What is the Certificate of Excellence?

It is an annual award given to the top 10% of accommodations on Trip Advisor, based on customer satisfaction.  For us, it means that most people who stay with us leave happy and we’re doing a good job.  This is our fourth year in a row we’ve received the award.  I know there are some really amazing little inns and bed and breakfasts in Veraguas, so I am pleasantly surprised by receiving the award.

Here are some of the other hotels, inn and B&B recipients this year in Veraguas:

La Buena Vida in Santa Catalina

Hotel Sol y Mar in Santa Catalina

Hotel Hibuscus Garden right outside of Santa Catalina

Hotel Santa Catalina in Santa Catalina

Mykonos Hotel in Santiago

Also, there are four hostels in Veraguas who received the award:

Deseo Bamboo in Santa Catalina

Hostel Villa Vento Surf in Torio

Hostel Villa Vento Surf in Santa Catalina

Hotel Iguanito in Santa Catalina

My dad is turning 70 this year.  For the past fifteen years or so he has been into hiking the Sierra Nevadas on solo trips or with a friend or two for a few days.  He looks on google, looks on topo maps and plans a backcountry trip.   Off -trail.

This summer, he came up to help baby-sit Rafael during our high season for a month, and I got to take him out in a totally different landscape in Santa Fe National Park and explore myself some too!  For our new overnight tour, we are targeting families and those who want to have nature and a cultural exchange, spending the night in a remote village with a hike … but where.  We settled on this waterfall that Edgar knew about, and hour’s hike, according to him.  So, of course, I wanted to check it out.

So, we started hiking at 9.  Evidently the trail was overgrown, so Edgar opened it up again with the machete.  Going was slow and it took us a good 3 hrs to arrive.

But it was a beautiful time, if lengthy…and at the end:

It was an amazing hike, and no, not too hard at all.

Here is the scoop:

Where/Donde: Santa Fe Fairgrounds / Feria de Santa Fe

When:

August 12th 3:00 PM – 7:00 PM

August 13: 7:00 AM – 10:00 PM

August 14: 7:00 AM – 4:00 PM

I went on the most BEAUTIFUL 4×4 drive with Cele and Rafael on the 3rd up on a little known route towards Cerro Tute along a place called Cerro Redondo.  We had 180 degree views of the mountains, of Santa Fe National Park, of the town of Santa Fe, of the beautiful Santa Maria River that traverses the valley.

So the thing is this, I was wrong.  OK.  I’m going to go ahead and say it- I was wrong.  I’ve always been underwhelmed about Cerro Tute as a destination in the area.  It’s written up in all of the guide books (by people who only visit the area overnight – I argue), as somewhere to visit.  (Why spend 5 hours hiking up an unforested hill, when the rainforest of Santa Fe

National Park is right there, I would argue).  Don’t go to Cerro Tute, go to Cerro Mariposa I would tell guests.

We took a 4×4 road off the main road of Santa Fe to Cerro Redondo (between Montanuela and the Community of Tute Abajo).  The dirt road was in good condition, and while we definitely needed 4×4, it was easily passible.  The road connected to the road to Cerro Tute, and we looped back down to Santa Fe.  Total time: 1.5 hrs.

I would love to come up with a tour that goes along this route – sunset horseback ride anyone?  While I still maintain that the normal route to Cerro Tute is not that great (not what you should do if you only have a couple days in the area) – this route is.  And is a great short alternative.

We recently had a group of more adventurous guests make it up there, and I’ve asked Edgar, the guide, to guest write a post:

Just the Facts

Elevation: 1,424m

Location: Western Arm, Santa Fe National Park

Type of Vegetation: Rainforest

Hike Duration: 6hrs Round Trip

Ascending Cerro Mariposa

It was 7AM, March 15, 2016 when the group of explorers, Josepus, Oliver and Edgar (me, the guide), prepared to set off on the hike to Cerro Mariposa, located in Santa Fe National Park, at an altitude of 1,424m.  We spent 20 minutes driving from Coffee Mountain Inn to where we began the hike in Alto de Piedra.   We began our hike accompanied by the songs of diverse bird species. And we weren’t alone.  100 meters from where we began, we spotted Jaguar and Ocelot tracks and soon came across a Trogon (Trogon aurantiiventris) very close to the trail.  600 meters later we found one of the Jaguar monitoring stations that use trigger cameras to capture night life with a motion sensor (take a look at other work of  AMIPARQUE (Amigos del Parque Nacional Santa Fe)).  I showed them some previous fotos that had been taken by the cameras.  We could also hear Keel-billed Toucans and a Great curassow (Crax rubra).

In the midst of the forest, we saw many different plants with flowers like the newly recognized species of Calathea (Calathea galdameciana), endemic to the area and discovered by scholarship student through Smithsonian Tropical Reseach Institute (STRI).  Orchids, bromiliads, mosses, ferns, athurium and philodendrons were plentiful.

After walking for three hours, we ascended from the rainforest to the dwarf rainforest of the ridgeline.

We reached the peak.  At first it was cloudy, but then we hit a break in the clouds after a few minutes. The ridgeline of El Tute extended before us, the town of Santa Fe far below, and the rainforest of the National Park on the hills below us.

We rested, taking in the beautiful views offered to us, with the clouds in our face, the constant wind, cool temperatures before descending again.  Halfway through the decent we were surprised to spot a rare lizard (Anadia Vittata), hard to spot because of the camouflage in dry leaves.

We arrived at the end, in perfect health, happy and thrilled with the adventure.

What are my impressions of Bermejo Falls?

It’s a beautiful area-and definitely worth a day trip.  The falls themselves are located on el bermajito river.  A 60 ft waterfall cascades down to a rocky pool (with very slippery rocks) where you can swim.  Forested cliffs reach up around the falls.  The pool is larger than any of the waterfalls at Alto de Piedra, and the view is more impressive. Guests have seen monkeys at the falls and my husband saw an ocelot one morning.  It is a longer hike to get to the falls, however – through an EXTREMELY muddy trail.  Then the trail meanders through a cow pasture and an orange grove, making it easy to lose it.

Hiking the trail requires mobility – and takes about 45 minutes one way – but what a 45 minutes it is!  Let me first say that Bermejo means red soil.  What type of soil is red?  Clay.  What happens when horses pass over clay soil in a rainforest?  You get a muddy, slippery mess of a trail for hiking!  I was pondering this as my black rubber boots sank down in the mud past my ankles, sometimes up to my calves as I desperately was looking for firm ground my first time hiking the trail.  Some months it is drier, but be prepared for mud!

How to get to Bermejo Falls

We offer a horseback riding tour to the falls, $95 for two people and $25 for additional people – people love it.  But don’t feel obligated if horseback riding isn’t for you – I want people to have the experience that’s right for them, and that’s not for everyone.  You can also drive to the trailhead and hike, if you have a 4×4.  Budget in about 20 minutes in a 4×4 to drive the 3 miles, and 2 hours to hike there and back with some time at the falls.

Others hike from our inn, but they usually come back wiped out.  We recommend taking a taxi ($5 – $6 for the first person + $ for each additional person) to the falls if you don’t have a 4×4.  That way you’re not too tired to enjoy the waterfall when you get there.  You can catch a taxi in the town square.

To get to the trailhead, continue downhill from our inn, cross the vehicle bridge and take the first left up the steep hill.   Continue making lefts when the road splits until you hit a small chapel.  When the road splits, take the right fork and continue on the 4×4 road until you see a sign for Bermejo Waterfalls on the right hand side.  Park your car and the hike should take about 45 minutes to get to the falls.  Be careful of the slippery rocks near the falls.

This is not an official tourist trail.  It is not maintained – it’s a foot path that farmers use to access their lands, and you hike through private land to get to the falls.

Cele and I were stunned to find out that I was pregnant during this time.

Our son, Rafael Emre (Rafael meaning God Heals and Emre meaning Brother), was born in February…after 6 months on bed rest.  The birth of our son is bittersweet. It doesn’t make things better, you can not replace one child with another.  We miss our daughter so much and love our son.  I never quite know what to say when people ask if Rafael is our first.  He is not.  He is a blessing, as was our daughter.

Rafael and I returned to Panama in March after going to the states for his birth.  As for blessings, I am blessed to have this business with my husband right now, where we have the flexibility to work and take care of our child at the same time, where our son can grow up in a world perfect for a little explorer – with rivers for swimming, bugs for capturing, and horses for riding.

How to get there:

The safest way to get to the waterfalls is to take the trail to the first waterfall, described in the previous post.  About 100ft before you reach the first waterfall, there is a footpath from the main trail, leading upwards.  Take this trail, and follow for about 8 minutes and you will reach the falls.  I just was on this trail today. Be very careful, it is very muddy, narrow, not maintained and with very steep drop offs. There are areas where you will need to grab on to roots to balance yourself, and you should wear boots.  If you have poor balance or mobility issues, this trail is not for you.

TRAIL LENGTH FROM TRAILHEAD: Approx 800m; Plan 1 hr for a round trip visit to the second waterfall.

Alto de Piedra waterfalls are very pretty, and a perfect taste of the region.

Alto de Piedra is an outlying neighborhood of Santa Fe.  The trailhead is about 3 miles and 1000ft above Santa Fe town center, bordering the National Park.  There are a series of three waterfalls.

Trail description

The trail to the first waterfall descends about 400 ft in 1/2 km through rainforest.  The trail was paved in places at one time, though it is always muddy, steep, and not well maintained.  It is the easiest of the three trails, but still slippery and muddy -I wear my black rubber boots to hike it.  You will see typical rainforest trees – stilt palms, guarumo, strangler figs.  After descending 400 ft, you come to waterfall, perhaps 20ft in height, as steep forested slopes with large ferns surround the pool in 270 degrees. Very pretty. In the morning, we’ve seen hummingbirds play in the falls.

How to Get There

The trailhead is located off of the paved road that goes towards Calovebora.  On the other side of the uncompleted center, see picture below.  (please note, this is NOT the same information center as the one that my husband helped complete) the trail starts out, wandering through an orange grove before starting its descent.

In November, we’re going to start a bike and hike  rental option, with bike rental and  trailhead drop off  for those people who would prefer to rent a bike, be dropped off at the trailhead, do the short hike, and coast down the 1000ft elevation change and three miles back to town.

What to Bring

• Water.  Though the hike is short, uphill in heat is not my favorite. I bring a bottle of water with me.
• Long-sleeve shirt.  I wear a long sleeve shirt for the bugs, and put on insect repellant before I go.
•  Sturdy shoes.
• Be aware that there is no cell reception in the Alto de Piedra area.