Boquete Tree Trek -A Family Friendly Field Trip to Palo Alto, Panama!

This past week has flown by, BUT we have managed to get in a fun field trip!

Although we live in a somewhat small area here in Panama, there are many new places we still need to explore! We were able to explore a little bit of Palo Alto this past week.

This is the entrada or entrance road up a mountain, to a pueblito, called Palo Alto. The road ends at a tourist stop called Boquete Tree Trek - see the little sign on the right? ( Little signs are what you have to look out for, when driving in Panama.) The men in this picture are sitting inside of a parada or bus stop.

  It was a beautiful drive, straight up the mountain, with breath taking views of the valley of Boquete below. There were many awesome trees and flowers to enjoy as we traveled about a half an hour up the road. We even stopped to pick some wild strawberries!

  When we arrived in Palo Alto, we were pleasantly surprised to see a landscaped area, complete with; an up-scale restaurant, cabinas, and trails! We didn't linger long in the restaurant because we couldn't wait to hit the trail!

  The head of the trail wound through a beautiful coffee finca (farm). There were many geisha coffee plants labeled with signs! We even found a few ripe coffee berries to munch on!

                 
   Farther down the path we found beautiful plants, flowers, and a little river.  The butterfly, in the center of the photo below, was the highlight of my trip! Such a beautiful creation with translucent wings...I wish the photo could capture the beauty of it's see through wings! We then headed back across a bridge, that was somewhat of an adrenaline rush. (I think the fear factor was that you could see the river below through the fencing:)

     We ended our day at the playground. Boquete tree trek also provides zip line tours as the name implies... we did not venture to explore them on this trip, but we will definitely be returning to this tranquilo (peaceful) place soon - Maybe we will see you there- on the zip line!

   Linking up with...

    

The Indians of Panama Grupos Indígenas de Panamá

Today I wanted to share a little about the local Indian population that still lives here.  They are an ancient people group that have blended with other people groups around them but have still been able to maintain their culture and languages.

The Panamian Indians Or "the indigenous " people of Panama make up about 8% of the total population of Panama.  There are approximately  nine tribes here.  They are classified into seven different types of cultures.  They are called the Kunas, Ngobe, Buglé, Emberá, Wounaan, Talamanca, Bokotas, Teribes and Cricamola.  The comarca Indigegna is the official territory given to the Indigenous peoples here.

Something I think is a really neat characteristic of Boquete, Panama is the distinct presence of Indigenous peoples everywhere.  They wear distinct clothing.  Some of the clothing is representative of their tribes.  Others have meanings through the colors and shapes that they are adorned with.








These are hand beaded necklaces done by the Choco and Ngobe Indians in Panama. The beads are made of coral, seed or plastic beads. They are called Chaquiras.  They have been handcrafted here for hundreds of years, maybe longer.

This particular necklace has the characteristic shapes of triangles that represent the mountains here in Panama with the red representative of the blood shed in the early 1900's when the Spanish came to Panama.  (This was told to me by the indigenous artist of this particular piece - Eliab Davis of  Tienda Davis)

You can visit him here in his local shop in Boquete, in the Los Establos  shopping area.  He sells various different types of Indigenous art.  At his store you can also find molas, jewelry, beaded works, wood works, clothing, and more. This is a mola...

and a squirrel  carved out of  a coconut!

This is the plaza where his store is


and this  a picture in front of his store...


and a peak inside:)  You can also visit our etsy shop if you can´t make it to Panama!


Below are pictures we took on a local Field Trip.

These are called the Guaca mountains by the locals...

These are petroglyphs here in Boquete, Panama.

 We were only able to see two of the four today.  The others are on private property and we were not able to see them.

We were told they were maps or guides that are about 1000 years old.  The circular sections are pictures of mountains.  The wandering lines are possible pictures of trails or local rivers . 

Both of these places are great Family Friendly Field Trips!  You can learn and see the hand crafted items of the indigenous and see real artifacts over 1000 years old!  I hope you get to visit.  I love to hear your comments if you get to go visit:) 

Hope you enjoyed learning a little more about the local people here:) 

If your interested in a teacher giveaway or two you can find some good ones here, just click on the pictures below!

As the locals say here,  "Chow":)

Our Friday Flashback!

This week we have been out and about.  We have made new friends and caught up with old friends:)

The girl's and I  went to a sweet friend's  Birthday Party....

 My eight year old and  ten year old daughters made her some jewelry. It was a girl's only luncheon and so  we  made her  a home-made  facial spa kit too!

 The spa facial kit included 3 different types of skin care.  We bought a cute heart shaped container with spoons included from the dollar store.  They are easy to make just combine the following ingredients with just enough to mix in and fit in your container!   We then made some labels on the computer and taped them on with clear tape! Viola!

(Sorry I didn't take more pictures:()

 Here are the recipes in case you would like to make your own...

1.  Mayan Moca facial mask

ingredients:  oatmeal,  your favorite ground coffee, cinnamon, and powdered chocolate  - don't eat it!  It's for your face - lol

2.  Warm Brown Sugar Scrub & Skin Polish

ingredients:  ground pure brown sugar ( here we call it tapa dulce , it is not refined and still includes the molasses) and almond oil

3.  Pina Colada Skin Polish & Antioxidant

Ingredients:  chopped & slightly pureed fresh pineapple mixed in coconut oil

The mask works great for any skin type.  If you have an oily skin type I would not recommend using the Skin Polishes on your face, unless it is extremely dry!  The polishes have natural oils and can really hydrate your skin beautifully!

I would love to hear if you make any of these and if you try any other variations!  Please come back and comment!

We also used some new finds from the dollar store...rear view mirror hanging dice (they smell great too!),  Paul Frank pencil cases, and basketball key lights for reading!


Here are the dice ...

and using them for math... the younger kids used them for addition and number recognition and the older kids used them for two, three, and four digit multiplication wars!

Then we went out on the Boquete Bird Walk today as part of our weekly field trip...

It was windy, we arrived kind of late, so we didn't see much.  BUT we did get to meet some new people visiting Boquete!  Here are some of our pictures...it was a beautiful day!

If your interested in homeschooling or teaching materials you can hop on over to this giveaway...you'll find my newest TPT set as part of the giveaway!  Just click on the pictures below.

I'm Linking up with...

http://4thgradefrolics.blogspot.com/2013/03/march-monday-made-itd.html

 

Raising Homemakers


Walking Redeemed
 

Growing Home

Time Warp Wife

Family Friendly Field Trip in Panama with "La Gringa"!

Family Friendly Field Trip in Panama with "La Gringa"!

This last week my fourteen year old son and I were driving around looking for a new place to run.  We accidentally found ourselves up in the Arco Iris area overlooking Boquete.  We decided to stop by Princesa Janca Cafe and check out the Pianista trail.  We were glad we did.

While munching on some newly found fruit, locally called guava (not your typical guava - looks more like a tamarindo pod), we walked along the trail.  The sound of rushing water from the river that runs parallel to the trail was so relaxing!

We continued walking up this trail admiring beautiful flowers, picking & eating wild Indian strawberries, and greeting locals walking by.  We hardly wanted to run or let alone jog.  We would go by the beauty at to fast a pace!   We came across a wobbly bridge overlooking the rushing water.   Then we continued up the trail some more where we had to skip across some rocks, more like boulders, to cross the river to the other side of the trail.

We were amazed to see houses on the sides of the trail.  We wondered how they went back and forth in the mud during the rainy season with their groceries...  Where there is a will there is a way!




We continued hiking up into the mountains, taking in the beautiful scenic mountainside and breath taking valley views.  The smell of horses and cows nearby reminded us that there were domesticated animals  close by.  Crossing a few streams we saw wild watercress and lilys growing.



Unfortunately an hour into the trail, we came to the end with a sign that told us not to pass into someone´s private property.  On our walk back we jumped over  rocks down the river and then ended back on the trail only to meet a beautiful white horse.  We had planned on taking some of our freshly picked watercress for our salad later, but our new found friend begged for a taste.  Willingly we gave it to her for the pleasure of seeing her enjoy her new found treat!








Saying goodbye we walked on, with our new found friend looking as if she wanted us to stay a little longer.  We then began to run down hill because we realized our stomachs were nagging us with hunger!  The run down the hill was just as fun as the walk up.  We snapped pictures here and there of magnificent views and finally made our way to the beginning of the trail again.






That is when I received  my new nickname - Gringa!

As we were walking, a group of local indigenous children were playing.  One yelled out suddenly at me, "Hola, Gringa!".   I turned and answered him in Spanish, asking him his name.  He was apparently a little embarrassed that I had understood his derogatory greeting.  I was a little intrigued by his forwardness, so I proceeded to make friends with him and laughed at his joke.  For I was indeed a gringa, just a gringa that spoke some Spanish too!  After a few pictures and a promise that I would return with a picture of him and I on our next visit, we parted ways.  We hesitantly left this beautiful paradise away from the buzzing of cars in Bajo Boquete to find a restaurant to satisfy our aching bellies.  Until next time Pianista, the Gringa and her children will return for another Family Friendly Field Trip with a picture in hand for her new amigo!