Tourism in Chiriqui

Situated near the Barú Volcano, the Chiriquí Province is an exquisite hilly region. For the adventurous and nature enthusiasts, this Province offers various sporting activities like kayaking, water rafting, hiking, scuba diving, snorkeling, cycle trails etc.

There are a number of places of interest in Chiriquí including Boquete Tourism, Sitio Barriles, Caldera’s Painted Rock, Caldera’s Thermal Waters, The Friendship International Park, and Arte Cruz Volcan (Cruz Handicrafts). Let us find out what each of these places has to offer the tourists.

Boquete Tourism: The village of Boquete is an ideal place for the tourists as it has a number of tourist attractions. A tourist for any age can ideally spend about a week in this place to enjoy its luscious beauty. Various tours are organized depending on the interest of the tourists like the coffee estate tours, jungle tours, hiking tours etc. Keen on water sports? Just try out water rafting and scuba diving here.

Sitio Barriles: This place is an archeological wonder that throws light on the cultures of the people who settled in the Volcán Baru several thousand years ago. Archeologists and historian find this place rich in culture as it provides answers to several mysteries that had been bogging them down for centuries together. At the theme garden in Sitio Barriles, tourists will find rock engravings and ceramic relics that are of huge historic importance. The Landau-Haux family owns the live museum that houses some of the greatest artifacts. The archeological program by the Chiriqui University, the Humboldt University and Free University of Berlin as well as some archeologists has paved way for some great discoveries. This is certainly a culturally rich place that every tourist must see!

Caldera’s Painted Rock: It is interesting to note that Caldera’s Painted Rock is situated in a cattle and horses farm. What make this Rock unique are the paintings and engravings on it done by people several centuries ago. This spells out the cultural heritage of Chiriqui. It is easy to reach this place from the Jardin La Fortuna bar from where the directions are clearly given on the street.

Caldera’s Thermal Waters: This place is situated in a property owned by an individual and is about two and half kilometers from the main road. The temperature of the water here ranges from 41 to 50 centigrade. Tourists are allowed to bathe here and hence are advised to bring in their bathing gear.

The Friendship International Park also known as Parque Internacional La Amistad is the largest natural park in Panama. The park houses about 180 plant species and fauna such as jaguar, ocelot, and tapir are found here abundantly.

Arte Cruz Volcan (Cruz Handicrafts): Check out some of the lovely handicrafts item here by the artist. Also the wonderful view from this isolated place makes it a hot tourist destination.  

These are some of the most important places in Chiriqui that every tourist would love to see. Chiriqui is no doubt the hottest destination for people who are looking for some adventurous time during their holidays.

The province of Panama: what is going on in this territory?

Panama comprises nine provinces - Bocas del Toro Province, Chiriqui Province, Cocle Province, Colon Province, Darien Province, Herrera Province, Los Santos Province, Panama Province and Veraguas Province and three comarcas - Embera Comarca, Kuna Yala Comarca (San Blas Islands) and Ngobe-Bugle Comarca.

Bocas del Toro Province: This province is situated in the western part of Panama with Costa Rica forming its border. This province, which measures about 200-square mile, comprises several islands and is just an hour’s drive from the Panama City if you are flying and would take about 12 hours on road. The capital of Bocas del Toro Province is on the Isla Colon Island and is a very popular tourist location. The long stretch of beach makes it an ideal place for the tourists. Snorkeling, fishing, bird watching and other activities also interest the vacationers.

Chiriqui Province: The Bocas del Toro Province is situated to the north of the Chiriqui Province with Costa Rica in its west, the Pacific Ocean in the south, and Veraguas Province in the east. The capital of this province is known as David. It is an agricultural hub with a booming cattle industry. This province is popular for oranges, coffee and strawberries. Places of interest here include a part of the La Amistad National Park, and the Museum of Jose de Obaldia and the Museum of San Pablo.

Cocle Province: Situated in the southern coast of Panama, the Cocle Province is the central province. Penonome is the capital of this province. It is just an hour and half road drive from the Panama City. This province is also an agricultural hub producing the largest quantities of sugar and tomatoes.

El Valle de Anton: It is a strikingly beautiful valley, which has made El Valle de Anton a major tourist hub. Hiking, horse riding, cycling, and bird watching here make it a hot destination for the vacationers. For those interested in archeological wonders, the El Cano archeological site and Sitio Conte will be a good destination to watch out for. The El Cope National Park is another major tourist attraction.

Colon Province: the capital of this province, known as the Colon City, is situated right at the Panama Canal from the Caribbean side. In this province is located the port city, Portobelo. Restaurants, shopping, and sightseeing trips makes this an interesting place to visit.

Darien Province: The mountains, forest areas, beaches and rivers make it a good destination of the tourists. However, there are few amenities offered the tourists in this province considering its raw beauty.

Herrera Province: This province is the third largest producer of sugarcane in Panama. The avocation here is mainly agriculture as it comprises farmlands and cattle ground.

Los Santos Province: There are seven districts in this Province with Las Tablas serving as its capital. Several carnivals are held here throughout the year making it a hot destination for the fun-loving tourists. When you are here, try out snorkeling and surfing as well.

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Panama Province: The Panama City serves as the capital for this province. The lengthy coastline which houses some exotic and popular beaches in the world is the major tourist attraction here. Also check out Altos De Campana National Park, Parque Metropolitano, Soberania National Park. Chagres National Park, and Las Cruces Trail National Park.

Veraguas Province: The mountains, beaches, and rain forests, all make this province exotic to the core. The Coiba National Park, Montuoso Forest Reserve and Yeguada Lagoon Forest Reserve are some of the many tourist attractions here.

Kochadaiyaan to star Anushka?

Anushka is likely to strike gold as she is the hot favorite to play the female lead in the Rajinikanth starrer Kochadaiyaan. The film is to be directed by Rajini's youngest daughter and there are plans to rope in Anushka for the female lead role.

The actress is working on her dates to allot call sheet for Kochadaiyaan and she does not want to miss this film at any cost. With Rajini being an national Superstar, she wants to hog the limelight by sharing the screen space with him!

Vijay next is Yohan: Adhyayam Ondru

Ilayathalapathy’s next is with AR Murugadoss

After the immense success of Ghajini in Tamil and Hindi, every star dreams of working with director AR Murugudoss. It was earlier reported that Murugadoss would direct Ajith soon after completing the Suriya starrer 7aam Arivu but the director denied it.

The news now is that the opportunity to star in the next Murugadoss flick has landed in Vijay’s court. The Ilayathalapathy, who is now associated with several projects including the Shankar directed Nanban, has agreed to a script that Murugadoss came up with.

In fact, Vijay is now very selective about his films and decided on AR Murugadoss as he found it to be very apt for him. This film will be produced by Aascar Ravichandran and SA Chandrasekar with Fox Star chipping in to distribute. The movie is expected to take off after Vijay is free of Nanban.

Happy birthday to Ilayathalapathy!

It’s Vijay’s birthday today! The star was born to ace director SA Chandrasekar and Shoba Chandrasekar on June 22^nd 1974. He had appeared as a child artiste in films directed by his dad and then went on to become a hero.

He debuted as hero in Nalaya Theerpu, directed by his father SA Chandrasekar and since then there is no looking back of this Ilayathalapathy. Having been in the film industry for more that two decades, Vijay is involved in various social welfare activities through his Makkal Iyakkam. There is a strong possibility that this Makkal Iyakkam could be converted into a political outfit.

Vijay is currently busy with Velayutham and Nanban. Velayutham is slated to hit the screens before the Shankar-directed Nanban.

We wish the Ilayathalapathy many more happy returns of the day!

Happy birthday maestro Ilaiyaraja!

Ilaiyaraja celebrates his 68^th birthday today! He is not just a music composer but an accomplished singer and lyricist as well. Ilaiyaraja forayed into the film industry with the film Anna Kili in 1976 and since then there was no looking back.

Though Ilaiyaraja predominantly works in Tamil films, his compositions in Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi films have also turned out to be chartbusters. He has scored over 4500 songs in 950 films so far and has received several prestigious awards in the international, national and state levels.

It may be noted here that Ilaiyaraja’s son Yuvan Shankar Raja has also carved a niche for himself in the tinsel town.

We wish the living legend a very happy birthday and many more to come!