Onward and upward, the air grows cool and the drive is sometimes through banks of cloud. You have reached sweater and three-blanket country. The road levels off on a high plateau where lies the town of Volcan on the western flank of the volcano close to the peak. It is a small town, but with amenities enough - several good little restaurants, the San Benito handicraft shop, two hotels and a number of groups of cabins. Finca Guardia offers rides on fine Arabian horses through the green highlands of Volcan. Their miniature horses will delight children.
Six kilometers west of Volcan is an archaelogical site known at Sitio Barriles because of barrel-shaped boulders found there that are believed to have been an ancient form of wheel for moving large logs. Guided tours of the site are really interesting. Statues from Barriles, now on show at the Reina Torres de Araúz Museum in Panama City , indicate that ancient Panamanians may have been of Asian and African origin and dating puts the civilization at 2000 BC to 250 AD. At Barriles you can learn of the mysteries which link the culture with Easter Island and other parts of the world.
One of the surprising and delightful discoveries in Volcan is the Acropolis Restaurant which rivals anything in Greenwich Village or London's Soho . The restaurant is run by retired Greek sea captain George Babos and his Panamanian wife Elizabeth. One of her secrets is the use of fresh herbs from her own herb garden at the side of the restaurant.
The extensive menu has all the Greek goodies, from Mousaka to Baklava, cooked to order and served by Elizabeth in the homely atmosphere of her spotless and cheerful restaurant.
Even more magical mountain country lies a little further on. Bambito Hotel is a spectacular landmark amid manicured lawns, lakes and fountains in a cleft in the steep hills.
The town of Cerro Punta, another 10 minutes and maybe a thousand feet higher, is almost as far as you can penetrate into the cordillera without donning stout boots and hacking a trail with your machete. It is at the head of a broad and magnificently fertile valley; a land flowing not only with milk and honey but strawberries from the rich volcanic soil and cream from the fat black-and-white Holstein cattle grazing in lush pastures. This, more than any other area of the mountain, was settled partly by Europeans to whom small-holding and husbandry was a cherished way of life. Their successors, Panamanians now, till the soil with the same fervor today.
Driving the loop road which passes the village of Guadalupe is delightful. You can visit the Dracula Orchid farm. Mr. Erick Olmos, the administrator, is usually on hand to give you a guided tour of the farm which has one of the most complete collections of rare American orchids in the world (2,200 different species). He will show you how orchid plants live and bloom in their tropical garden and also demonstrate the laboratory where modern methods have allowed them to mass produce more than a million plants in vitro.
Los Quetzales Lodge & Spa in Guadalupe is a comfortable hotel constructed entirely with magnificient local hardwoods. Log fires take the chill from the brisk night air. Los Quetzales also offers cabins situated in the Friendship National Park deep in the cloud forest which are ideal for bird watching and hiking. The Resplendant Quetzal, that rarest of birds, which makes Chiriquí its southernmost abode, can be seen here in the right season.
Chiriqui is blessed with two national parks. The Friendship National Park and Volcan Baru National Park are divided by the Chiriqui Viejo River . Boquete, Volcan, Cuesta de Piedra and Potrerillos are in the Volcan Baru Park . Guadalupe and Cerro Punta have a foot in both Volcan Baru Park and Friendship Park which stretches over to Bocas del Toro and also into neighboring Costa Rica .
