While traveling through Panama, there was one stop in Bajo Boquete, which everyone just calling Boquete. It is a city near Costa Rica in between the Pacific and the Atlantic ocean.
In Boquete there are many possible hikes, one of them is the El Pianista hike, how was it and is it worth it?
Where is it?
It is a little bit outside of Boquete, but still not very far away. I met someone, who had a rental car, who took me to the start of the hike. In general you could take a bus to the end of the city and walk then, take a taxi or just hitchhike. In Panama it is quite easy to hitchhike, especially in the region of Boquete. I did that while leaving the city and going to Bocas del Toro .
When not having someone who takes you and you want to save money, you should do it.
The hike is also for free, not needing to pay anything.
The good thing about hitchhiking in Boquete is that not many people are living there, so they will try to help you more, then at maybe bigger cities.
What can I see during this hike?
During the hike, you are crossing first, through a part where people live in a really basic way. After you are making your way slowly to the real beginning of the hike. With crossing near a little waterfall and needing to cross over some farm land. Seeing much agriculture.
When the hike is really starting, you are always having some water near you and having much nature around you. Many tall and big plants, it is like being in a jungle.
On top of the mountain, you will be able to see both the Atlantic and the Pacific ocean, which feels amazing. Of course you can go to different places, where that is probably possible, still a nice experience.
What is the difficulty level of the El Pianista hike?
When comparing it to the volcano hike in El Salvador, I would say that it was a bit more tricky to get up there, probably due to the fact of taking the wrong route. In general it is a durable hike. From one to ten, when ten is the worst, it is probably a decent 5. On some parts it is hard to climb up, while other parts, especially the beginning, are really simple.
You should take normal shoes, like at every other hike as well. The temperature is always quite decent and on the top it can also get really fresh, because of the wind.
Also I would suggest not to do it too late, because the hike is nothing, which you would like to do, during darkness. Then it can get dangerous, due to the slippery parts.
My experience
Walking up the mountain with two others was good, to not do it alone. After having done the first part in a good way, we went somehow completely the wrong way.
On the hike there were not really signs, you had to think a little bit how the way would be, we also used the map, but it didn’t work.
After finding out, the way we took was wrong, we had to climb down to the river in the middle, to go up the mountain again, and to reach the other side. It Sounded easier than it was. Due to the fact that there was no official way, we were struggling a bit.
It felt like a little bit of being a real explorer at that moment. Probably not many people are struggling the wrong way, at least while looking it up after, it was not a regular thing happening.
When making it up, it was a great feeling to see two different oceans and still being too far away to even go to one of them.
I really liked having all the different plants around us, with a decent climate and good people around. It was a good used day, which was used wisely, to explore the region around the place I stayed.
Summary
This little town has a lot to offer, when talking about nature. It is amazingly beautiful and that is a reason why also many tourists are checking out this area.
The El Pianista hike is nice, because it is for free, not very far away and you can see many nice things. By having the possibility of seeing both oceans, it feels special.
It seems like not many tourists are doing the hike. While walking up and down in around 2-3 hours, we were seeing four other people which is nothing. The region is really peaceful with not many visible animals around, besides birds.
For sure don’t do it at the end of the day, because it is not a place you want to hike at, when you have trouble seeing where you go. Just do it early and you will be fine.
Besides the fact that there are not really signs to direct you to the right direction, it is something which you should try out when being in the region. It is not the special hike you can do, but having not many people on it is a big plus.
I would love to hear your experiences about this place, or questions. Share it with me in the comments.
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