is a place very close to us where we can buy the eggs from these chickens.

The only bad thing about the weather today was that when we finally made it to the top of the hill we couldn’t see the view which I’m certain is spectacular. Usually you can see all the way to the Pacific Ocean but today we were treated to some spectacular clouds instead. Oh well, we will just have to do it again sometime! Every Saturday Jere decides on a new trail to explore, sometimes a trail she knows well and other times a trail she has only just discovered. I think her idea of leading a hiking group is a great way to explore this beautiful area while meeting new people or socializing with friends. I look forward to joining Jere for many more hikes in the future. But I have a feeling I may be seeing her at the other group she has organized call the Newcomers group. They meet at different restaurants every Friday night so I think I may check it out next week . As you know this type of group sounds like something I will really enjoy.