Driving to the "end of the road"

This was the last day in town for John and Angie.  We spent it driving around in the mountains surrounding Boquete.  First we drove in the direction of a little town called Bajo Mono.  On the road we passed this cliff with amazing formations of rock, and just had to get out and take some pictures.  It was interesting watching a guy try to climb the rock while we took pictures.  We wondered how far he got, since it was kind of seeming like his hands were hurting him.

Well, we just kept driving, taking roads that we hadn't taken before.  Guillermo was driving and it was so easy to say, hmmm, where does this road go, and he would go in that direction.  Then once, we thought we had come to the end of the road - there were some guys cutting pine trees right by the road and their debris was kind of on the road and since the road was practically one lane anyway it looked like we couldn't go any further.  So, Guillermo stopped to ask them if the road continued on further and the guy he talked to said it ended right around there.  So, Guillermo drove on a little bit to find a place to turn around.  We then realized that another one of the guys was approaching our car and he told Guillermo that if we continue on driving, we'll come to a nice look-out and that we should keep going.  So we did!!  

We're so glad we did because the scenery was just amazing.  We kept wondering how far the road would go but we just enjoyed continuing on to who knows where.  But then sure enough, all of a sudden the road became dirt and rocky.  So, we had to stop there.  We parked along the edge and sure enough, there was a nice view towards the volcano and the surrounding hillsides which were planted with vegetables.  We walked around that spot for a little while, admiring the view and taking a few steps into a coffee field.  Angie and John decided they'd like to walk back down to another pull-out we had stopped at, so we told them we'd pick them up down there.  

As Guillermo and I were getting ready to get back into the car, we saw an elderly lady with a yellow umbrella walking up the road, where the incline was quite steep.  And actually the drive to that very spot was pretty much uphill all the way so to walk it's a very tough climb.  We decided to wait till she approached and when she got to us, she happily stopped to chat with us.  Guillermo and I talked with her quite a while!  Keep in mind that we are very far far away from town on a one lane road where there are no stores or ANYthing anywhere around.  We asked her if she lived around there and she said she lived even FURTHER up the rocky road!!  She said she loves living where she lives - the air is clean and fresh, there's no traffic noise or noise from other people.  She has everything she needs there - chickens, vegetable garden, etc. and walks into town every couple of weeks for the rest of her necessities.  We were just amazed.  She is 71 years old.  She does that long walk in sandals.  And the day we were there, it was nice and sunny.  We can't imagine what kind of a walk she has to go through during the rainy season.  Our big regret is that we didn't get a picture of that inspirational lady.

We said goodbye to her, got back in our car and drove down to where we said we'd meet John and Angie.  We parked the car there and walked around a little.  A guy drove up on a motorcycle and he asked if we knew the area and since we didn't we just chatted a little while and then he went on his way.  When John and Angie got back, we were getting ready to get in the car when Angie noticed these four kids walking up the road.  She got an excellent picture of them.  Only the oldest child would talk to us.  The others, when we'd ask them something, they'd just look at us with big eyes.  We must have looked like aliens to them!!  

Then it was time to drive to our destination for the day, Finca Lerida.  We always enjoy going to this coffee farm and having lunch.  

Some of the MANY beautiful impatiens around where we ate.

After a really good lunch, we walked around the grounds a little bit and enjoyed the beautiful weather and being among the coffee plants.

Here is a picture of the surrounding mountains as we were driving back to Boquete.

When we got back to Boquete, there was a heavy mist going on and it was making beautiful rainbows.  This is a rainbow seen from the valley where we live.

Angie took lots of pictures with her camera, and I "borrowed" a few of them for this blog.  Thanks, Angie!