Cerro Punta is at an altitude of 1800m and grows 90% of Panamas produce. We woke up in the clouds and wrapped up warm to go for a stroll through the beautiful, rich agricultural lands. Each inch of land was filled with neat rows of vegetables, salads and flowers. The steep hills were dotted with tiny strawberries and towering celery stalks, watermelons sat heavily in the streams with huge angels trumpets offering them a little shade when the sun did break through the mist of the clouds. We walked along the rough stone streets and watched the smiley people tend to their gardens, everyone offered a buenos and a smile and we enjoyed the novelty of the cool climate. We walked upto an orchid garden but it was $10 per person which was just too expensive. We had seen so many beautiful gardens on the walk there that we just wandered around the little streets and enjoyed the life everywhere around us for free. After our walk we grabbed our laptops and curled up on the couches by the fire in the ‘living room’ at the hotel. The whole place was so welcoming, bananas were strung up in the restaurant and plates of fresh fruit and vegetables were the decoration. The couches were comfy and the fire homely. We put on our bed socks and put our feet up and worked on the blog and the darian gap crossing happily for hours. Los Quetzals is the name of the eco-lodge as it is so close to the famous Sendero Los Quetzals walk and the Parque Internacional La Amistad. We arranged to take a hiking tour the next morning in the national park. We slept like babies in the silence of the clouds and after such lovely fresh air and woke up in plenty of time for our hike. We were bundled into a trailer on the back of a tractor with one other person who was an avid birdwatcher.

He was so excited and was visiting Panama from San Fransisco JUST to see the birds. We rumbled and climbed up the loose track to the national park, we crossed small rivers and drove up and down verticle drops in the tractor and trailer and after 45 minutes of having our skeletons rattled we arrived outside a cabin hidden in the forest. The lodge has several cabins deep in the rainforest with only the birds and wildlife for a company…a retreat in the true sense of the word! We climbed the steps, met another person coming with us and were given wellington boots to put on. As we changed our shoes our guide filled the humming bird feeder and we watched in awe as hundreds of hummingbirds fed right in front of us. So many shapes and sizes, colours and noises, they flitted around so close to us.

The guide told us to put our fingers near to the feeder and that they would land on us. Alex stood and photographed with one hand while a bird was on his other hand.

It was like having a hundred tiny helicopters flying around our heads, we could hear their wings beating and the air moving around them as they flew so close to us. We watched and listened to them bickering and had to be dragged away to go to do some walking. The hike was not hard work but it was thick mud, I was thankful for the wellies however Alex’s had a hole in them so he had a boot full of mud within seconds. As we walked our guide made squeaks, squawks and whistles to attract the birds. The bird watcher told us we were looking especially for the resplendant Quetzal. The birds are very shy and have beautiful bright coloured feathers and they nest in the area. We trudged through the mud, climbed over and under fallen trees and listened for the birds. Suddenly the guide spotted something and we all fell silent and waited. We were so lucky and we saw a pair of Quetzals not far from us, their long tail feathers trailing below their perches and their bright turquoise, pink and green plumage shining in the dappled sunlight. They were amazing to see and I could understand the birdwatchers excitement. We walked onto a waterfall and saw lots of other birds on our way there and back and exhausted we trundled back on our board benches in the trailer of the tractor. We had enjoyed our walk so much and were so wiped out with the exercise that we had 2 lunches! Again we spent he rest of the day relaxing in the comfy chairs and felt right at home.

We planned an action packed day for the following day and discussed how we never wanted to leave Cerro Punta. The temperature is always pleasant, a steady 10-20 degrees and the cooling clouds come and go as they please making rainbows around you as they part.
Our action packed day started with horseriding, followed by a steam and exfoliation treatment and then a meal in the restaurant (the lodge had done us a great deal and we had the whole day for just $40 each including a nights stay in the van!). I was so excited to go horseriding after not worrying too much at the wedding in Banff but when we met our guide he didnt speak a word of English. We tried to explain this was my first time and even had the receptionist come out to translate but he just said ok and told me to get on. I did as I was told and scrambled up onto the poor horse whose name I was told was Diego. Alex was introduced to Chocolat and we were off. I had no idea how to go, stop, turn, slow down, speed up….nothing. Diego started to follow my leader and chocolat did the same. The thin air had given me a little bit of a runny nose so when I dared I let go of the reighns and blew my nose. Diego could obviously tell I didnt know what I was doing and kept walking me up grass banks and into low hanging trees. He headed towards a stream and I thought we were going in. He only just avoided it and we carried on over the loose stones and grassy hills, I started to panic as a car tried to pass us and Diego just stayed firmly in the road, the car honked and eventually he siddled onto the path looking rudely at the car. It was maybe only 5 minutes before my nose started to run more and more and roughly 7 minutes before my eyes were itching violently. Stupidly I wiped the tears from my eyes with my hands and before I knew it I could barely see, the horse was taking me into a tree which was hitting me in the face and I was panicking about having absolutely no control. I was close to tears as I asked Alex if we could turn around and go back. He looked at me once and either saw the panic or my swollen face and said nothing except “of course, lets go”. We had been gone no more than 15 minutes and I looked like the elephant man. One of my eyes was almost swollen shut, my throat was closing and my nose pouring. Alex gave me antihistemines and then filmed the state of my face for the end of his mini movie! I was so disappointed, I had really wanted to like horse riding but it really didnt like me!

I lied on the bed feeling sorry for myself and waited for the swelling to go down before heading over to the spa for our steam. The steam room was sooo good. They had placed wild flowers and rosemary on the fire and the smell was divine. The hot steam was a refreshing change from the cold cloud vapor and surprisingly it made my face feel so much better. The exfoliating scrub was sugar and oils and felt sooo good. Our skin was dry from the sun on the coast and we felt like shiny new pennies when we had finished. The day was finished perfectly with a great meal and a bottle of great wine and yet again we slept like angels! We love Cerro Punta and never want to leave!

Find out what happens next on our travelling wedding adventure!