Hola amigos! We had a great last day in Piro- we hiked through the jungle to a waterfall and three species of monkeys stopped by our porch at the same time just hours before we left. After Piro, we decided to explore a little more of Central America (translation: we were broke), so we caught a bus down to Panama. The border crossing was not as bad as we expected- almost none of the buildings were marked, but people spoke english and we only spent a few hours in line. After the border, we caught a bus (public transportation is much more straightforward in Panama, thank god) and stopped in a little town called Boquete, which´s suprisingly white. Boquete is in the foothills of Volcan Baru and it was put aside for American and European workers after the construction of the Panama Canal. It´s beautiful and very much like any European mountain town, but has an indigenous influence because of the Guaymi settlement nearby. We´re both looking forward to camping on top of the volcano (supposedly you can see both coasts from the top) and hiking into La Amistad. La Amistad is a park which spans the border with Costa Rica, and is known for its abundant wildlife. We plan to stay in Panama until the day after Christmas, spend the next night at the indian settlement in Boruca, then head up to San Jose to catch our flight. We´re both missing our friends and family, and are glad we´ll at least be in a town that celebrates Christmas. The central park is all decked out, and the restaurants are all playing holiday music. We hope this finds you all well, we´ll update again once we get to San Jose!
