PANAMA SERIES: DAY TRIP TO VOLCAN TO MEET WITH A STEEMIAN

During my last trip to Panama, I had the chance of meeting another fellow Steemian, a beautiful Steemit mama, @apanamamama. She's actually the third Steemian blogger that I got to meet in person this year.

_{^{View over the Baru Volcano being covered by the clouds}}

Boquete and Volcan are two Panamanian small cities located on two different slopes of the volcano Baru. While I was in Boquete, she was in Volcan. Thus we decided to go see her in Volcan. We rented a car and drove from Boquete to Volcan.

_{^{On the Boquete-David highway}}

Although we were in the rainy season, we got a beautiful sunny day.

_{^{View of Cordillera de Talamanca and the Pacific Ocean}}

On the way to our destination we were able to see the Pacific Ocean in the distance.

_{^{View of Cordillera de Talamanca and the Pacific Ocean}}

This was my third visit to this charming little city nested in the highlands of Chiriqui.

_{^{View of Cordillera de Talamanca and the Pacific Ocean}}

Unlike Boquete, where you get a feeling of the crowd as everything is condensed in a small valley, Volcan is a large plateau located in the Tierras Altas district (Highlands) where the population density is lower.

_{^{Pastures in Potrerillos}}

As we got closer to Potrerillos, I noted that all of the lots were not having the for sale banner anymore. I won't be surprised to see a new residential complex for foreigners coming up.

_{^{Highlands of the Chiriqui province (Tierras Altas)}}

The area looks beautiful! The road from Boquete to Volcan offers many scenic views.

We even saw two small waterfalls on the way, not too far from each other.

In these areas, you need to stop the car, admire the rolling green slopes and take it all in!

You could never get bored looking at these majestic landscapes.

Watching the sun and the clouds casting shadows on the slopes was delightful.

As you start climbing, the road snakes more through the mountains bringing more amazing views.

Once we reached the Cordillera I noted there was a small dam and I stopped to have a look and take some pictures.

To my surprise, right next to it, I discover a narrow canyon which I would have totally missed otherwise.

Its depth made me shiver and grab on the side of the metal bar. It must have had about 40 to 50 ft deep.

The photos just do not do justice to this place!

On the other side of the rode, I found a less steeper slope and got closer to the river where I got a few shots.

On the way back to the car, I met these children who were returning from school on their own.

This is not a very uncommon practice in any of the poor countries where kids' access to education is not that easy. They told me that somedays they take the bus, but that day they had no money for the bus.

A few more kilometers down the road, right before reaching Volcan we saw this veggies stand where they were selling puercas, a big bag filled with locally grown vegetables, at a much lower cost than any market.

As we passed through Volcan's gate, the clouds started to roll in faster as it was close to noon.

While we were looking for our destination, Tres Rios restaurant, I saw this Tierras Altas landmark which wasn't there during my previous visit.

Five minutes later we reached Tres Rios and met with @apanamamama and one of my old friends, A. They happened to know each other well. A reminder that we live in a small world!

Tres Rios was a great place to meet as it had a fabulous garden where the kids had plenty of space to run around and play.

There was even a river crossing the property with a small bridge and a playground. Couldn't have asked for more!

Needless to add that the river was the main attraction for the kids!

They collected a bunch of river mussels as you can see in the photos below.

Since they had nothing to put them in, they improvised! Don't you just love kids' creativity?

Apparently getting the mussels required some snorkelling too! Not an easy task!

Do I need to add they had a blast? You can see it for yourself! They even went fishing!

While the kids were busy playing, I had some time to chat a bit about Steemit and get to know more @apanamamama and catch up with my friend A. that I hadn't seen in almost two years.

Both of these two incredible moms left me in awe when it came to their parenting skills and their ability to raise such beautiful, smart and brave children.

It was a sublime Sunday that we spent in Volcan. Driving all the way there to meet @apanamama was totally worth! She's such an amazing mom and woman!

Plus, the restaurant's garden felt like we were in paradise! Among the multitude of plants and flowers growing in there, I was happy to discover Dr. Zeuss' truffula trees.