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Leaving El Valle; Two Falls on the Way
Dec. 31st, 2024 02:01 amPanama Travelog #27
Near Gamboa, Panama - Fri, 27 Dec 2024. 3pm.
This morning we packed up and left El Valle, Panama after 4 days there. It was surprising how fast we packed. We were done in, like, 5 minutes. Thought the reason it was 5 minutes and not 20 was that we weren't packing for a flight. We only had to carry things as far as the car, where there's no restriction like "1 bag and 1 personal item". Today we're driving to Panama City, where we'll unload all our little bags onto a luggage cart a hotel and take them in the elevator up to our room.
We're not driving directly to Panama City, though. We've made a few side trips to hike waterfalls along the way.
First we drove from El Valle to La Chorrera. It was highway driving all until the last few km, so it wasn't too bad. But then it was.
Getting out to El Chorro de la Chorrera was a bit of a pain. The main reason is that traffic in La Chorrera was awful. I wrote before about how highway driving in Panama is a bit chaotic with drivers going at very different speeds and some weaving lanes. Well, city driving is a whole 'nother beast.
Many city streets are jammed with solid lines of cars crawling along. Few intersections have traffic lights. Many don't even have stop signs. The norm there seems to be to take turns as if it were a four-way stop. But when you've got a stop sign and crossing street doesn't, forget about anyone letting you in. They won't.
You've got to ignore what that red and white "STOP" sign means in the US and other civilized countries— stop until it's clear to go— and treat it as a momentary pause. You ease out into oncoming traffic until your blocking of their right of way forces someone to stop and let you in. And if you don't do that fast enough, someone behind you will overtake you and cut you off to get into traffic ahead of you.
Finally we got to El Chorro. Billed as "The largest falls in Panama" or maybe "one of the largest falls in Panama" it was kind of disappointing. We made the best of it, though, and enjoyed having it pretty much to ourselves. All the other foreign tourists were probably lost in traffic or waiting at a stop sign somewhere until midnight when the traffic abates.
Revenge trip? Yes, because this was the trail that was closed when we tried to visit 4 days ago. And today... today it was still closed! 😡
This time, though, we were in a mood of "Fuck it, we're going in anyway." We parked off the road across the street, stepped over the chain across the parking lot, and walked past the empty gatehouse. There we noticed that the gatehouse was stripped completely bare inside and looked like it hasn't been staffed for years. The fact that the park has apparently been abandoned by authorities made us feel better about breaking in. That, and the fact that we parked next to another car belonging to people who'd evidently done the same already.
We had ourselves a nice loop hike in El Charco. Yeah, the trail's it deteriorating shape like it hasn't been kept up in several years. There's a suspension bridge that's falling apart. I determined that it's falling apart when I was about halfway across. 😳 But we got across safely and looped back around to the falls. And no cops came out to arrest us for breaking in to the park. ...Of course, if they could afford to send cops to ticket or arrest people, they could staff the booth charging admission. And maybe fix the suspension bridge.
Now we're back at the car, ready to head down to Panama City. Our phones are out of cell range up here in the park, so it's good I know the first 10km of the route already. It's the same as we drove earlier this week and earlier today.
Near Gamboa, Panama - Fri, 27 Dec 2024. 3pm.
This morning we packed up and left El Valle, Panama after 4 days there. It was surprising how fast we packed. We were done in, like, 5 minutes. Thought the reason it was 5 minutes and not 20 was that we weren't packing for a flight. We only had to carry things as far as the car, where there's no restriction like "1 bag and 1 personal item". Today we're driving to Panama City, where we'll unload all our little bags onto a luggage cart a hotel and take them in the elevator up to our room.
We're not driving directly to Panama City, though. We've made a few side trips to hike waterfalls along the way.
First we drove from El Valle to La Chorrera. It was highway driving all until the last few km, so it wasn't too bad. But then it was.
City Driving in La Chorrera
Our first stop was Chorro de la Chorrera. Trying saying that 5 times fast! The name literally means stream of the waterfall. But what's weird is that The Waterfall is the name of the town. The waterfall in The Waterfall is called The Stream.Getting out to El Chorro de la Chorrera was a bit of a pain. The main reason is that traffic in La Chorrera was awful. I wrote before about how highway driving in Panama is a bit chaotic with drivers going at very different speeds and some weaving lanes. Well, city driving is a whole 'nother beast.
Many city streets are jammed with solid lines of cars crawling along. Few intersections have traffic lights. Many don't even have stop signs. The norm there seems to be to take turns as if it were a four-way stop. But when you've got a stop sign and crossing street doesn't, forget about anyone letting you in. They won't.
You've got to ignore what that red and white "STOP" sign means in the US and other civilized countries— stop until it's clear to go— and treat it as a momentary pause. You ease out into oncoming traffic until your blocking of their right of way forces someone to stop and let you in. And if you don't do that fast enough, someone behind you will overtake you and cut you off to get into traffic ahead of you.
Finally we got to El Chorro. Billed as "The largest falls in Panama" or maybe "one of the largest falls in Panama" it was kind of disappointing. We made the best of it, though, and enjoyed having it pretty much to ourselves. All the other foreign tourists were probably lost in traffic or waiting at a stop sign somewhere until midnight when the traffic abates.
Revenge Trip to Sendero el Charco
After spending a short while at El Chorro we got back in the car and Road Warrior'ed our way back out to the highway. Once on the main road it was smooth sailing up toward Gamboa, where we sought a revenge trip on the waterfalls of Sendero el Charco in Soberania National Park.Revenge trip? Yes, because this was the trail that was closed when we tried to visit 4 days ago. And today... today it was still closed! 😡
This time, though, we were in a mood of "Fuck it, we're going in anyway." We parked off the road across the street, stepped over the chain across the parking lot, and walked past the empty gatehouse. There we noticed that the gatehouse was stripped completely bare inside and looked like it hasn't been staffed for years. The fact that the park has apparently been abandoned by authorities made us feel better about breaking in. That, and the fact that we parked next to another car belonging to people who'd evidently done the same already.
We had ourselves a nice loop hike in El Charco. Yeah, the trail's it deteriorating shape like it hasn't been kept up in several years. There's a suspension bridge that's falling apart. I determined that it's falling apart when I was about halfway across. 😳 But we got across safely and looped back around to the falls. And no cops came out to arrest us for breaking in to the park. ...Of course, if they could afford to send cops to ticket or arrest people, they could staff the booth charging admission. And maybe fix the suspension bridge.
Now we're back at the car, ready to head down to Panama City. Our phones are out of cell range up here in the park, so it's good I know the first 10km of the route already. It's the same as we drove earlier this week and earlier today.
