Once again as usual, we set off during the weekend to explore Panama with our fellow students. This time our destination is Santa Fé, in the province of Veraguas (east of Chiriqui). Having already been there a couple of times we got a really nice itinerary nailed down.
This activity will take place from Friday October 9th – Sunday October 11th. We will be staying at Hostal La Qhia. Eight of our Spanish students have already signed up so it promises to be lots of fun!
We will horseback, appreciate how “jugo de caña” is extracted from sugar cane (and we’ll also do it ourselves!), have a splash in a gorgeous waterfall, horseback a bit more, hike a little bit, practice our Spanish, drink some good wine, wander around town to checkout the church and get a feel of the local lifestyle, and visit an orchid expert (with nearly 300 orchids in her house!).
Price includes everything: roundtrip transportation from Boquete to Santa Fé (4 hours), two nights accommodation with three persons per room (upgrade for more privacy is available), all meals and snacks, a horseback riding tour through the mountains where we will stop on a farm to learn how sugar cane is extracted, followed by a guided hike to an amazing waterfall for a nice splash. Lastly but not least, we will hold a 2-hour Spanish Conversational Session where we will be able to share all of our exciting adventures.
The cost is $155 per person (for Habla Ya students) and $195 per person (for everyone else).
At Santa Fé, a beautiful Swiss chalet will be waiting for us. We will be surrounded by ever-blooming gardens of fruits and flowers. Shrouded from the simple village streets by its lush gardens, the site offers splendid vistas of the mountains, rainbows, dramatic cloud formations, and a stunning night sky.
- Friday October 9th
- 1:30 p.m. depart from Boquete
- 5:30 p.m. arrive to Santa Fé
- 5:45 a.m. town briefing, snack, free time to wander around
- 7:00 p.m. dinner (grilled chicken breast, mashed potatoes, vegetable salad)
- Saturday October 10th
- 8:00 a.m. breakfast (fruit salad, yogurt, bread, coffee or tea)
- 9:15 a.m. We depart to horseback up and over the mountains
- 9:45 a.m. Sugar cane extraction tour
- 10:15 a.m. We continue horseback riding to the head of the hiking trail
- 10:45 a.m. Start hiking through the forest
- 11:15 a.m. Arrive to an amazing waterfall to freshen up with a nice swim
- 12:00 p.m. Lunch
- 1:00 p.m. Hike back to the horses
- 2:00 p.m. Horseback riding back to La Qhia
- 4:00 p.m. Spanish conversational session
- 5:30 p.m. Snack
- 7:00 p.m. Dinner (grilled fish filet mixed with vegetable salad and potatoes with onions, or steak with tartar sauce and yuca)
- 8:30 p.m. Wine under the stars
- Sunday October 11th
- 8:00 a.m. breakfast
- 9:00 a.m. Discover the town: visit Berta Castrellón’s House with more than 3,000 orchids, visit the Church of the town. Free time to wonder and get a fell of Panamanian rural life
- 12:00 p.m. Lunch
- 1:30 p.m. depart to Boquete
- 5:30 p.m. arrive to Boquete
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From Moon Travel Guide for Panama by William Friar: Santa Fé (pop 2,800) is 54 kilometers north of Santiago. Founded around 1557, it and the surrounding hills were the scene of fierce battles between the Spanish and indigenous peoples under the command of Urracá, an especially skilled warrior who managed to beat back the conquistadores for a time and today is commemorated on Panama’s one centavo coin.
Santa Fé is 470 meters above sea level, which is high enough to get some cool breezes and fog.
Santa Fé itself scores low on the quaintness scale: it’s a sprawl of nonedescript houses and little else. The charm is to be found in the slower, simple pace of life of its inhabitants.
But the countryside is pretty, and the drive up is stunning. There are sweeping vistas of rolling hills and pasturelands, and in the distance the mountains of the Continental Divide, still green with dense forests (for now) as they spill down toward the Caribbean slope.
To reserve a spot simply Contact Us or just pay us a visit!
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Tags: hostal la qhia, panama places to visit, Panama Road Trips, qhia santa fe, Santa Fé, santa fe panama, santa fe veraguas panama Posted in Adventure Travel, Ecotourism, Habla Ya, Panama Destinations, Panama Road Trips, Panama Travel, Santa Fe, Vacations
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