Boquete to El Valle de Anton
2 March 2007
We had an early breakfast at the "Cafe Punto de Encuentro" ("The Meeting Place Cafe"),  just a
short block from our Hotel Rebiquet.  It was a good breakfast with very friendly and enthusiastic
service.  Too bad we did not discover this cafe until our last morning in Boquete.
Directly behind our hotel we got on the 9:00am Boquete to David bus, This was a second-hand U.S.
school bus with two seats on one side of the aisle and three on the other.  It was an interesting ride
with friendly fellow-passengers frequently boarding the bus and getting off.  At about 10:00am we
arrived at the central bus terminal in David, a commercial and transportation center with a
population of about 100,000.
At the crowded David bus terminal we scurried about and found where to get a bus headed
toward Panama City.  We bought our tickets, located our bus, got our bags loaded into the
baggage compartment, got into our assigned first-row seats; by the time the bus pulled out of the
terminal it was 11:00am.  This was a very plush bus with A/C and comfortable seats.  The bus' TV
directly over our heads blasted forth; we couldn't see the picture but judging by the screams and
wails we heard the screen must have displayed plenty of pain and suffering.
Upon reaching the town of Santiago we had a 45-minute lunch stop.
About 5:00pm, approaching San Carlos, we reached the junction where the side road to El Valle de
Anton branched off the Inter-American Highway, on which we had been traveling since David.  We
were alerted by the driver; he and his helper got our bags out of the baggage compartment for us.  
We crossed the highway on a pedestrian overpass and  waited for the next bus to El Valle.
Within ten or fifteen minutes an already overcrowded minibus stopped, had our bags stowed on the
roof, and we got on.  The driver, his helper and our fellow passengers were all very helpful.  We
were the only foreigners aboard, as had been the case on our previous buses.
About 45 minutes later we arrived in El Valle de Anton and the bus let us off directly in front of
the "Hotel Residencial El Valle", whom we had phoned for a reservation the previous day.  Our
rooms on the upper floor faced the back, had hot-water baths, were clean and generally OK except
for no chairs and inadequate lighting; we were lent a table-lamp which improved the lighting.  The
staff was very helpful.
On the ground floor the owners of our hotel had a large gift shop and a restaurant.  We had dinner
in the hotel's restaurant, which provided huge servings.
Hotel Residencial del Valle, El Valle de Anton, Panama.  Souvenir
shop and restaurant on the ground floor, rooms one flight up.
Partial view of our room at the Hotel
Residencial del Valle, Valle de Anton.