A Day Trip to Cascada Tavida

Before we ever came to Panama, we'd been hearing about some waterfalls near El Valle that are amazing - but had not gotten a chance to go see them….so…since my mom and sis are visiting, my nephew decided to take us to them. Before we ever left the house, we were warned by the kids that the road is treacherous and we might not really like it.  Oh, joy.  We were already committed, so we piled 8 of us into the car and headed off.

Now driving with my nephew is always quite the adventure anyway - he loves all things extreme - and loves to make driving somewhere fit in with that.  Yep - hold on to your hats, folks!

The familiar road heading up out of the valley on the far end of town wasn't so bad….steep, narrow roads at breakneck speeds (he said he was driving slow for us…he probably was!)  We got to the top of the hill and took a hard right - pretty much as steep of an incline down as you'd want to be on.  Soon all  semblance of a paved or smooth road was behind us, as we rocked and rolled up and down steep draws…we were definitely 4-wheeling - though he never had to put the vehicle into 4 wheel drive.  How could that be? Sure was feeling sorry for the kids in the back bouncing around!

The vistas were incredible, some drawing your eyes out of the valley and all the way to the ocean - others of steep mountain roads, green lush valleys, incredible tropical trees and plants. We drove through several rivers, working our way over boulders and probably going deeper into the water than we should have - but made it through each one.

Somewhere about halfway into this journey through nowhere, we happened on a house, giving us a clear idea of how far out in the jungle we were.  Clearly no electricity…the very basics...

 

Then came upon another - this one had a room built of wood boards, another built of concrete block and another built like the previous picture.  And THEN...

...right along side the road, we saw a satellite dish with wire connected to this little hut with a phone in it.  If you look closely, you can see it says Internet Gratis - WiFi  (Free Internet - and clearly, WiFi - but they say it wee-fee).  There were no houses around that could be seen - and the Internet connection didn't work (we tried), but maybe the phone was good.  And who would use it?  I guess that random person walking through the jungle??

This was a fence made by sticking limbs in the ground, and they grow into trees - these are seen all over Panama.  In fact, if you just want to plant something, get a piece off of another plant, and plant it.  

There ya go.

We continued down this poor excuse for a road for what seemed like forever - or at least an hour…., finally turned on to a paved road, and in a short time, were at the waterfalls.  Surprisingly, it was well groomed….with a palapa, bathroom, parking area, flower beds. hammocks….lovely.  

We could immediately see the waterfall as we looked over the edge of the railings of the palapa - and what a waterfall it was!

We began the walk down the well maintained pathway all the way down, as the kids ran ahead of us, anxious to hop in the water.  It was lush, lush green all the way down, and not a difficult walk.  Some stairs cut out of the mountainside, some just pathway, but all of it with sturdy railings made of local bamboo.  

We arrived at a spot close to the waterfall, but up about midway, where they had chairs waiting for us, and where we had an excellent view of the falls and the pool of water below.  Any closer, we would have been soaked.

The falls are approximately 105 feet high in the air and come over the top of the mountain with a mighty force, spraying far into the pool below.  When they were in the pool below the falls, the had to lean in to stay upright.  My great niece came up the stairway - dripping wet - and had yet to go into the pool of water.  Here are 3 great pics I found on another website.

 From the top of the falls

 This must have been a slow water day

Beautiful pool of water below.

The falls roared, nephews and nieces climbed and jumped off of the cliffs, looking like miniature people compared to the height of the falls, a Go-Pro camera was lost….and found….and we enjoyed it immensely.  

We left there and headed back on a paved road (imagine that!) stopping at a Fonda along the way for a late lunch.  For about $1.25, you could get an ample serving of rice and beans and a big bowl of Sancocho, the native Panamanian chicken soup (full of big chunks of vegetables).  In a Fonda, they make a pot of "whatever" in the morning, usually along with rice and beans and sell each serving for a minimal price until it's all gone - then they close up.  We might have cleaned them out for the day.

The road back was pleasantly smoother, with majestic views all the way, and took us by the crosses atop the mountains on the other end of El Valle de Anton, before coming back into the valley.  I would love to see the roads we took on a map, because I lost all sense of any direction, however couldn't even find the roads on Google Maps.  Imagine that. 

All in all - a great day. A fun trip.