Hiking From Boquete to Puerto Robalo, Bocas del Toro

There are various ways when traveling to Bocas Del Toro by plane, car, bus, cycle, or hiking. We visited Bocas with my family back in March deciding to drive and had a great time visiting all the tourist sites. However, this blog will not be about my trip to Bocas but instead I will write about my next-door neighbor and his adventurous and I must emphasize again adventurous hike to Bocas.
I interviewed Remi (my next-door neighbor) sensing it would an interesting article about what one might expect while hiking to Bocas should any of my readers decide to hike there. Here is the a brief run-down on Remi, he is from France, about my age, keeps physically fit by playing squash, hiking, cycles, swims, the ideal candidate in my book for hiking to Bocas in two and a half days. Did I say two and a half days? Most people hike for three to four days to Bocas.
Two weeks prior to the Bocas hike, his approach of getting into shape, he decided it was time to hike the Volcan Baru. With a view of the Volcan Baru from his living room each day for the past two years, Remi has visualized climbing to the top. He finally had enough of this vision talked two friends into hiking with him. It took them five hours to hike to the top and four hours downhill. While hiking to Volcan Baru would be an interesting blog story, it is not part of this story at this time.
Soon after the Volcan Baru hike, nothing would hold Remi back from hiking to Bocas, it was another imminent challenge he continually thought about repeatedly for over a year. Here is his story regarding the “Trek to Bocas.”
"I viewed hiking to Bocas a challenge knowing it would be tough at my age but I had to do it now and knew I could not wait another year, I am not getting any younger it would have to be now or never. Two others accompanied me on this hike another Frenchman, and a Panamanian who was our guide. Our destination would be Puerto Robalo and we decided to make it there in the best possible time."
"Our journey began at 6:30am on Cerro Pianista hiking for 13 hours the first day. We packed lightly since you do not want to tire so packing just the essentials was important. One has to pack food because of course there are no restaurants. In the evening, the resting places where we would camp for the night had a fire going so it was possible to boil water and cook up something simple. I had packets of instant Asian soup with noodles because they are lightweight, easy to cook for my evening meal, the fruits, energy bars I ate during the day, and packed purified water tablets. Water is a necessity when hiking throughout the day I consumed about 2 liters and a half daily. We would take water from the fresh streams along the way filling our bottles and use the tablets to purify the water".

"Expect rustic accommodations on the hike to Bocas. On day one – the hut we arrived at was our shelter for the night. It had wooden plank beds without a mattress. I threw all my clothes on the planks using them as a mattress. On day two – we hiked twelve hours, and ended our day at Anthony Finca, we did have a mattress though on the floor, it had bed sheets, a pillow, blanket, and they even boiled water for my soup all for $5.00. It was worth it and a luxury! Washing in the evening was nearly impossible and so we waited until the morning’s trek to approach a stream where we could bathe".
"We began each day around 6:30am. We did not see many people on our first day just locals cleaning up paths with their machetes. On our second day, we met a few children who asked our guide if we wanted any help. Not much interaction or encounter with locals or other hikers".
"The terrain on the first two days was in the highlands where nearly everyone raises cattle consequently, we had to trudge through deep cattle trenches that at times were more than three meters deep of thick muddy sludge, plodding through these trenches knee-deep. We crossed rivers with cable lines 30 meters wide with two cable lines on top and one cable line on the bottom. It was a balancing act walking, holding onto the lines trying not to fall into the river, and as a result, though minor, I lost my hiking stick while walking on the cable. The highland terrain is up and down through numerous valleys, crossing the same winding river 20 times, and on a multitude of occasions crossed deep areas of water that sometimes came up to our thighs. The upshot of this our boots became waterlogged and as a result, I got three to four blisters on both feet and I lost a few toenails".
"The hike on the third and final day lasted six hours. On this day, we hiked out of the highlands finding the terrain flat, farming with the planting of crops, more populated with Ngäbe living along the river, and walking along the trail. Finally, arriving in Puerto Robalo, I waited for the bus, and rode it to Gualaca".

I asked Remi if he found the hike to Bocas difficult. He responded “yes,” and asked him why."I thought climbing the Volcan Baru would be the toughest but on a scale 5-10 the Volcan Baru is an 8 and Bocas is a 9.5. I found hiking across the Comarca Territory more of a military hike because of the terrain. I lost 6 kilos/13 pounds on the two and half day hike from Boquete to Puerto Robalo, Bocas. I feel good about losing the weight because I wanted to anyway. Anyone eager to losing weight hike to Bocas! The trek to Bocas was beyond my expectation knowing it would be a long hike I assumed it might not be difficult and as a result, it turned out to be a real jungle hike. Nonetheless, I have to say I would not repeat it. The locals do this everyday without much of a problem but then they are used to the terrain. I suggest having a good guide, the best are the Ngäbe, but they are difficult to find. In addition, there is neither a signal nor medical help in close proximity".
"My next challenge in Panama would be to hike in the Darién. It may not be as much of a challenge as Bocas and at this time cannot imagine it would be any tougher but then I do not know. We will see when the time arrives".

Thank you Remi for letting me interview you and for sharing your “Trek to Bocas” experience with my readers. I commend you for continually venturing out and exploring beautiful Panama.
We picked up Remi after receiving his call as we had planned prior to his trek. I have learned while living in Panama which is almost two years friends are very central to one’s life when living abroad, I mean “good friends” the sort of person you can rely on. Our community of expats here in Boquete is tight; we have a communication network that is essential to the well-being of everyone.
I hope this article is of help to anyone interested in hiking from Boquete to Bocas. By the way, Remi only took along one small pack back. In addition, there are guides in Boquete who for a fee will be your guide on this trek. I must emphasize it is important and a must to hire a guide for your Trek to Bocas. Remember to Explore * Dream * Discover.