After four weeks in Panama City, we finally ventured out to the countryside. We were getting tired of the heat and humidity in the city, so, we decided to go to a small town called El Valle de Antón. We hopped on a bus for a 3-hour ride for a 3-day escape.

El Valle de Antón is a peaceful town located inside an extinct volcanic crater in the cloud forest of Panama. The land is rich and fertile. There is also a system of underground aquifers that make El Valle the perfect environment for growing an abundance of tropical plants and flowers. Since it’s close to Panama City, it is a popular weekend destination for locals due to its natural beauty, slow pace, and cooler temperatures.

The local population is descended from the Guaymi Indian tribe. However, over time the Panamanian upper class discovered the valley and built their weekend homes there. Expats from the United States, Canada, and Europe followed. Today there are over 7,000 people in El Valle.

We stayed in a nice house called, Los Chamos! which is Venezuelan slang for “the kids.” It was a weekend home for a family with a large, landscaped garden. The kids are grown and now it is rented through Airbnb.

El Valle offers plenty of outdoor adventures. There are several mountain trails that are great for hiking and hot springs and “watering holes” for swimming and relaxing. There are over 300 bird species making it one of the best places in Panama for bird watching.

La Piedra Pintada (The Painted Stone)

We hailed a cab on our first full day and headed out to La Piedra Pintada. It is one of the enigmatic attractions of El Valle de Antón because of its large size and its pre-Columbian petroglyphs. The symbols engraved on the boulder just inside the entrance have an uncertain meaning; some say they are a map of the area, others say they are religious symbols and others think the symbols are a harvest calendar.

With our guide, we continued the trail to hike La India Dormida (The Sleeping Indian). This 2-mile trail leads up to the ridgeline of the extinct volcanic crater. Along the way, we came across small rivers and waterfalls.

At the top, we were rewarded with a spectacular view of the valley.

Where’s the Spark?

After we returned to town from our hike, we walked over to Caracoral Hotel Boutique & Spa for lunch. There was a nice outdoor area where we relaxed and ate. After we finished, we walked over to two women having lunch and began a conversation with them. We learned that one of the women, Ingrid, has parents that she visits occasionally in Nokomis, Florida. They live about a mile from where Kathy’s parents lived and where we lived for a short time. Small world.

They asked us if we liked Panama. Kathy replied that we just couldn’t find the spark in Panama City. Well, Ingrid and Keitha live in El Valle and have an apartment in Panama City. Ingrid offered to be our guide for a day to show us El Valle and feel the spark.

The next day, she picked us up and for the next 4 hours drove us all around El Valle, showing us all that the area has to offer. We drove up to the top of the mountain and had lunch as we overlooked the valley. We even spent time at their house. By the end, we felt like old friends. It was nice having our own host who is very proud of El Valle. We look forward to meeting Ingrid again the next time she is in Nokomis, Florida.

What makes El Valle different is the incredible setting. El Valle was built in a volcanic crater and is the largest inhabited volcano crater in the world. We were able to appreciate the size of the crater from above during our hike to the top of La India Dormida. A one-of-a-kind experience in Central America.