David

The capital city, David is on the coastal plain. It is a market town and center for the thriving agriculture and cattle industry which is the mainstay of the province. It is not quite a frontier town, but the feeling is there.  The famous island of Coiba is about 60 miles from the Chiriquí coastline. The former penal colony is now a wildlife refuge and fishermen’s haven.  Speaking of fishing, boats can be chartered at the port of Pedregal, ten minutes down the road from the city’s main plaza.
 
If you are in David on a Sunday, you may find it fun to take in a rodeo at one of the clubs in the cattle country nearby David where visitors are treated as honored guests.

Most visitors, however, will want to take to the hills.  The immense bulk of the extinct Volcano Baru beckons to the north of the city, its 3502 meter (11,490 foot) peak is usually gloriously visible in the early morning; often cloud capped later.  The volcano has two resort areas, Boquete on the east slope and Volcan, Cerro Punta and Guadalupe on the west.  From David, a road takes you straight up with a steady rate-of-climb to the town of Boquete which nestles in a verdant valley. 

Nestled against the Volcano’s flank, you enter another world, settled early last century by Europeans and Americans to grow coffee and flowers.  Some of them were bound for California’s gold rush but stayed to exploit a more reliable harvest.  Mountain slopes around the valley today reflect the dark green luster of the coffee plantations which produce a connoisseur’s bean exported to Europe and the U.S.A.  Tours can be arranged of the coffee farms, called “fincas” in Spanish.