el cope national park

The El Copé National Park, also known as the Parque Nacional Omar Torrijos is not an easy destination.We stayed in Penonomé and went to El Copé with our 4x4. And we needed it.We had a first stop in La Pintada, a small town with a nice church. It's best to buy some drinks and food here.You need a good map to find the road leading to El Copé. At the beginning, the road is good. You drive along a lovely country side with beautifull mountains on the horizon. After a while you enter a dirt track which is still OK at the bginning. Once you passed El Copé the road becomes worse and now you really need to switch to 4-wheel drive. The view over here is magnificent.At the ANAM cabin you have to pay 5$ per person.There are a number of circular trails. We decided to follow one. It was a very difficult hike over a small path going up and down. When it's raininig the path is transformed in a brook. So you can imagine that it is not easy to walk here.You also have to pay attention to the signs: some plastic strips are attached to the trees, indicating you the way to go. You have to follow a specific color. But it's not easy to find the strips from time to time.You have to pay attention not to get lost! You're really alone in the rainforest here and you should not take the trip unless you have experience. The longer you follow the trail, the more difficult it gets. At a certain point we found out that there were numbers on the plastic strips, indicating the distance to the exit. And then the trail became also gradually better.We did not encounter a lot of wildlife, but I think this had to do with the difficulty of the trail, which took all our attention.In the ranger station there was a map hanging on the wall. I took a picture with my camera and that picture was of great help during our hike.Take a lot of water and do not start a hike on one of the trails in the late afternoon! And if possible, try to find a guide who knows the place. It will give you more time to look around and to enjoy the beautifull nature.

senderismo con quias locales mientras observas la variada naturaleza,,vegetacion y observación, muy buen lugar para camping