Panama is beautiful, they say. But how can I best prove this, and where should I start? I decide to head in the direction I always choose when setting off: upwards. Up the mountain. In this case, that means climbing Volcán Barú, the highest point in the country at an impressive 3,477 metres. The locals promise that on a good day, you can see both oceans from up there: the Caribbean, where the sun rises, and the Pacific, where it sets. If anywhere is suitable for judging just how beautiful Panama really is, it must be there.
This is what makes this small land bridge between North and South America so special. On the one hand, the isthmus separates two oceans. On the other, it connects two continents. It is a place of transition, where ecosystems collide and cultures overlap.
I set off, only to quickly realize that the cloud forest is not called that for nothing. Rain falls directly out of the mist, blurring any distinction between forest types. What is certain is the mud. Step by step, I sink deeper until turning back becomes inevitable. Somewhere near Mexico, a tropical storm is forming. The national weather alert flashes yellow, and the national park around the volcano is closed due to landslide risk.
Force majeure. So: wait and drink coffee.
Conveniently, both are done extremely well in the mountain village of Boquete, set on the fertile slopes of the volcano. Boquete attracts energetic retirees and serious coffee aficionados alike. So much so that you can buy the most expensive coffee in the world here, reaching prices of around ten thousand dollars per kilo. Geisha coffee is the name of the hype.
And hype, perhaps, is all it is.
‘I actually find it rather bland,’ says Rolando Chamorro, wild-haired and refreshingly direct. ‘Better a blend of Catuai Rojo and Catuai Amarillo.’
Rolando knows coffee, jungle ecology and organic farming in equal measure. Together with his Swedish wife Gabriella, he rebuilt Finca Mamecillo near Boquete, transforming an old farm into a working cloud-forest ecosystem. ‘Originally, we did it for our daughter. We wanted to leave Panama City and give her a healthy, nature-based life,’ says the former flight attendant. It turned out the concept also resonates with travellers who want to understand where the black liquid they drink every day actually comes from.
Finca Mamecillo lies at 1,800 meters, higher than many Alpine ski resorts, right inside the cloud forest. Where Europe would already reach the tree line, the forest here continues upward in excess. Massive roble trees support bromeliads, orchids and vines, creating vertical gardens that feel almost architectural. Even Monstera deliciosa climbs to thirty meters.
Three levels below, at ground level and almost inconspicuous, grow the coffee plants.
‘All Arabica,’ Rolando explains, picking a handful of bright red cherries. ‘Altitude, volcanic soil and plant age do the rest.’ The cherries are sweet when bitten into. When the next downpour arrives, we retreat inside. The room already smells like a coffee shop.
‘Fourteen minutes roasting. Nine minutes French press. Exactly nine,’ Rolando insists. ‘Forget espresso roasts. Forget portafilter machines.’
Coffee can be overanalysed like wine, but when the distance from plant to cup is this short, the taste is immediate and vivid. Panama, it turns out, has a very distinct flavour.
After a few hours of pleasant distraction, the question returns: what defines beauty here? To answer that, you ask those who have been here the longest.
Panama is home to six Indigenous groups. In the highlands of Chiriquí, it is the Ngäbe-Buglé who have lived in and with the forest for thousands of years.
The road to their main village of Soloy is rough, even in a 4x4. The track onward to Kiki Waterfall, one of their most important spiritual sites, is worse. I travel with Wilfredo Mitre, known as Willo, the community’s leader. He wears traditional headgear, rubber boots and carries an old backpack.
‘The mountains, rivers and trees carry the wisdom of our ancestors,’ Willo says. ‘The waterfall is our cathedral.’
As we approach, the ground turns to sludge. Kiki Waterfall roars with recent rain, powerful and overwhelming. Mist cools the skin, clothes are quickly soaked. Behind the curtain of water, Willo opens his backpack. Inside are a large shell, hand-carved wooden cups and cacao cultivated by his people for generations.
Here, Willo performs a traditional cacao ceremony.
‘We share cacao with the spirits,’ he says, ‘for the life of our families and for everything beautiful in this world.’ He blows into the shell, releasing a deep, resonant sound that fills the gorge. The moment feels undeniably sacred.
The cacao is raised to the four cardinal directions. South for birth. North for the present. West for the future. The meaning of the east is lost in the thunder of falling water.
Back in Soloy, inside a small, brightly painted hut with a corrugated roof, Willo serves corn porridge from the season’s first harvest, accompanied by beans, rice and fried plantains, laid out on a banana leaf.
‘Tourism helps us keep our culture alive,’ Willo says. Many Ngäbe-Buglé still leave seasonally to work on plantations during harvest periods, but most would prefer to stay in their homeland.
That homeland has been under threat. In 2023, plans for a massive copper mine on Ngäbe-Buglé land became public. Willo helped organise protests. Indigenous groups and trade unions blocked roads and ports for over a month, bringing the country to a standstill.
‘It showed us that together we are strong,’ he says.
Today, young people wear traditional clothing with pride. Culture here is not nostalgia. It is presence and resistance.
Beauty does not exist only in forests and encounters. It also lies in vastness. In open horizons and endless blue.
I head to the Pacific coast, to the Parque Nacional Marino Golfo de Chiriquí. Around two dozen islands form part of the protected marine reserve. Others host sleepy villages, discreet luxury lodges or nothing at all. The ratio of beach to people is strikingly generous.
Then the sea shifts.
‘Humpbacks,’ our guide Emanuel calls out. A massive back breaks the surface, followed by a burst of spray. Then another appears, smaller. A mother and calf. Beneath the surface, colour and movement unfold in all directions.
On the return journey, dolphins suddenly leap alongside the boat, clicking as they move through the lagoon in front of untouched palm-lined beaches. It is impossible not to feel the scale of life here, both above and below the waterline.
Panama does not reveal itself in a single moment. It accumulates. In altitude and humidity. In conversations and silences. In coffee grown on volcanic slopes and cacao shared at a waterfall. In oceans that shelter whales and dolphins.
In the end, this journey through Chiriquí was not about spectacle, but about connection. Panama’s beauty lies in how closely nature, culture and resilience are woven together. It is a country that demands attention, patience and respect, and rewards those willing to move at its pace. From the thick cloud forest to the vast open sea.
Ready to explore the wild beauty of Chiriquí, Panama? From lush cloud forests and world-class coffee country to the unforgettable summit of Volcán Barú, Panama’s highest peak. Book your Hiking to Panama’s Highest Peak adventure with OGAYA Travel for an expertly guided, regenerative experience that culminates in camping atop the volcano and sunrise views over both oceans.
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