Panama
Hiking Volcán Barú & making our own coffee
Prepare yourself for an incredible, but tough hike during nighttime, to see an amazing sunset on the highest peak of Panama. Afterwards go and make your own coffee at a farmer, to try and stay awake after our night-adventure.
Hike Panama's highest volcano and watch the sunrise (3475m!)
We took a little powernap the day before (+/- 2hours) and woke up at 11 o'clock. We prepared our bags (food, water, rain gear, headlamp) and arranged a taxi to our starting point (11 USD, you can just tell your driver to go to the starting point, they know). We started hiking in the dark (try without headlamp, your eyes will adjust) at 12:30. It was a tough climb, but with basic fitness, it's very doable. The trail in itself was wide and clear, so no issues trying to find the way (thankfully, since we went without a guide). We passed a few people going up, but is wasn't crowded at all. The trail is about 14,5km and you will feel every single one of these :-) We arrived at the top, just as the sun was starting to rise. The sunset was so beautiful, and it's the only place you can see two different oceans at the same time!
Down we go!
After and hour on top of the volcano and after a little photoshoot ;-), we made our way down again. It had started raining, so the trail was very slippery, although we still made it on our sneakers. You take the same route back, but this time you get to see the jungle and your surroundings. Especially in the rain, I loved the colours of the jungle. You think this part will go by quickly, but the hike back takes quite a long time and your knees will probably be hurting by the end of your way down, but that's the price you pay ;-)
Making our own coffee - from scratch!
We were picked up by the nice lady from the coffee tour. We just had to meet her at a square, and she drove us to the farm. It was a very tiny farm, with just the two owners and then a few seasonal workers. They told us everything about growing the trees, harvesting and how to prepare and roast the beans. We got to do most of it ourselves aswell! You can buy one or a few trees there, they take care of them, then they will keep the harvest separated and make coffee from those specific trees and send it to you. We ended the tour with a tasting and some homemade banana bread :-)
Fiiiiinally off to bed
After this incredibly long, but amazing day, we finally got into our bunk beds :-)
